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04-13-2017, 09:43 AM | #1 |
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Under Armour Clutchfit Drive 2 . -- This was the Indianapolis Colts everyone expected to see in 2014. Playing the Jacksonville Jaguars surely helped them look so good. Andrew Luck threw four touchdown passes -- three of them in a lopsided first half -- and the Colts dominated Jacksonville 44-17 on Sunday for their first win of the season. It was a home opener to forget for the Jaguars (0-3), who trailed 30-0 at the break and benched quarterback Chad Henne. The only positive for Jacksonville was getting rookie Blake Bortles on the field. The third overall pick in Mays NFL draft played the entire second half, finishing with two touchdown passes and two interceptions. He completed 14 of 24 passes for 223 yards, including fourth-quarter scores to Allen Hurns and Cecil Shorts III. Bortles found Hurns near midfield, and the rookie escaped two tackles en route to his third touchdown in three games. Bortles threw a strike to Shorts with 18 seconds remaining. Those were among the few highlights for the Jaguars. Indianapolis (1-2) made plays from start to finish, including Greg Toler returning an interception 47 yards for a touchdown with 2:58 to play. Luck did most of the damage, though. He completed 31 of 39 passes for 370 yards. The Colts, who had chances to win their first two games, scored on six first-half possessions against Jacksonville. Luck became the latest to pick apart Jacksonvilles defence, joining Philadelphias Nick Foles and Washingtons Kirk Cousins. Luck completed 22 of 27 passes for 244 yards in the first half, connecting with nine different receivers. He found Ahmad Bradshaw for a 6-yard touchdown that made it 10-0, hooked up with Dwayne Allen for a 1-yard score on the next drive and capped the impressive opening 30 minutes with a 7-yarder to Coby Fleener. The score could have been more one-sided, too. Indy had three drives bog down in Jacksonville territory. All of them ended with field goals by Adam Vinatieri. Jacksonville allowed 330 yards in the opening half and contributed to its woes with missed tackles and blown assignments. Henne and the offence going three-and-punt on their first three drives certainly didnt help the defence, either. The result: Jacksonville was outscored 105-10 in the eight quarters since leading Philadelphia 17-0 at halftime in the season opener. Henne started getting booed with every throw, and Bradley made the switch in the locker room. Henne completed 4 of 7 passes for 33 yards and was sacked three times. Bortles was considerably better and even kept most of the crowd from leaving the home opener, which featured the debut of $63 million in stadium upgrades that include a party deck, two pools and cabanas. The Jaguars said from the day they drafted Bortles that they wanted to bring him along slowly and even suggested he might sit all season. But calls for him to replace Henne grew with every week and every loss. It remains to be seen whether Bradley will stick with Bortles the rest of the season. The Colts called this game a must-win, knowing they didnt want to start 0-3 in the AFC South. Since the NFL expanded its playoff format in 1990, only three teams -- San Diego in 1992, Detroit in 1995 and Buffalo in 1998 -- started 0-3 and made the post-season. Clutchfit Drive 2 .com) - Hassan Whiteside scored 20 points with nine rebounds in the Miami Heats 83-75 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Ua Scorpio Running Shoes .C. -- When Michael Jordan speaks, people still listen. 403 Forbidden . - Playing a road game against a division rival raises the intensity for linebacker Clay Matthews.TORONTO - For most of his Maple Leafs career he played with one partner and for most of his NHL career he played on one side. Dion Phaneuf is doing neither this season. Carl Gunnarsson, long the Toronto captains partner on the teams top pair, was dealt to St. Louis in the summer and Phaneuf, amid that offseason of upheaval, was moved to the mostly unfamiliar left side. Thus, the Leafs are boasting a new-look top pair this season, one that includes Phaneuf on the left and Cody Franson, now in his sixth NHL season, on the right. The results thus far - and its still quite early - have been encouraging. Phaneufs even-strength possession numbers have spiked more than 10 percentage points from last season (51.5 per cent Fenwick) and those same underlying numbers look even better with Franson - Stephane Robidas started the year there before moving down the lineup. Its all helped in the Leafs slow push to becoming a better possession team. The 29-year-old Phaneuf is still squaring off against some very difficult competition - he faced the most challenging action of any defender last year - but isnt being buried as consistently in the defensive zone - up to 42 per cent offensive zone starts. Head coach, Randy Carlyle has made use of the newly added Roman Polak in the most defensive of situations - not to mention rookie Stuart Percy - thereby sparing Phaneuf from some of the heavy burden he assumed a year ago. Maple Leafs general manager, Dave Nonis, conceded on July 1st - after the team had landed Polak and then Robidas with a three-year deal in free agency - that Phaneuf could move to his strong side in the coming year and while Phaneuf concedes to an ongoing adjustment, he believes its been overblown some in the early weeks this fall. He spoke to TSN.ca about those challenges and the differences of playing with a new partner this season. SIEGEL: New partner, new side, whats been more difficult in terms of that adjustment? PHANEUF: To be completely honest with you, I think its been a good adjustment. It was a little bit different earlier in training camp shifting to the left side; that was a little bit of an adjustment early in camp. But now I feel very comfortable. Its something that I feel thats there more attention paid to than there should be, because the reality of it is that, yeah, Im playing a different side, but Ive played there before and I feel very comfortable there now. SIEGEL: Well, I guess the argument goes that you played the right your whole career or most of your career, [defensive] routes are different, you see the ice differently, it should be difficult… PHANEUF: Yeah, I havent found it difficult to switch. It was an adjustment early in camp. But as soon as I got through the first few exhibition games Ive felt more comfortable game after game. But now Im used to playing that side noww. Stephen Curry One Shoes. Now if I go back to the other side it feels a little bit different. SIEGEL: Really? PHANEUF: Yeah, so Im comfortable playing that side. And then when you have a new partner theres always an adjustment period, but I feel that me and Franny have built some real good chemistry early. Frannys a guy who sees the ice really well, he moves the puck really well and hes a big guy. Ive really enjoyed playing with him. We want to keep building. Partnerships and being defensive partners, theres lots that go into it; you want to communicate; you want to know each others tendencies and were still learning that. But overall, I feel really good about how weve played together and how were working on getting better together every day. SIEGEL: Well, you had said in camp that you just wanted to build those reps. Ive got all the game-logs and you played with Gunnarsson almost exclusively from the time you got here, you cant really replicate that experience… PHANEUF: Whether youre a forward or defenceman, a forward line that has played together a long time or a defensive pairing thats played together a long time, you have a lot of chemistry. You know what youre partner is going to do, where hes going to be, you read off each other - thats a big thing too is reading off of each other - where you want to support the guy, how you can support him, how he can support you. And I feel that me and Franny are working on that stuff. It is a process, but I feel that theres been a lot of positives early. SIEGEL: Overall, can you feel that youre spending less time in your own end, because the numbers suggest that? [Pause] PHANEUF: When you have a new partner and youre adjusting to playing with someone else its about playing and feeling as comfortable as you as quick as you can. I feel that weve done that. We obviously want to keep working on it, but I feel weve done lots of good things. Frannys a guy who talks a lot, he moves the puck very well, its been great playing with him. SIEGEL: Just going back to camp and the adjustment [to the left side], was it more [difficult] defensively or seeing the ice? PHANEUF: The two biggest adjustments were one, when youre moving the puck and youre breaking the puck out there is more of an advantage when youre playing your strong side because its always on your forehand. I found that part of it a positive. The other big adjustment, as a d-man, youve got shutdown areas on the ice where you like to focus on pinching guys off and angles and different spots that youre used to going to and that was an adjustment switching from one side to the other. And seeing and receiving rushes was a little bit different on the left side. SIEGEL: Its backwards right? PHANEUF: Yeah, its completely opposite, but that was early in camp and I feel really comfortable now on the left side. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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