Indianapolis can expect to see a tougher Tennessee tomorrow, when the Colts seek to remain perfect for the NFL season and match a league record with a 21st consecutive regular-season victory.
Indianapolis beat the Titans 31-9 in their first meeting of the season on Oct. 11 — the fifth of six straight defeats with which Tennessee opened the season.
But the Titans have come on strong since, winning five straight. They have thrust themselves back into the playoff picture, and made tomorrow’s clash a meeting of two of the league’s hottest teams.
PHOTO: AFP
The 11-0 Colts became the first team to secure a playoff berth last weekend, when they rallied for a 35-27 victory over Houston.
Indianapolis are one victory shy of matching New England’s record 21-win streak from 2006 to last year. The Colts’ streak started after a 31-21 loss at Tennesee on Oct. 27 last year.
The Colts aren’t the only unbeaten team left — and New Orleans will also try to remain perfect — and clinch the AFC South division — when they visit struggling Washington tomorrow.
The Saints continued their dominating play with a 38-17 victory over the Patriots on Monday.
The Saints are averaging league bests of 37 points and 434 yards per game, led by quarterback Drew Brees, who tops the NFL with 27 touchdowns.
The Vikings can clinch the NFC North division with a victory and a loss by Green Bay to Baltimore on Monday night.
The Cardinals hope to have quarterback Kurt Warner back after a concussion as they try to stop a 10-1 Vikings team that have become a top contender to succeed the Cardinals as the NFC’s Super Bowl representative.
Pittsburgh may be buoyed by the return of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger when they host Oakland.
Dallas will be hoping quarterback Tony Romo can avoid the December letdown that has plagued him in recent seasons as they visit division rivals the New York Giants.
Meanwhile, the fading Giants are hoping quarterback Eli Manning’s right foot ailment won’t hamper him in a game they desperately need to keep any real hope of winning the NFC East alive.
Philadelphia’s Michael Vick makes his first return to Atlanta since his prison term and NFL suspension for dogfighting ended his spell with the Falcons.
It’s not clear how Falcons fans will respond to Vick, who has seen little action as backup to Donovan McNabb in Philly.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but