Das Forum » The Indianapolis Colts have Andrew Luck healthy

NASHVILLE Cullen Gillaspia Jersey , Tenn. (AP) — and throwing the ball all over the field.That’s more than enough with an injured Marcus Mariota stuck watching from the Tennessee sideline.Luck threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns and the Colts beat the Titans 33-17 on Sunday night for the final spot in the postseason as the AFC’s No. 6 seed.Article continues below ...With the Texans winning the AFC South title earlier Sunday with a victory over Jacksonville, that left the Colts and Titans playing for the second wild-card berth and a visit to Houston on Saturday.“It’s been a lot of fun,” Luck said. “It’s been a journey, that’s for sure. I think what this team is doing is enjoying the journey.”Luck remained perfect against Tennessee, notching his 11th victory for the most wins by a quarterback since at least 1970 to win his first 11 starts against one franchise. He helped the Colts (10-6) — under first-year coach Frank Reich — end their postseason drought by winning for the ninth time in 10 games after a 1-5 start.“I mean you’re 1-5, and that’s special,” Reich said. “It not only takes the whole team for 10 weeks, so that’s very special.”The Titans (9-7) snapped a four-game winning streak with Mariota sidelined by neck and foot injuries. They missed a second straight playoff berth under first-year coach Mike Vrabel.“We made a decision that Marcus wasn’t going to play tonight,” said Vrabel, who gave no details on when the decision not to start Mariota was made nor the seriousness of his injury. “We’ll continue to evaluate him and try to worry about his health and every one of those guys’ health — Marcus included.”The Colts intercepted two of Blaine Gabbert’s passes in the final 9:05 to finish off their 13th win in the last 15 games in the series.Marlon Mack ran for 119 yards and a TD for the Colts. Adam Vinatieri kicked field goals of 53 and 25 yards. The NFL’s oldest active player missed his final extra point.Derrick Henry, who took the Titans’ first offensive snap out of the wildcat, finished with 93 yards.Tennessee was missing three defensive starters with four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jurrell Casey placed on injured reserve Monday and linebacker Brian Orakpo scratched for a third straight game. That left the Titans unable to pressure Luck even with the Colts missing center Ryan Kelly because of a neck injury.And Luck simply shredded a Tennessee defense that came in as the NFL’s No. 2 scoring defense giving up just 18 points a game and sixth against the pass.He drove the Colts 92 yards before hitting Dontrelle Inman with an 11-yard TD pass and finished off a 90-play drive that used up nearly 10 minutes with a 9-yard pass to Eric Ebron. That left the Colts up 14-0, having held the ball for nearly 17 of the first 21 minutes.Luck also added a 1-yard TD toss to Ryan Hewitt on the opening drive of the third quarter for a 24-10 lead.“The most satisfying thing is to walk in the locker room, look at your teammate and say, ‘We did it,’ and we did it,” Reich said. “Those are three of the best words that you can ever say to your teammate. To me Rock Ya-Sin Jersey , that’s really the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”Titans linebacker Jayon Brown almost singlehandedly kept the Colts from putting the game away before halftime.Brown returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. After Adoree Jackson inexplicably grabbed at a bouncing punt that put the Colts at the Tennessee 9, the Colts had a TD run by Mack erased by a holding penalty on center Evan Boehm. Two plays later, Brown stripped Mack of the ball and recovered it.Ryan Succop kicked a 38-yard field goal that pulled Tennessee to 17-10 at halftime. Gabbert threw a 22-yard TD pass to Luke Stocker to pull the Titans to 24-17 late in the third quarter.INJURIESThe already banged-up Titans had tight end Luke Stocker leave with an injured knee early in the second quarter followed by receiver Tajae Sharpe being helped to the sideline with an ankle. Stocker returned. Sharpe didn’t.Colts defensive end Tyquan Lewis hurt his knee late in the first half and did not return. Colts receiver Ryan Grant hurt a toe.FLYING FLAGSThe Colts would have won by a bigger margin if not for penalties that wiped out not one, but two touchdowns. They at least salvaged a Vinatieri field goal after Jordan Wilkins‘ TD run in the fourth quarter was erased by a formation penalty. The Colt were flagged 12 times for 96 yards. The Titans, who came in as the NFL’s least penalized team, finished with nine penalties for 75 yards.UP NEXT:Colts: Wild-card game in Houston on Saturday.Titans: Try to get Mariota healthy and find a better backup. DENVER (AP) — Hall of Famer Gary Zimmerman realized Pat Bowlen wasn’t your typical, meddlesome NFL owner his first Thanksgiving in Denver when he found a sign-up sheet for a turkey, surely a prank on the rookies and other newcomers like himself.What the heck, he figured he’d play along, so he scribbled his name.“Then I come into the locker room,” Zimmerman recounted, “and there’s Pat sticking turkeys into our lockers.”That was Pat Bowlen.Chum.Confidante.Competitor.A billionaire businessman whose family made its fortune in oil, gas and real estate, Bowlen just wanted to be one of the guys.A competitive triathlete himself, Bowlen often was found on the StairMaster, drenched in sweat when he wasn’t on the sideline checking out practice.“If there was a way for him to compete against what he’s going through,” former defensive end Alfred Williams said a couple of summers ago http://www.indianapoliscoltsteamonline.com/ben-banogu-jersey , “he’d beat that damn disease every time.”Bowlen died Thursday night at age 75 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s, one that forced him to step down from his daily duties running his beloved Broncos five years ago.“Just woke up to the very sad news of my friend & confidant Mr. B passing away,” Hall of Famer Terrell Davis tweeted Friday morning. “The world has lost a great man/legend.”Bowlen’s death less than two months before his enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame brought an outpouring of condolences from across the NFL landscape, from players who thanked him for his friendship to rival owners who appreciated his foresight.“Pat personified all that’s right about the NFL and is extremely deserving of this summer’s recognition as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said.Bowlen was known as much for his humility as his competitive fire, doing his best to stay out of the spotlight even as he built a team that was among the most successful in professional sports.“A huge reason I came to Denver was I knew Mr. Bowlen was all about winning,” Peyton Manning said earlier this month. “And I knew I was on the clock and wasn’t going to be able to play 12 more years. I knew the Broncos were about winning, and winning now.”Manning capped the second chapter of his storied career by becoming the first QB to win Super Bowl titles with two different teams, retiring a month after the Broncos’ 24-10 win over Carolina in Super Bowl 50.That night, general manager John Elway thrust the silver trophy into the air and hollered, “This one’s for Pat!”With that, Elway returned the favor for Bowlen’s famous “This one’s for John!” declaration following the franchise’s first championship, a 31-24 upset of the mighty Green Bay Packers in 1998.Bowlen not only wanted his own team to win but for the league to thrive. He served on more than a dozen NFL committees, including the competition and broadcast groups that played key roles in the game’s soaring popularity.“He wanted to do the best thing for the league and he didn’t want any credit for it,” former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. “He didn’t take a whole lot of accolades but he did a whole lot of work. And I think that was Pat in general.”Among the Twitter tributes to Bowlen on Friday was this one from Broncos long snapper Casey Kreiter: “I never had the privilege to meet you in person but based on the first class organization you built in the Broncos, it is clear you were a tremendous leader and person.”Indeed, only a handful of current Broncos — Von Miller Parris Campbell Jersey , Chris Harris Jr. and Derek Wolfe — were on the roster when Bowlen was still making daily treks to team headquarters. His presence remains, however.Outside the team’s locker room is a large picture of Bowlen and his legacy quote: “I want us to be number 1 in everything.”“I will miss Pat greatly and will always treasure the times we had together,” tweeted Elway . “He was a tremendous mentor and a tremendous friend.”Patriots owner Robert Kraft said, “There was no owner or person like Pat Bowlen. I loved him. … He was relentless in his competitive desire to win, but he was always a gentleman, a professional and a trusted partner. He was a leader both in his success and in his kindness and humility.”Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in Bowlen he found a kindred spirit, one who recruited him in selecting dark horse candidate Paul Tagliabue as commissioner in 1989, and in bringing Rupert Murdoch and Fox aboard as a broadcast partner in 1993, which “wasn’t a popular decision at the time, but it was the right one,” Jones said.Bowlen’s “leadership of the Broncos and his dedication to the entire league will serve as a template of excellence in sports ownership that will be emulated and admired for years to come,” Jones added. “And that’s a wonderful legacy. Our thoughts and support go out to his family and also to football fans all over the country who have benefited from his wisdom and his love for our game.”Make no mistake: Bowlen’s first love was his Broncos.Zimmerman said that during Manning’s whirlwind free agency tour in 2012 he knew all the other teams pursuing the star quarterback were wasting their time once he saw that Denver was in the mix.“I knew he’d be a Bronco before he did,” Zimmerman boasted, “because once he visited here and met with Mr. Bowlen, I knew there was no way he could go anywhere else.”