The Indianapolis Colts won their first game of the season on the road against the Washington Redskins last Sunday. The Horseshoe defense rebounded from a mediocre Week One performance against the Bengals with an intimidating showing against the Skins offense. Rookie Colt linebacker Darius Leonard was a nightmare for Washington with 18 tackles (3 of them solo), a forced fumble, and a sack. Not surprisingly, he was named the game’s most valuable player. Pass rusher Jabaal Sheard was in the face of Skins’ quarterback Alex Smith all game long and added a sack and two hurries. The whole defense shut down the Skin’s offense and held them to 3 field goals;
Offensively, Andrew Luck relied on the short passing game but still threw 2 interceptions. He hit on 2 touchdown passes, however — both to the same receivers he scored with last week. Tight end Eric Ebron and wideout T.Y. Hilton. Running back Marlon Mack came off of the IR list to start behind Luck. His production was 38 yards on 10 carries. Rookie back Jordan Wilson led the back with 61 yards on 10 carries. Rookie Nyheim Hines scored his first pro touchdown in the 3rd quarter.
The Horseshoe take on the Eagles in Philadelphia next Sunday. They are, of course, the defending Super Bowl champs so it will be a hard fight. Let’s hope the Colts defense can build on their strong showing and Darius Leonard can become the difference-maker they need.
Vontae Davis Retires…At Halftime
Vontae Davis was a cornerback for the Colts — the number 1 draft pick for the Miami Dolphins in 2009. Davis was traded to the Colts in 2012. He had some big games for the Colts and even made the Pro Bowl squad. Last year, however, his performance dropped noticeably. It was a contract year to boot. The Colts released Davis before the end of the season.
The Buffalo Bills signed Davis to a single season contract with a $3.5 million guarantee for the 2018 season. The Bills opened the regular season with a disastrous 47-3 defeat at the hands of the Ravens. This last Sunday the Bills were getting pummeled by the Los Angeles Chargers in the first half when Davis pulled himself out of the game. During halftime Davis informed the coaching staff that he would not be returning to the field because he had decided to “retire.” Obviously, this caught everyone by surprise. Head Coach Sean McDermott thought Davis was just having a bad afternoon but apparently Davis was very serious. At age 30, it’s possible he had just had enough of struggling with hopeless teams. It will cost him a great deal of money but it may be worth it to heal his battered ego.
Dixon Wins the IndyCar Championship
Congratulation to driver Scott Dixon. By finishing second to Ryan Hunter-Reay at the Sonoma Grand Prix last Sunday he clinched his 5th IndyCar Championship. This ties him with the legendary A. J. Foyt for the most career titles. 2018 was a banner year for the 38 year old driver. He had 3 wins and 6 podium finishes. His worst finish of the year was at Iowa where he finished 12th. At Portland 2 weeks ago he was involved in the first lap melee and had to pit for repairs but he hung on for a 5th place finish.
Hunter-Reay dominated the Sonoma race starting from the pole and leading 80 of 85 laps. Dixon was second and Will Power was 3rd. Alexander Rossi experienced problems early but held on to finish in 7th and hold on to the number 2 spot in the final standings.
Robert Wickens appeared on camera from his hospital bed. He wanted to let everyone know that he was progressing in his healing. He also wanted to thank IndyCar for naming him the series Rookie of the Year and vowed to return to racing.
So that’s it for 2018. Congratulations to Honda for winning the engine manufacturer’s title and to all the teams and drivers for giving us a great year of racing.
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