INDIANAPOLIS -- Chuck Pagano couldnt believe his eyes. Andrew Luck couldnt believe his ears. Colts fans couldnt believe the scoreboard, and the Kansas City Chiefs couldnt believe their incredibly bad luck. It seemed unfathomable. On a day Luck appeared to be pressing and, at times, as bad as he ever has while putting Indianapolis in a 28-point deficit, the Colts quarterback somehow turned things around. He threw three of his four touchdowns in the second half, scored on a fumble return and connected with a wide-open T.Y. Hilton on a 64-yard TD pass to give the Colts an improbable 45-44 wild-card victory Saturday. "One for the ages," said Pagano, Indianapolis coach. "I think somebody said that it was the second-largest comeback or whatever in the history of whatever. I guess 21 wasnt large enough at half, so we thought weve give them another seven, you know, just to make it interesting." Actually, rallying from 28 down made the latest of Lucks amazing comebacks one to remember. Indianapolis (12-5) became only the second playoff team to rally from that big a deficit, according to STATS. Buffalo rallied from 32 points to beat Houston 41-38 in January 1993, though that one required overtime. The teams 1,049 combined total yards set an NFL post-season record, and their 89 combined points is third on the all-time list. The Colts, winners of four straight, travel to either Denver or New England next weekend for the divisional round. Luck was an incredible mix of good and bad, finishing 29 of 45 for 443 yards, the second-highest yardage total in franchise history for a playoff game. He also matched his career high with three interceptions. Hilton broke franchise playoff records with 13 catches and 224 yards, and also caught two TDs. But it was the way Indy won that made it stunning. Luck played angry and frantic, turning a steady stream of halftime boos into a chorus of cheers. "I dont know if it ever crossed my mind on how it would be remembered," Luck said after winning his first playoff game four seasons quicker than it took his predecessor, Peyton Manning. "When I took a knee, and you feel the buzz and the energy of the crowd and see your teammates faces, that makes it special." For Kansas City, it was another brief, miserable post-season appearance. The Chiefs (11-6) finished their remarkable turnaround season with three straight losses and an eighth straight post-season defeat -- none more shocking than this one. The eight consecutive losses broke a tie with the Detroit Lions for the longest playoff skid. And they were beaten up, too. Starting running back Jamaal Charles left with a concussion on the opening possession. Knile Davis, Charles backup, left in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a left knee injury. Receiver Donnie Avery and cornerback Brandon Flowers were knocked out with second-half concussions, and linebacker Justin Houston was out with a knee injury when Hilton caught the winning pass. That put even more pressure on Alex Smith, who was 30 of 46 for 378 yards with four TDs and no interceptions but lost a fumble that led to a touchdown for Indy. Just about everyone other than the Colts figured Smith sealed the win with a 10-yard TD pass to Davis less than two minutes into the third quarter. Instead, he tried to rally the Chiefs after Hiltons score and wound up throwing to Dwayne Bowe -- who caught the ball but was out of bounds -- on fourth-and-11 with 1:55 to play from the Indy 43. "Anytime youre leading like that and then have them battle back and then take it, and you end up losing by a point, its tough, a tough pill to swallow," Smith said. Things appeared bleak with Indy trailing 31-10 at halftime, and they got worse when Lucks first pass of the second half was picked off and returned to the Indy 18. Three plays later, Smith made it 38-10. But Luck had plenty of time to make the jaw-dropping rally. With Indy going no-huddle, Luck started throwing at will. He eventually caught the Chiefs defence off-guard when Donald Brown scored on a 10-yard run to start the rally. Then Luck capitalized on the fumble by hooking with Brown on a 3-yard TD pass to make it 38-24. After Lucks third interception turned into a 42-yard field goal, he answered with a 12-yard TD pass to cut the deficit to 41-31 after three quarters. "Hes as advertised. He went out there and definitely avoided some pressure and made big plays down the field," Chiefs cornerback Sean Smith said, referring to Luck. Even when Eric Berry jarred the ball loose from Brown near the goal line, Luck had the answer. He scooped up the bouncing ball and squirted through the middle to make it 41-38. And after a Kansas City field, goal, Luck found Hilton to win it. "It seemed surreal, being down like we were down and then you have that fourth-down stop and they had used their last timeout there at the 2-minute warning," Pagano said. "Thinking about how good tomorrows going to be, snow or no snow, I dont really care." Notes: The Chiefs rushed for 150 yards on 32 carries, even with Charles out most of the game. ... Colts K Adam Vinatieri became the first player in NFL history to score 200 points in the playoffs. He now has 205. ... Indy won its first playoff game without Manning since Jan. 7, 1996, when Jim Harbaugh was the QB. ... The Chiefs fell to 0-4 vs. Colts in playoff matchups. Shoes Black Friday Deals 2020 . Today, well look at five frontcourt players today, here from the Bay Area. 1. AMIR JOHNSON (Raptors): I cant figure out what the issue or problem is, but based upon what Im seeing, hes not right. Discount Shoes Black Friday . Leverkusen said on Friday it signed Schmidt on a two-year contract. He guided Red Bull Salzburg to the Austrian championship this season. https://www.cheapshoesblackfriday.com/ . The Islanders own the fifth pick in the 2014 draft but had until June 1 to decide whether to keep it or defer to 2015. The selection was packaged in the teams deal for Thomas Vanek on October 27, 2013. China Shoes Black Friday .com) - Novak Djokovic easily took care of Andy Murray to reach the final at the $2. Wholesale Shoes Black Friday . Blown save in the ninth inning? No problem.SPOKANE, Wash. -- Adreian Payne sent Tom Izzo a text. He wants to leave a legacy. Consider it done. The 6-foot-10 senior played the game of his life Thursday, scoring a career-high 41 points to help fourth-seeded Michigan State look every bit like a March Madness favourite in a 93-78 victory over Delaware. "He was playing in another zone, not even in the ozone," Izzo said. "He was in Pluto and beyond." This marked the first 40-point performance in the NCAA tournament since Stephen Curry did it for Davidson in a win over Gonzaga in 2008. Payne set a school tournament scoring record, surpassing the 34 points Greg Kelser scored during Michigan States 1979 title run led by Magic Johnson. Paynes overall line: 10 for 15 from the field, 4 for 5 from 3-point range, and a tournament-record 17 for 17 from the free throw line. He chipped in eight rebounds, too. "Forty-one is 41, and he was a load tonight," Delaware coach Monte Ross said. "He was probably the best big man that I have faced in 21 years of college basketball." Payne thought long and hard about leaving for the NBA after last season. He decided to stick around to see if he could lead Michigan State to another Final Four. Asked what his best night -- at least so far -- in a Spartan uniform means to him, Payne said, "Leaving a legacy." "I talked to Coach about that," he said. "The other day, I sent him a text and were just trying to win games. We are here to win the weekend and thats the main goal." Michigan States next game is Saturday against 12th-seeded Harvard, which beat Cincinnati 61-57 in an earlier East region contest. Though his entire performance was sublime, it was never better than during a 105-second stretch midway through the first half. Payne scored 12 straight points to help the Spartans (27-8) open an 18-point lead over the 13th-seeded Blue Hens (25-10). Those points came three at a time -- a trio of spot-up 3s and one ridiculous, spinning left-hander from the paint while he was being mugged by Carl Baptiste. Payne stepped to the line to make the free throw with his right handd -- the hand he shoots most of his shots with -- and by then, he had pretty much proven his point.dddddddddddd "He made the right decision to stay," Izzo said. "Hes a much more cerebral player, hes a much stronger player. He is starting to marry the inside-outside game. And if he does that on a consistent basis, I see him as one of the best 4 men in the whole country." With the game out of reach -- but Izzo less than satisfied with what he called an uneven effort -- Payne played almost to the end and the Spartans fed him. He dunked with 4:26 left to reach his career high and break Kelsers record. Points Nos. 40 and 41 came on free throws; the second one gave him the record for most makes in an NCAA tournament game without a miss. The previous holders are a couple of unforgettable names: Bill Bradley (1963, Princeton) and Fennis Dembo (1987, Wyoming). "When youre scoring like that and your games coming so easy to you, and you make a lot of shots, it feels like youre in a rhythm," Payne said. "It feels like you cant be stopped." For the brief moments Delaware did stop him, others stepped up. Travis Trice scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half to prevent the Colonial Athletic Association champs from turning this into a game. Branden Dawson, the Big Ten tournaments most valuable player, finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists -- modest on this day. It was that run through the Big Ten that turned Michigan State into a trendy pick in brackets across the country. President Barack Obama has the Spartans winning it all, and Las Vegas has them favoured along with Florida and Louisville. Devon Saddler had 21 points and Davon Usher added 20 for Delaware, which made its first NCAA appearance since 1999. Ross looked at it all with a sense of awe. He thought his team played pretty well. He still cant believe Michigan State is a No. 4 seed. "Im only reiterating what the whole country is saying," Ross said. "If the country is saying youre the odds-on favourite to win the national championship, youre not 16th best in the country." ' ' '
Shoutbox
Legende: [Anführer] • [Stellvertreter] • [Heiler] • [Botschafter] • [Jäger] • [Krieger] • [Spion] • [Mitglied] • [Fremdling]
Besucher
0 Mitglieder und 165 Gäste sind Online Wir begrüßen unser neuestes Mitglied: lucioamu369409 |
Forum Statistiken
Das Forum hat 2597
Themen
und
3950
Beiträge.
Heute waren 0 Mitglieder Online: Besucherrekord: 278 Benutzer (31.10.2024 22:29). |
Einfach ein eigenes Xobor Forum erstellen |