Colts-Titans Recap

Colts Recap

Well the Colts are back to .500 and are in the thick of playoff contention because of their win over the Titans. They scored on their first 3 possessions to take a 21–0 lead, but before they knew it the Titans had stormed back and it was 21–17, luckily the ageless Adam Vinatieri was able to make a field goal, avenging his rare missed one earlier and the Colts were able to pull off the victory. Luck had his usual dominant game with 2 TD’s and an INT with 262 yards, while TY Hilton had 97 yards and a TD, while Frank Gore had 121 all purpose yards. The defense showed up for once too, and they came up with a season high of 5 sacks. 

Fantasy

Luck, TY, and Gore had their usual dominant fantasy performances and still remain a must start in all leagues. Now that Donte Moncrief is healthy I think he is becoming the de facto second option for Luck as he finished with 4 receptions for 37 yards and a TD

Colts-Titans Preview

The Colts are coming off their bye week to face the Titans who are fresh off a demolition of Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. With a week off the Colts should be getting healthier with the returns of LG Jack Mewhort and DL's Henry Anderson and Kendall Langford. WR Phillip Dorsett should be returning as well and he should be a key part of the offense. Last time the Colts played the Titans the Colts were able to win because of a brilliant game by Andrew Luck as the defense was pretty mediocre, most likely they will need the same thing to happen again. 

Fantasy 

The Colts players who you should start are Andrew Luck, TY Hilton, Frank Gore, and Adam Vinatieri. At this point you probably want to roster Jack Doyle and Donte Moncrief but I wouldn't start them because the targets between players fluctuate often from week to week.

Prediction Colts 27 Titans 24

The Plight of a Minor League Baseball Player

When people think of athletes, they think of really rich overpaid people who get paid millions of dollars for playing a game for a living. That's not wrong, athletes who are the best at what they do and sometimes not even close to the best (i.e. Jay Cutler) get paid millions of dollars to play a sport for a living. However not all athletes get paid this kind of money or have a lot of luxury in their life. Unless you are a really good international free agent or a very high draft pick, most minor league baseball players actually make below minimum wage. These athletes work about 60-70 hours a week, and make about 1,100 dollars a month which is less than 4$ an hour if they were being paid regular time for the first 40 hours of the week and OT the next 20 hours. Even in the upper levels of the minor leagues athletes only make about 2,250$ which is barely above minimum wage. If each minor league baseball player was paid an extra 10$ an hour for 60 hours a week, it would cost the MLB team who pays their salary and whom they are affiliated with less than 3 million a year. One of the reasons that minor league players do not get paid that much is because they do not have a union, however some minor league baseball players are suing for back pay based on federal and state minimum wage laws.  On June 24th a bill was proposed in the US House of Representatives called "Save America's Pastime Act", this law explicitly stated that the 7500 minor league baseball players would not be entitled to minimum wage or overtime pay. As of September 19th this bill was still in the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, so hopefully the bill will die from inaction and the players will someday be able to be paid at least minimum wage.

Colts-Packers Recap

Colts Recap

Well that was unexpected. The way the Colts have been playing the past few weeks no one would have ever thought they would have any chance at all at defeating Aaron Rodgers and the Packers especially at Lambeau where they are basically indestructible. But you can never count out the Colts and when the game was over and the scoreboard said Colts 31 Packers 26, well it gave me a little hope that the Colts season may not be over in December especially in the AFC South. Luck wasn’t at his best today, far from it, but on those two critical third downs late in the 4th quarter where if he failed they’d be giving Aaron Rodgers back the ball to make a miracle comeback, he first converted to Jack Doyle and then to TY Hilton and before you knew it the Colts had won. 

Fantasy

Luck wasn’t at his best but he was still very solid with a TD and 281 passing yards. Frank Gore had 71 all purpose yards and 2 TDs both rushing. TY Hilton lead the Colts in receiving yards with 81, and Donte Moncrief was able to get a TD as well. Even with Allen back, Doyle received the majority of the targets at tight end, so he may have moved up on the depth chart to #1. 

Colts-Packers Preview

Colts Preview

Well when it seems like things couldn’t get any worse for the Colts, they get to face the Packers at Lambeau. The offensive line has been playing awful, the defense can’t cover anything and it seems like now anyone who has been productive is getting injured. Their best CB Vontae Davis is in the concussion protocol and is questionable, S Mike Adams and WR TY Hilton both got injured in last weeks game against the Chiefs, and the best offensive lineman LG Jack Mewhort injured his triceps a few weeks ago and has been out ever since. It’s a good thing Andrew Luck is still healthy otherwise the Colts would have absolutely no chance at winning this game. 

Fantasy

Obviously Luck, Gore, and Vinatieri are must starts, with TY being questionable I might consider taking a flyer on starting Donte Moncrief as he probably will be the #1 receiver. Depending on whether Dwayne Allen starts I’d also consider starting Jack Doyle too as Luck has developed a pretty good rapport with him. 

Prediction Packers 45 Colts 17

Colts-Chiefs Recap

Colts Recap

Well it seems like after the Colts take one step forward they take two steps back. In a game where they finally have their top 3 receivers healthy, they basically have no production from two of them and that was part of the reason the Colts lost 30–14. The offensive line played awful and committed too many penalties as usual, while the defense did a decent job at stopping the run, all the Chiefs receivers were just wide open after Vontae went down. Luck took the blame for the loss as usual, but everyone knows it’s not his fault. He’s expected to be perfect, it doesn’t matter how many penalties the line commits, he’s expected to convert from wherever on the field. Yes, it’s admirable that he takes the blame, but that detracts from the fact that the offensive line doesn’t protect him. 

Fantasy

Luck played just okay it wasn’t perfect but his stats definitely would have looked better if it wasn’t for some costly penalties from the offensive line. Gore was his usual aggressive self and that paid off with a great TD in the first half. TY hurt his hamstring and was basically non existent for the game. Moncrief actually looked good in his first game back from a shoulder injury so I expect him to take a larger role in the offense next week against the Packers. 

Colts-Chiefs Preview

Colts Preview

The last time the Colts played the Chiefs they made a comeback for the ages and Andrew Luck cemented his status as an elite QB. However this is a different Colts team than a few years ago, and this will be a huge game in determining what kind of team they are. Luckily this week it’s looking like they will get back WR Donte Moncrief in some capacity who has been out for the past month and will be a much needed addition to their offense. Defensively they looked decent last week against the Titans so it remains to be seen whether they will be able to continue this stretch of play. 

Fantasy

As usual Luck, Gore, TY, and Vinatieri are all must starters. They’ve all been having great seasons, and Gore and Vinatieri are really turning back the clock with their brilliant performances. This week I would consider starting TE Jack Doyle who had a big game last week, as Dwayne Allen is week to week and probably won’t end up playing on Sunday so Doyle should get plenty of targets. 

Colts 20 Chiefs 17