Okay, so the Colts pulled one out of the fire. After being seriously kicked around in their first two games, it looked pretty bad for the Horseshoe again against their division rival Tennessee Titans. The usual suspects were at play: The porous defense with absolutely no pass rush, and an inept mistake-prone offensive line, led by right guard Hugh Thornton’s four holding calls, plus Andrew Luck’s seeming regression as a quarterback. He leads the league in turnovers with eight and his passer rating of 65.1 is the worst of his career. For three quarters the Colts were being out-played by the Titans. It definitely was not a pretty win and it came against a team that the Colts usually roll over, the Tennessee Titans. A W is a W however, and it will not matter at the end of the season if it was an ugly or pretty W. However, there are reasons to believe that the Titans are turning the corner and won’t be the punching bags they have been in the past few years much longer.
The Titans’ rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota is the genuine article. He had an outstanding game. The Titans were really, really smart in keeping the second pick in this year’s draft and choosing him rather than trading the pick to the Eagles. He is going to be a big star in the league for the Titans and will be a thorn in the side of the Colts for a long time to come.
Andrew Luck broke into his fourth quarter heroics and found Phillip Dorsett and Donte Moncrief for touchdowns and got Frank Gore set up for his second touchdown run of the game to take the lead. Still, Mariota led the Titans back for what could have been the Titan’s game-tying score. Their last touchdown made it 35-33 Colts so Tennessee was forced to go for a two point conversion to tie. A give to the Titan fullback resulted in a 16 yard loss and gave the Colts the win.
Bright spots? Pat McAfee is still punting and kicking off at a Pro Bowl level. He just might be the Horseshoe’s most valuable player. Wideout Donte Moncrief is emerging as Luck’s go-to guy. He has 17 receptions for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Safety Dwight Lowery was a very solid pickup from the Falcons. He already has two interceptions for the season, one of which was a grabbing a Mariota pass and returning it 69 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. He leads the secondary with 14 tackles. Philip Dorset caught his first pro touchdown, a 35 yard pass from Luck in the fourth quarter. He has five receptions for the season for 113 yards including a 45 yarder in the first game against the Bills. Hopefully he will start to work his way into seeing more balls from Luck as the season progresses. Rookie fifth round pick David Parry is starting to be a factor at nose tackle for the Big Blue defense. He picked up his first sack against the Titans. Popular Joe Reitz is back at right offensive tackle. He gives the position a bit more stability than it has had recently. The Jack Mewhort experiment at right tackle is over. He is back at left guard where he seems to be a better fit.
Next on the Colts schedule is Jacksonville. The Jaguars are coming to Lucas Oil Sunday where the Colts generally have their own way as a team. Nothing is guaranteed, however.
Currently there is a four way tie in the AFC South. Every team is 1-2. Jacksonville has a strong-armed quarterback in Blake Bortles, so who knows what will happen. After that the Horseshoe travels to Houston to take on the Texans. The Texans have the NFL’s best defensive player — defensive end J. J. Watts. Running back Arian Foster may be back as well. Both players always give the Colts fits. After that its the New England Patriots at home in the Dome. The whole world will be watching to see what Tom Brady will do to the Colts defense in what is already being called “The Revenge Bowl.” Payback for Deflategate? Well things are always tough in the NFL.
Yogi Berra
Yogi Berri passed away on September 22 at the age 90. Yogi was born Lorenzo Pietro Berra in St, Louis, Missouri on May 12, 1925. Yogi acquired his famous nickname while playing American Legion baseball when teammates claimed that he looked like a Hindu yogi sitting cross armed and cross legged with a perennial sad faced expression while waiting for his turn at bat. He made his debut as a New York Yankee in a September 2, 1946 game. Yogi Berra would go on to establish himself as one of major league baseball’s most talented and versatile players during his career. He also became famous for his colorful quotes. “You can observe a lot by just watching,” “You had better cut the pizza into four pieces because I ain’t hungry enough to eat six,” “Half the lies they tell about me aren’t true,” “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours!,” “So I’m ugly. So what? I never saw anybody hit with his face,” and the immortal “ It’s like deja-vu, all over again!” were some of his gems.
Yogi was an 18 time All-Star player. He was part of 13 World Series championship teams, and was a three time American League MVP. His last game as a player was as a New York Met on May 9, 1965. Yogi had a .285 lifetime batting average. He hit 358 home runs and had 1,430 RBIs. He managed the Yankees in 1964 and again in the 1984-85 seasons. He also managed the Mets from 1972-75.
Yogi was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York in 1972. His number 8 has been retired by the Yankees.
Yogi was an outstanding ball player and really good hearted man. As Yogi once observed, “Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too!”
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