The Indianapolis Colts hope they got their 10-day break at just the right time. They may need every healthy body to hold off charging Jacksonville in the American Football Conference South.
"We aren't as sharp as we need to be because we haven't been together and haven't been practicing as much and as well as we need to," said coach Tony Dungy, whose Super Bowl champions have been without a raft of important players.
The notable absentees include Marvin Harrison, their best wide receiver, and starting offensive tackles Tony Ugoh and Ryan Diem.
So after being off since Thanksgiving, the Colts go into today's game at 9-2, just a game ahead of the 8-3 Jaguars. The Jags have won three straight and four of five in a division Indianapolis considers its property -- the Colts have won it for four straight seasons.
Jacksonville's success has been due in part to the return of David Garrard, who sprained his left ankle in the first meeting with Indy, a 29-7 Colts victory on Oct. 22. He has been back for two games, throwing three touchdown passes in wins over San Diego and Buffalo and continuing a remarkable mistake-free run. Garrard has yet to throw an interception this season in 209 attempts.
The weekend started on Thursday night with Dallas winning their sixth straight game with a 37-27 victory over the Packers. The Cowboys improved to 11-1 and the Packers, who lost Brett Favre to an injury early in the second quarter, fell to <>b10-2.
In other games today, the New York Jets are at Miami; Houston at Tennessee; Detroit at Minnesota; Buffalo at Washington; Atlanta at St. Louis; San Diego at Kansas City; Seattle at Philadelphia; San Francisco at Carolina; Denver at Oakland; Cleveland at Arizona; the New York Giants at Chicago; Tampa Bay at New Orleans; and Cincinnati at Pittsburgh.
New England are at Baltimore tomorrow night.
A win for Jacksonville would put them in a flat tie with Indianapolis because it would mean the Jaguars split their two games with the Colts. That would leave a battle for the division title in the last four games and Indianapolis look to have a slightly easier schedule.
But the Colts also are playing for a first-round bye; top seed in the AFC seems unreachable because they are two games behind unbeaten New England and lost to the Patriots. They are also a game ahead of Pittsburgh for the second seed, which would give them that week off in the playoffs.
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
RSS