| 908 Beiträge - Forenjunkie
|
|
|
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis tried everything to move up in the AFCs playoff pecking order. Stan Musial Flexbase Jersey . The Colts still came up short. Andrew Luck threw for 282 yards and one touchdown, Robert Mathis won the NFL sacks title and Adam Vinatieri became the seventh member of the NFLs 2,000-point club Sunday as the Colts routed Jacksonville 30-10 before watching their longshot hope of earning a first-round playoff bye vanish. Not that the Colts cared much about what was going on with the Bengals or Patriots. "Were in the playoffs and thats what matters," Luck said before knowing next weekends pairings. "We get to play at home, so it will be fun to not have to wait around to play." That will have to suffice for now after Indy handed the Jaguars (4-12) their third straight loss. An Indy win coupled with losses by New England and Cincinnati would have vaulted the Colts into the No. 2 spot. A loss by either would have put the Colts in the No. 3 spot. But the Bengals beat Baltimore 34-17, the Patriots beat Buffalo 34-20 and the Colts wound up with the No. 4 playoff seed. They will host Kansas City on Saturday afternoon. Coach Chuck Pagano promised his team would not watch the scoreboard, and it was clear they didnt pay attention until the game ended. Instead, the Colts were focused on keeping their momentum. "They always talk about December being the second most important month in football and we went out and went 4-1," Pagano said before the late afternoon results were in. "I have no idea, unless you guys have any updates, but we know we have a home game. So well wait to see what happens." Indy (11-5) is now playing its best football of the year. After alternating wins and losses for six straight weeks, the Colts rebounded with three straight routs. Theyve matched their longest winning streak of the season and their 11-win total from last season, appear rejuvenated on offence and defence and seem to be enjoying themselves mightily. Luck was 26 of 37 for 282 yards, shattering Cam Newtons record for yards passing (7,920) in a players first two seasons and becoming the first player in league history to top 8,000 yards during that span. Luck finished his second season with 8,196 yards. T.Y. Hilton caught 11 passes for 155 yards, both career highs. Mathis, who led the league in sacks most of the season, retook the lead by sacking Chad Henne once in each half to give him 19 1/2. A third sack was awarded to Jerrell Freeman, though it appeared Mathis made the initial contact. St. Louis Robert Quinn fell 1/2 sack short of Mathis, who joined Dwight Freeney as Indys only sacks champions. Vinatieri, long dubbed the best clutch kicker in league history, delivered another strong performance. The 41-year-old made three field goals and scored 12 points to move into fifth all-time with 2,006 points -- passing George Blanda (2,002) and Matt Stover (2,004). Indy was darn near perfect. Jacksonville, meanwhile, never seriously challenged the Colts. Henne finished 30 of 51 for 331 yards with one TD and one interception but couldnt get the Jaguars into the end zone until hooking up with Kerry Taylor on a 14-yard TD pass with 16 seconds left. Taylor caught eight passes for 75 yards. Maurice Jones-Drew, who is now likely to hit the free-agent market, ran 13 times for 39 yards and caught five passes for 51 yards. Jacksonvilles defence couldnt get Indys offence stopped consistently either -- until the Colts let off the gas pedal in the second half. "We didnt execute very well today," first-year coach Gus Bradley said. "Everybody took their turns. We missed some reads. We missed some route combinations. We missed tackles. We missed some assignments." It didnt take long to notice what was wrong. Donald Brown scored on a leaping 1-yard TD run, Trent Richardson followed that with a 2-yard TD run and Vinatieri booted a 23-yard field goal to make it 17-0 after one. Jacksonville looked like it would get back into the game after a 37-yard field goal and Henne got them into scoring position late in the first half. But Henne was picked off by Antoine Bethea, which set up Vinatieris milestone field goal. Luck opened the second half with a 7-yard TD pass to former college teammate Griff Whalen. That was good enough for the Colts. "Im glad were playing decent football going into the post-season," Luck said. "We know the post-seasons a whole different ball game and one-and-done. But to finish the regular season strong with these wins has been good." Notes: Indy lost starting cornerback Vontae Davis with a groin injury, defensive lineman Aubrayo Franklin with a knee injury and linebacker Bjoern Werner with an ankle injury during the first half. Pagano said all three would undergo further evaluations. ... Jacksonville finished the season with 1,260 rushing yards, a second straight single season low for the franchise. Red Schoendienst Jersey . He didnt need a whole lot of experience to know what was coming this time. Stan Musial Green Jersey . -- Scott Langley is being careful not to get too far ahead of himself in the Travelers Championship.SEATTLE -- Osvaldo Alonso understood it was an exhibition. It was also a match the Seattle Sounders wanted to win. Alonso beat former U.S. national team goalkeeper Brad Friedel from 30 yards early in the second half as the Sounders tied Tottenham 3-3 in an exhibition Saturday, the first match for new Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino. "Every friendly is different," Alonso said. "This year we tried to win the game. ... We tried to win this game like it was the MLS regular season. Im very happy for the team." Through half the season, Seattles been the class of Major League Soccer. And the Sounders held their own against a Tottenham side making its debut under Ponchettino, who left Southampton in May to replace the fired Tim Sherwood. Sherwood had taken over on Dec. 23 after Andre Villas-Boas was fired. Tottenham began its preseason North America tour facing former striker Clint Dempsey and his new club. Dempsey left Tottenham to sign with the Sounders last August. Tottenham has two more stops on its tour against Toronto and Chicago before returning to Europe to complete its preseason. Spurs open its Premier League season on Aug. 16 at West Ham. "I want to congratulate our players because the conditions to play were very difficult -- 1 p.m. and warm and a different field," Ponchettino said. "And we play a very good team." Alonsos goal off a loose ball zipped past Friedel and hit the underside of the crossbar before bouncing in the net. The goal gave Seattle a 2-1 lead, but Roberto Soldado converted a penalty kick in the 55th after he was fouled in the penalty area. Tristan Bowen put the Sounders ahead 3-2 in the 79th minute when he tapped in a cross from Sean Okoli, but U.S. national team defender DeAndre Yedlin waas called for a handball in the penalty area moments later and Yago Falque converted the penalty kick. Stan Musial Black Jersey. The match, played before 55,349, was easily Seattles most even exhibition against Premier League opposition. Seattle lost 2-0 and 4-2 to Chelsea in 2009 and 2012 and was routed 7-0 by Manchester United in 2011. "When we come on these tours we sometimes dont know what to expect," Friedel said. "One thing was for certain when we knew we were going to expect a good atmosphere and playing against the best team in the MLS right now." This time, the Sounders had the better of the opportunities and could have come away with a victory had they converted chances in the first half. The Sounders outshot Tottenham 12-5 in the first 45 minutes thanks to Dempsey and Obafemi Martins causing problems for Spurs defence. Dempsey missed wide on an open header and later had a ball headed for the net cleared off the line by Tottenhams Danny Rose. "I thought we had opportunities we need to finish more of and could have been leading at halftime," Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said. Lewis Holtby scored on a header in the 11th minute off a pass from Harry Kane. Gonzalo Pinedas chipped penalty kick beat Friedel in the 33rd minute to pull Seattle even after defender Chad Marshall was taken down in the penalty area on a corner kick. Tottenham played without goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, midfielders Paulinho, Mousa Dembele and Nacer Chadli, and defender Jan Vertonghen, who have been given a break after the World Cup. Gylfi Sigurdsson was scratched from the starting lineup shortly before kickoff. "Weve been working extremely hard. Preseason has been very demanding under the new boss and I think that showed," Friedel said. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
|
