The first weekend of the regular season in the NFL is now in the books and there were the usual amount of surprises during the weekend. New England hammered the Pittsburgh Steelers. Green Bay had few problems with the Bears. The Bengals popped the Raiders. Carolina had a fairly easy time with the Jags. Denver beat Baltimore. The surprises were the Rams beating the much-vaunted Seahawks and the 49ers running all over the Vikings. The Rams’ defensive line made life miserable for Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson. The 49ers had a disastrous off season and many predicted that they would have the number one draft pick in 2016. Minnesota was picked as a team on the rise with quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and the return of running back Adrian Peterson. They were considered a possible threat to the Pack for the NFC North title. They were manhandled by the 49er defense and 49er back Carlos Hyde ran their defense into the ground. Rookie Marcus Mariota opened his pro career with the Tennessee Titans by throwing four first half touchdowns (a rookie record) against the Tampa Bay Bucs and rookie quarterback James Winston, leading the Titans to a 42 to 14 win. Winston was the first pick in the 2015 draft and Mariota was chosen second.
For the Colts it was deja vu all over again. Picked as a strong contender for the AFC title, the Horseshoe journeyed to Orchard Park to meet the Buffalo Bills with Colts fans expecting an easy win. Instead, the Bills new head coach Rex Ryan had the Bills defense playing meaner than a junkyard dog and his offense ramming the football up the Colts weak defensive middle. Bills Quarterback Tyrod Taylor had a big day passing and running the football. The Colts’ offensive line looked as ineffective as usual in not being able to open holes for the running backs or pass block for Andrew Luck.
If this sounds familiar, that’s because the same thing happened in last years opening game against the Denver Broncos for the same reasons. A weak offensive line and a weaker defensive front seven. GM Ryan Grigson spent the off season gathering weapons for Luck — running back Frank Gore, wideout Andre Johnson, rookie receiver Phillip Dorsett — but he did little to strengthen the trenches. Coach Pagano is an admirable and fair minded man but he doesn’t project a tough image. The Colts reflect that, unfortunately. They are considered a “soft“ team. The Bills beat them up last Sunday. They simply out-hit the Colts.
The Colts play the Jets this coming Sunday. It’s said the Jets have a tough hard hitting the offensive line and defense. Their new coach Todd Bowles is considered to have a tough defensive football mind and demeanor. The Colts could conceivably get out-hit by the Jets and lose again. Remember the Colts lost their first two games last year. So it looks like they are the same old Colts. They will win the anemic AFC South again with an 11-5 although Tennessee may have a few surprises for them. But as a challenger for a Super Bowl win, sorry, they are still stuck in second gear.
With all this, the rumors of a rift between coach Pagano and Grigson have surfaced again. The word on the street is that Pagano has been warned that if the Colts are not in this year’s Super Bowl he will be gone next season. Pagano has complained about the quality of Grigson’s drafts and that the Colts’ GM has a lot more misses then hits in his picks. Grigson is still basking in the glory of the 2012 draft in which he added Luck, but his signature deal will always be the Trent Richardson trade with Cleveland. Owner Jim Irsay says there is nothing to the rumor, but insiders say Irsay is backing Grigson . . . for now.
What would a Colts season be without some controversy? As to the deficiencies the Big Blue exhibited against the Bills, well as Scarlett O’Hara would say “Tomorrow is another day!”
Serena Still Upset Over the Upset
People are still talking about the upset of Serena Williams at the U.S. Open by relatively unknown Italian player Roberta Vinci. Some people are calling it the greatest upset in tennis history. Williams was on the verge of winning the singles Grand Slam (winning the four major singles tournaments in a calendar year) for the first time since 1988 when Steffi Graf accomplished the feat. The 32-year-old Vinci has been a top doubles champion with her partner Sara Errani for a number of years but her win over Serena Williams is by far her greatest singles victory. Vinci has never won a major singles event and most experts considered her match with Serena to be a tune up for Williams to prepare for the finals. Flavia Penetta went on to win the Open and take the trophy.
This brings up another issue with Serena. She is often compared to John McEnroe with her bullying tactics, her abusive language towards the line judges and other officials and her lack of sportsmanship when she does lose. After the match was over she barely acknowledged Vinci and blew off reporters. In fairness to Williams, it must be noted that must professional athletes are not noted for being all sweetness and light, and reporters can be appear to be going for the throat when interviewing an athlete after a loss.
Some of Serena’s fans are blaming her Canadian rapper boyfriend Drake for her loss at the Open. It seems Drake has been a jinx for every sports team or athlete he has been associated with and fans have made him the scapegoat for her loss.
Congratulations to the Marion University Knights
The Marion Knights met the University of Indianapolis for the first annual Monumental Matchup at St Vincent Field on the Marion Campus. Marion head coach Mark Henninger led the NAIA number one ranked Knights to a 28 to 22 victory over the Greyhounds. The Greyhounds are led by Head Coach Bob Bartolomeo and are ranked 23rd ranked in the NCAA Division II standings.
Marion opened the season with a 45 to 13 victory over St Xavier of Ill. The University of Indianapolis opened their season with a home victory over Saginaw Valley St 27 to 17.