Colts-Chargers Recap

Recap-Indianapolis Colts 

It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t nearly as dominant as it should have been but the Colts were able to beat the Chargers 29–23 for their 2nd win of the season. Andrew Luck was able to put the Colts on his back and complete his 16th 4th quarter comeback in his career. TY Hilton dominated the Bears secondary with 171 yards and a TD, and Adam Vinatieri was his usual dominant self with 5 FG’s. The defense and the offensive line played very poorly in this game. Andrew Luck was sacked 5 times and pressured into making bad throws a good amount of times as well. The defense could not stop Jordan Howard at all during the game whether it was on the ground or in the air, and Patrick Robinson struggled guarding WR Cameron Meredith and seemed to give up big play after big play. The only reason why the Colts didn’t give up more TD’s is the Bears committed too many penalties to get themselves close enough to the end zone. 

Fantasy

Andrew Luck had a monster day as he threw for 322 yards and two TD’s and no turnovers. He’s done a great job of cutting down on his turnovers this season and so far as a great 10–3 TD-INT ratio. TY Hilton had 171 yards receiving and now has a TD in 3 straight games. Frank Gore had 79 all purpose yards and passed Jim Brown for 9th all time on the all time rushing yards list. Dwayne Allen, Phillip Dorsett, and Quan Bray all contributed to the passing game however I’m not sure I’d roster them except in the deepest of leagues. Adam Vinatieri had a season high 5 FG’s and is definitely a must start at kicker. 

Colts-Bears Preview

Colts Preview

After that appalling loss to the Jaguars in London last week, the Colts took inventory and cut two of their defensive starters CB Antonio Cromartie and LB Sio Moore. In addition Art Jones will be coming back from his suspension this week so the run defense should be getting a much needed boost. There are rumors that the Colts will be using the hurry up offense a little bit more against the Bears this week as it seems to be the only way the offense has been working the past few weeks so I expect Andrew Luck to throw more earlier in the game. The Bears defense is doing about as bad as the Colts defense is this season so I expect a very high scoring game and the Colts offense to finally go back to its solid Week 1 performance. 

Fantasy Impact

Even with all the drops by receivers and poor offensive line performance, Andrew Luck is still having a pretty solid season with 8 TD’s and only 3 INT’s so he is a good start this week against the Bears. Frank Gore is having a very good season and is still a solid RB2 or flex play even as he moves into his upper 30’s. The only Colts receiver probably worth rostering is TY Hilton as he’s the only one guaranteed consistent production as Jack Doyle, Dwayne Allen, and Phillip Dorsett (who however did in fact catch a TD for his only reception last week) probably are not worth keeping on your roster. 

Prediction Colts 42-Bears 35

Colts-Jaguars Recap

Recap-Indianapolis Colts 

Well it looks like playing in America isn’t the cause of any of the Colts problems as they basically played the exact same game they usually do in London in their 30–27 loss to the Jaguars. They get down a lot at the half and have to throw the ball a lot in the second half and just about make a comeback only to lose at the end. Drops seemed to be the problem this week as Dwayne Allen, Josh Ferguson, and Chester Rogers all had drops on third and fourth down that could have changed the momentum of the game. The defense did not play well and the secondary committed many unnecessary penalties. While I am optimistic about the rookies on the offensive line, they did not play well at all and Luck was forced out of the pocket or sacked on many plays. Luck himself did not play awful, his only interception was on a tipped pass as soon as he threw it. With this loss it seems as though the seat is getting warmer for Grigson and Pagano. 

Fantasy Impact

Luck started off slowly but finished with a respectable line of 234 yards and 2 TD’s and 1 INT. Frank Gore had another solid game with 95 all purpose yards and a TD. TY Hilton and Phillip Dorsett both were able to get TD catches against the Jacksonville secondary. The Colts TE’s Dwayne Allen and Jack Doyle were not able to get as much production as in previous weeks as they had 3 catches for 26 yards combined. Mr. Reliable Adam Vinatieri stayed perfect on the season with two field goals and three extra points. 

Trivia Questions

What is the only college campus with a NFL team headquartered there?

What was the most recent year the Yankees finished under .500?

Colts-Jaguars Preview and Predictions

Colts Preview by Matthew Wisnefsky

The Colts are traveling to London for the first time and facing the Jacksonville Jaguars this week. Last week the Colts were able to comeback in the 4th quarter for their first win vs the Chargers and I expect that momentum to continue this week vs the 0–3 Jaguars. Andrew Luck, Frank Gore, and TY Hilton played great last week and I expect more of the same from them against the underperforming Jaguars defense. For the Colts defense they were able to improve on some shaky defensive performances last week with the return of DE Henry Anderson and CB Vontae Davis, two players which are instrumental to their success. This week I expect more improvement with the return of CB Patrick Robinson. 

Fantasy Impact

Andrew Luck and TY Hilton are must starts after last weeks performance. Depending on what league you are in you may want to start Gore however he is facing the Jaguars stingy run defense. TE Jack Doyle is a solid starting play even for deeper leagues as he finished second in receptions last game. I’d still roster Dorsett for a week or two as he is the #2 receiver still and while the TE’s took some of his targets no receiver did enough to outseat him from starting outside.

Prediction Colts 31 Jaguars 17

12 Choices for Davis Love III's Final Pick

Davis Love III is making his final pick for the USA Ryder Cup team during halftime of tonight's Sunday Night Football. While making this pick he has many things he needs to consider, does he go with youth or experience? Momentum or historical greatness? Consistency solid or moments of elite flash? These are all things that need to be considered and with that said here are 12 solid choices that would be good for Love's final pick. Note these choices are in no particular order as the author will express his opinion for who deserves to be the final pick at the end of the article.

Current Team

Dustin Johnson
Jordan Spieth
Patrick Reed
Phil Mickelson
Brandt Snedeker
Brooks Koepka
Zach Johnson
Jimmy Walker
Rickie Fowler
J.B. Holmes
Matt Kuchar


1. Bubba Watson

Bubba Watson is the #7 player in the world, has won once already this year, along with a second place finish at Doral and has won 2 majors in the past 6 years. He is also playing in the Tour Championship this year. For most golfers that is a solid year but for Bubba it is a disappointment, as he does not have a top 10 since Doral. In addition there are concerns that he may not be a team player due to his individualistic style.

2. Kevin Chappell

Kevin Chappell is having the best season of his career, 7 top 10's and a 70 spot increase in the OWGR. He is even currently tied for the lead at the Tour Championship so he has momentum on his side. My only concern with him is I'm not sure how his closing ability when it matters most is, as he hasn't been able to turn any of those top 10's into wins.

3. Ryan Moore

Ryan Moore was having a pretty lackluster season up to his standards up until about mid August. Then he was able to win at the John Deere Classic, and he's been playing great since. He has 8 top 10's and is currently T3 at the Tour Championship. My concern with him is that he has not had much success in majors in his career with only 2 top 10's in 35 majors played.

4. Kevin Kisner

After a season in which he heartbreakingly lost in 3 playoffs in a 12 week stand, he was finally able to break through with his first career win at the RSM Classic, as well as getting 5 other top 10's this season. He is 3rd in putting for this PGA Tour season.  He was near top of the Fedex Cup for most of early 2016 but has fallen off a little bit since.

5. Justin Thomas

After a rookie season in which he had 7 Top 10's but finished 32nd in the Fedex Cup and just missed out on a Tour Championship and lost the ROY race to Daniel Berger, Thomas was able to come back and win in Malaysia to make his 1st career trip to East Lake. He has 5 other Top 10's and has built a great rapport with one of the members of the team Jordan Spieth whom he has been friends with since childhood.

6. Daniel Berger

Berger has backed up his ROY season with another return back to East Lake and his first career win at the Fedex St. Jude Classic, along with 5 other Top 10's including one at Augusta. In addition him, Bubba and Justin Thomas were invited with the other Ryder Cup members to practice at Hazeltine so it's possible he could be a choice.

7. Bill Haas

While Haas missed out on the Tour Championship for the first time in a few seasons, he still had a decent season with 6 top 10's including a playoff loss to Charl Schwartzel at the Valspar Championship. A President's cup veteran, having played in 3 Cup's he has never played at the Ryder Cup yet. However Haas has been able to come up in clutch situations throughout his career, as he's best known for his shot from the water on the first playoff hole which helped him defeat Hunter Mahan at the Tour Championship. He has struggled in majors though with only 1 top 10 in 29 starts, though that top 10 was at this years Open.

8. Kevin Na

Yes, if you look at the leaderboard at the Tour Championship you'll see Kevin Na in last by a lot but he has had a very solid season with 8 top 10's including a few second place finishes. He was able to qualify for the Tour Championship even with missing a playoff event for the birth of his daughter. The concerning thing for me with him is his driving as he averages less than 280 yards off the tee which is 173rd on tour.

9. Jim Furyk

Jim Furyk was injured until May with a wrist injury so he was only able to play 14 events, which contributed to the fact that the wasn't even able to make the BMW Championship. He was only able to get 3 top 10's as well. Though one of those Top 10's was a T2 at the US Open, and another one was at the Travelers where he set the PGA Tour record for shooting the lowest round ever a 58. He has a lot of Ryder Cup experience as well.

10. Steve Stricker

It seems the less golf that Steve Stricker plays the better golfer he is. Unlike Furyk he chose to play a limited amount events on purpose and only had 3 top 10's in 15 starts. But he lead the PGA Tour in scrambling, and one of those top 10's was a T4 at The Open.

11. Bryson DeChambeau

Even with his limited success as a PGA Tour player with decent finishings at the Masters and US Open and a top 10. DeChambeau was unable to get his PGA Tour card so he had to play the Web.com tour finals, so what did the former #1 amateur do? He won his first event and got his full PGA Tour Card.

12. Tiger Woods

While Tiger hasn't played any event this season, no one can deny the success he's had on Tour and the Ryder Cup. He is on the road back and is scheduled to play in the first event of the season in Mid-October which means he must be close to 100%. The fact is that no player drives as many fans as Tiger does even if he isn't what he once was, and the crowd is greatly important during Ryder Cups.

Recommendation: Love should pick Bubba only if Chappell or Moore don't win. If Chappell or Moore win then he should pick the winner. If neither of them win, and Bubba does really bad today, then he should go with Furyk.

Colts-Chargers Preview and Prediction

Due to the fact that I am now writing for an additional blog I will now be offering a preview and fantasy impact on every Colts game. 

Colts Preview 

It’s the Pagano Bowl this week as Colts head coach Chuck Pagano faces his brother John who is the defensive coordinator for the Chargers. The Colts started off their season 0–2 and are looking for a win to jump start their season. Last game was a difficult one all around as Von Miller almost single handedly destroyed the Colts offense. Andrew Luck could not improve upon his spectacular Week 1 performance vs the Lions as he threw for less than 200 yards vs the vaunted Broncos defense. Luckily he faces an easier matchup against the Chargers who unlike the Broncos do not have an all time great defense at their disposal. The problem the Colts are facing this week is that they are suffering from a myriad of injuries. About every single significant DB except for Safety Mike Adams has missed time due to injuries which has contributed to their slow start. Luckily it looks like DE Henry Anderson may be healthy enough to make his season debut this week. He was tremendous at stopping the run last season, and the defense has really regressed since he suffered a season ending injury in the middle of last season. It was also announced recently that WR Donte Moncrief will miss about a month due to a shoulder injury and this will propel former 1st round pick Phillip Dorsett into a starting spot. 

Fantasy Impact

Due to Donte Moncrief’s injury Phillip Dorsett now rises to probably a WR3 so he may be a good flex play in deeper leagues. Look for WR TY Hilton, TE’s Dwayne Allen and Jack Doyle, and possibly even WR Quan Bray to receive targets in Moncrief’s absence. Andrew Luck is still a solid QB1 this week and should definitely be startable in all leagues. RB Frank Gore once again keeps on defying age and while he may not be a RB1 or RB2 anymore he’s still a great flex play. He’s looked great so far this season and I could see him possibly being the Colts first 100 yard rusher since 2012. At this point the Colts D S/T shouldn’t even be considered even as a sneaky waiver wire pick until further notice, there is just too many injuries in the secondary for them to provide significant fantasy points. 

Prediction Colts 29 Chargers 23