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02-07-2003, 09:35 PM
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#1 | ||
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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2022: Goodbye to Indianapolis
Indianapolis, Indiana - Date Line, December, 2021.
An ugly scene continues to get worst in Indianapolis this afternoon. After 18 straight years of missing the playoffs the Colts finally won a division title with a 10-6 record, and even earned a bye week for this year’s playoffs. That is where the good news ends folks. The Colts, already suffering attendance woes, and hovering near the bottom of the league in that respect, may have put the final dagger in themselves this past Sunday afternoon. Hosting a mediocre New England Patriots team, and heavily favored to move onto the Conference Championships for the first time in well over 20 years, the Colts melted down in the worst way possible. The Colts only trailed 6-3 at the half, but in the second half, Tom Prince, New England’s Quarterback started lighting up the Colts secondary en route to a 48-3 massacre. It started after the second touchdown, that is when the Colt’s defensive players started pointing fingers at each other. It got worst as the offense and defense started pointing at each other. And then, if it couldn’t get worst, a team wide brawl began with still a few minutes left in the game. It was a huge melee on the Colts sidelines, players and coaches just going at it, releasing the steam that has really built up here in Indianapolis over the last couple of years. If that was not bad enough, the melee spilled over into the stands where hundreds of fans were involved in the fighting. To make a long story short, when the smoke cleared, there were no more friends on this team, the fans have completely abandoned the Colts, and the GM, coach and scout were all fired. Sources tell us that Marmel has been hired as the new GM and some pretty lofty goals have been set for him as new GM of the Colts. They are as follows: 1) Move the team out of Indianapolis. There is no support here, and the relations between the team and fans are at an all time low. Football cannot continue to exist here. The team must be relocated to somewhere that we are wanted. 2) Fire all staff and release all players. We want a completely fresh start. The coaches and scouts are gone and will be replaced with new guys. About 65% of the roster are FA’s, and the rest, regardless of talent will be straight up cut from the team. There is to be no bad blood remaining. 3) Win a playoff game. This team is 0-3 since since the turn of the century. 4) Win Back to Back Superbowls. 5) Turn this team into a money maker. We have not turned a profit in over 18 years. 6) Draft and develop an NFL MVP, and keep him until retirement. It is about time this franchise has another Hall of Famer we can hang our hat on.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-07-2003, 09:35 PM
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#2 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Previous Seasons:
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." Last edited by Marmel : 02-07-2003 at 09:36 PM. |
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02-07-2003, 10:15 PM
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#3 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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The very first order of business is to propose a stadium that the city of Indianapolis will surely reject. We ask for the biggest and the best of everything, at a cost of over 1 billions dollars. We are nice enough to offer to pay $50,000 of the total cost.
But, on to the important stuff. We hire a new coach and scout for this team. Our scout is 58 year old Roderick Preston. He has no NFL experience. His strengths are young talent, running back and the secondary. Defensive Lineman are his main weakness. Our new coach is 64 year old Shaun Mooney. He does not have any NFL experience either. His strengths are with Quarterbacks and Linebackers. He is great with young talent, a good motivator, and a good defensive play caller. He is weak with running backs, defensive lineman and the secondary. I lower ticket prices by about 50% across the board. There is no love from the people in Indianapolis, and it will take more than that to get people back in the seats, but we are leaving here soon, so screw them. We have a completely empty roster, and per the owner of this Franchise, we are to start out with rookies, and build from there, so we skip Free Agency. We have a ton of cap room, but basically, we are going to try and draft 7 solid players, and fill in with undrafted rookies. This will probably be the norm for 2 or 3 seasons, until guys drafted in 2022 or later start showing up in FA. Due to our division title last season, we don’t even draft until #27 in each round. Rough start. Round 1: CB Bucky Keisel, Washington. A very solid looking cornerback, usually these types of guys go in the first half of the first round, so I am happy to take him at #23. Round 2: DE Kris Austin, SW Texas St. Possibly a bit of a reach, but I value linemen. Round 3: QB Roy Radford, Arizona State. Not a future superstar, but could very well get the job done for us for the next few years. Round 4: WR Donald Rose, Notre Dame. Pretty solid receiver who will hopefully be on the team for many years to come. Round 5: DT Nick Watkins, Kansas. A pass rushing specialist. Round 6: C Shaun Lamontagne, Alabama. About the best player available. Round 7: S Ted Whalen, Pittsburgh. Strictly the BPA. As I am about to leave the war room at the draft, the phone rings. It is the owner. The fine folks of Indianapolis voted the stadium proposal down, 67% to 33%. Perfect. We feast on dozens of undrafted rookies and sign a whole bunch of them to 1 and 2 year contracts. This first season is going to be pretty ugly, so I plan on taking a long winter vacation, and just looking at the final results when I get back. Let me share that with you.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-07-2003, 10:39 PM
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#4 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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2022 Playoff Results:
Kansas City defeats New York Giants for their first Title. Our undrafted Rookie Wide Receiver, Oscar Carpenter was named offensive rookie of the year. He had 1,290 receiving yards and 6 touchdown catches. The time has come to try and move this team. LA is the place I want to go. That city has been without a franchise for about 3 decades, and I want a piece of the action. We ask for a state of the art stadium and offer to pay a huge chunk of the cost. I cross my fingers and will hope for the best. Once again, we will just skip by free agency. We hold the #1 overall pick in the draft, and the #1 pick in each round, obviously. Round 1: RB Blaine Garner, Indiana. What a terrific looking back. He is already developed quite a bit and could be a tremendous boost to our horrible offense. Round 2: G Darrin Rawlings, Mississippi. A 337 pound monster that Garner could run behind. Round 3: LB Ed Deese, Notre Dame. Extremely solid, lots of potential. Round 4: S Richard McWilliams, UNLV. Big hitter, and great coverage player. Round 5: DE Fred Crockett, Nichols State. Average DE, which is good for this late in the draft. Round 6: T Cole McNeil, Mississippi. Rawlings linemate at Miss., and will provide some decent run blocking. Round 7: ILB Dustin Duffy. Not the BPA, but the best ILB, which I felt we need more than anything else at this particular point. After the draft I fly out to LA to push for the move. Unfortunately, the issue failed and we are stuck here for another year. Just great.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-07-2003, 11:20 PM
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#5 |
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Resident Alien
Join Date: Jun 2001
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Somehow, I always envisioned something like this happening to the Bengals. Great start, and just like Sting sang, I'll be watching you.
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02-08-2003, 10:41 AM
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#6 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Here are the 2023 Indianapolis Colts:
Offensive Outlook: We have a few pieces to the puzzle on offense. Rookie running back Blaine Garner looks to be the real deal, and will start in the backfield from day 1. We still have Roy under center, and he is still unproven, and doesn’t look like he will pan out in the long run. Roy has a couple nice receivers to throw the ball too. Undrafted O. Carpenter and Donny Rose will catch a majority of Roy’s passes this year. On the offensive line, we have rookie Dwayne Bacerra, but not much else. It is going to be tough up there this season. We don’t even have any quality fullbacks or tight ends to help out the blocking. Defensive Outlook: Our defensive line is average, at best. We have a bunch of no-namers up front, but they are a bit better than your undrafted type player. I would call our line backing corps just about the same. Our defensive strength at this point is our 2 corners, Keisel and Devine. Our safeties can make plays, but won’t stand out at all. We went 0-4 in the preseason, but at least we were scoring some points this year. Garner got his first taste of NFL action and liked it. He scored a couple TD’s in the air and on the ground, so he appears to be a versatile back.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." Last edited by Marmel : 02-08-2003 at 10:43 AM. |
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02-08-2003, 11:07 AM
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#7 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 1: Indy at Tennessee
We are 8 point underdogs for today’s game. Things look just as bad as last year as we start off in a 24-0 hole at halftime. We were held to 48 rushing yards and 2 passing yards in the first half. We score the first points of our season midway through the third quarter on a Radford to Treadwell pass of 15 yards. Our defense follows that up with a touchdown of their own. Ed Deese returns an interception 56 yards for the score. We still trail 31-13 though. That was all the fun for us today, and the final score was Tennessee 41, Indy 13. Garner ran for 16 yards on 5 carries in his debut. Collier ran for 43 yards on 5 carries as his backup. Radford was 17 for 36 for 175 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions. Treadwell had 30 receiving yards, including a touchdown catch. Carpenter had 64 receiving yards. Jarvis and Cecava each had a sack. Jarvis also recorded 12 tackles. Deese had that interception and a touchdown. Week 2: Carolina (1-0) at Indy (0-1) We are 12 point dogs, at home. I upped Garner’s playing time. On our first play from scrimmage, Radford throws a pick and it is returned to the 1 yard line. Carolina punches it in and we trail 7-0 already. We regroup and Radford leads us 81 yards for the game tying touchdown, in a 7 plus minute drive, capped off by a 3 yard Garner run. That is his first NFL touchdown. Late in the first half, we trail 10-7, but have good field position. Carner catches a 20 yard pass, and then Radford hits Ayer for a 2 yard score and we lead 14-10. Carolina connects on a 57 yard field goal right before the half, but we still lead 14-13. The third quarter ends and we are trailing 19-14. We have the ball, and are approaching midfield, at the 46 yard line. With 10 minutes left in the game, Garner runs for his second score, a 6 yard run around the right side, and we regain the lead, 20-19. Carolina kicks a 47 yard field goal with just 3 minutes left in the game to put them up 22-20. Radford hits Rose for 32 yards to put us down to the 28 with only 1:09 on the clock. We get down to the 21 yard line, and face a 4th down with 41 second left. The field goal unit comes out on the field. The kick is right down the middle and we win 23-22! Garner ran for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had 2 catches for 17 yards. Radford was 24 for 37 for 312 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Carpenter had 140 receiving yards. Rose had 76 receiving yards. Keisel had a sack.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-08-2003, 11:33 AM
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#8 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 3: Denver (1-1) at Indy (1-1)
We are only 2 point dogs today. We start this game out looking very good. We take a 3-0 lead, then increase it to 10-0 on a 3 yard touchdown catch by Garner. Late in the first half, Radford his Rose for a 3 yard touchdown and we lead 17-0. After 3 quarters, we lead 17-3, but Denver is threatening as we open the fourth. We hold them to field goal and lead 17-6. We tack on a late field goal to go up by 14, and that is how the game ends. We win two in a row, after a 20-6 victory over Denver! Garner ran for 55 yards on 18 carries. He also had 2 catches for 8 yards and a touchdown. Collier ran for 82 yards on 11 carries. Radford was 16 for 25 for 155 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions Rose had 26 receiving yards and a touchdown Austin, Watkins and Crockett each had a sack. Duffy had an interception. CB Zach Humphrey is Out for the season with an MCL injury. Week 4: Baltimore (1-2) at Indy (2-1) For the first time this year, we are favorites, by 1 point. We start off with the ball and drive 84 yards in 5 and a half minutes to take a 7-0 lead on FB Whitener’s 21 yard run. We add a field goal early in the second half after another long, 84 yard, 9 minute drive. The Ravens get on the board midway through the 2nd quarter with a touchdown run of 1 yard to make the score 10-7. The Ravens get another touchdown right before the half, and take a 14-10 lead into the lockers. The third quarter goes by with out any scoring, but early in the fourth, Radford hits Whitener for the 5 yard touchdown and we regain the lead at 17-14. Our defense keeps them from crossing midfield the rest of the game and we come away with another victory, 17-14! Garner ran for 105 yards, and had 7 catches for 74 yards. Radford was 27 for 36 for 292 yards with a touchdown. Carpenter had 87 receiving yards. FB Whitener had 20 receiving yards and a touchdown. He also ran fro 21 and a touchdown. Bortoszewicz had a sack. Keisel and Whalen each had an interception. LB Emmitt Jarvis is out for the season with shoulder surgery.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-08-2003, 11:57 AM
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#9 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: VA
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I started out with Indy, and tried to move them to LA, and they declined it as well. Jeez you'd think they'd want a team.
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Chicago Eagles 2 time ZFL champions We're "rebuilding" |
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02-08-2003, 12:17 PM
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#10 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 5: Pittsburgh (1-2-1) at Indy (3-1)
We are favored by 9, and have a real shot at going 4-1, although we will only have 4 more home games after this week. The Steelers take the opening kickoff and drive 79 yards in 4:30 to take a 7-0 lead. We fall behind by a 10-0 score. We are held to 53 total yards for the first half. We start with the ball in the second half and drive 80 yards to score on a 20 yard touchdown pass from Radford to Carpenter. We give those 7 points right back to the Steelers, as they score on their next possession. A fumble gives them three more points and we trail 20-7 heading into the fourth quarter. We quickly get a field goal, but are still down 2 scores at 20-10. We get a 27 yard touchdown pass from Radford to Rose, but there is only 1:30 on the clock and we trail 20-17. We have all three timeouts, so we kick deep. We hold on 3rd and 1 and get the ball back with 44 seconds left and no timeouts. We complete a few passes, but we simply run out of time and suffer a 20-17 defeat. Garner ran for 54 and had 57 receiving yards. Radford was 25 of 35 for 276 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. Rose had 89 receiving yards and a touchdown Carpenter had 72 receiving yards and a touchdown Morris had a sack. Week 6: Indy (3-2) at Jacksonville (1-4) We are favored, on the road, by 4 points. We intercept the Jag’s first pass attempt and are set up inside the 20. We have a touchdown called back due to holding and settle for a 3-0 lead. We intercept their second pass attempt, and again have the ball on the 20. We fail to convert for any points. We get our third interception in the second quarter, and this time drive 62 yards to score on a 16 yard run by Collier. We lead 10-0. Jacksonville gets the ball back and on their first play, we get our fourth interception of the first half! We get three points out o that one and lead 13-0. Jacksonville finally doesn’t turn the ball over, but we force a punt. We punt back and you guessed it, we pick off our 5th pass of the half. We get a 7 yard touchdown pass from Radford to Garner and go up 20-0. The Jags get the ball back, and once again, another interception. I have never seen anything like this. The half runs out before we can score off of it though. At halftime we lead 20-0 and have 6 interceptions from our defense. Amazing! With 5 minutes left in the third, The Jags get a field goal to cut the lead to 20-3. With 11 minutes left in the game, they cut the lead to 20-10. Now it starts to get scary. With 4 and a half minutes, they score again and we only lead 20-17. We cannot do a thing on offense and punt the ball back. They drive right down the field and tie the game up at 20 with 44 second left. We try to make something happen, but we turn the ball over with 1 second left on the clock. Jacksonville kicks the field goal, and we lose. I cannot believe we lost this game, 23-20. Embarrassing. Worst loss ever. Garner ran for 54 yards and had 18 receiving yards, and a touchdown. Radford was 22 for 36 for 184 yards with a touchdown and 2 picks. Carpenter had 37 receiving yards. Devine had 3 interceptions. Keisel had 2 interceptions. Morris had an interception. Austin and Farley each had a sack.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-08-2003, 12:41 PM
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#11 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 7: Indy (3-3) at Cincinnati (3-3)
The Bengals are favored by 3 points. It only takes Cincinnati 3:19 to go up 7-0 on us. Carpenter hauls in a 24 yard pass from Radford and we tie the game up midway through the first. We get a field goal to go up 10-7, but Cincinnati connects on a 51 yard pass play to bring the ball down tot eh 2 yard line. They punch it in and go up 14-10 as we head to the second quarter. By halftime, we trail 21-10. We get a field goal early in the third to make it 21-13. They get those 3 points back on their next possession, and we trail 24-13 heading into the fourth quarter. We cannot get anything going in the fourth quarter and lose 24-13. Garner ran for 22 yards. Radford was 22 of 35 for 241 yard with a touchdown and an interception. Rose had 91 receiving yards. Carpenter had 74 receiving yards and a touchdown. Diegel had a sack. Week 8: Indy (3-4) at Cleveland (5-2) Cleveland are 8 point favorites. We fall behind 7-0 after Cleveland’s first possession. A Radford interception sets them up perfectly and they take a 14-0 lead. In the second quarter, they go up 21-0 after returning an interception 49 yards. By halftime, we trail 35-0. The final was 42-3. Garner ran for 19 yards. Radford was 4 of 12 for 62 yards and 4 interceptions before he was pulled from the game. Hurley was 10 of 15 for 73 yards Rose had 41 receiving yards. DE Kris Austin will be out for the season with a high ankle sprain. Week 9: bye week Indy is (3-5)
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-08-2003, 01:02 PM
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#12 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 10: Houston (2-6) at Indy (3-5)
We are 4 point favorites. We go 80 yards in the first 2:44 of the game to score on a 5 yard Collier touchdown run. The Texans tie the game up early in the 2nd quarter. 2 fumbles in the last 2 minutes of the half cost us 10 points and we trail 17-7 at halftime. We fall behind 24-7 in the third, but we tack on a field goal to cut the lead to 24-10 heading into the fourth quarter. We open the fourth quarter with a 99 yard drive in just 3 and a half minutes to cut the lead to 24-17. The Texans answer right back with a touchdown and that should do it for us. The final was 31-17. Garner ran for 61 yards and had 21 receiving yards. Collier ran for 28 yards and 2 touchdowns Radford was 15 of 26 for 204 yards and an interception. Carpenter had 74 receiving yards. Shields had a sack. Week 11: Tennessee (8-1) at Indy (3-6) We are only 4 point dogs at home. The Titans jump out to an early 3-0 lead, but on their next possession we pick off their pass are inside the redzone. We have to settle for 3, but tie the game up at 3. At the half, we trail 9-3. We get the ball to start the second half and hold it for 8:29 and drive 71 yards, only to settle for a 24 yard field goal. We still trail, 9-6. Just before the end of the 3rd, the Titans get a touchdown to take a 16-6 lead. Cecava intercepts a Tennessee pass in the first minute of the fourth and returns it 56 yards for the score and we are right there, only down 16-13. With 4 minutes left in the game, Deese intercepts a pass and we are on the 49 yard line, still only down 3 points. At the two minute warning we line up for a 45 yard field goal to tie the game, but Tumulty misses it wide left. We do have all 3 timeouts left. We never get the ball back though, and lose, 16-13. Garner ran for 58 yards and had 26 receiving yards. Radford was 16 of 30 for 162 yards. Carpenter had 84 receiving yards. Farley and Bartoszewicz had a sacks each. Devine, Cecava and Deese all had an interception. LB Bartoszewicz is out for about a month with a strained elbow.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-08-2003, 01:35 PM
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#13 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 12: Indy (3-7) at New Orleans (3-7)
Somehow the books have us as 3 point favorites on the road. Take the Saints and the points. We force a turnover and grab an early 3-0 lead, but the Saints come right back and score a touchdown to go up 7-3. A 45 yard and 25 yard pass completion spark our next drive, which is capped off by a 1 yard touchdown plunge by Garner. We have a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter. With 4 minutes left in the half, the Saints grab the 14-10 lead on a 2 play drive of 50 yards. That score holds until halftime. The third goes by with no score, but early in the fourth, the Saints pick of a Radford pass and take it 80 yards for the score and a 21-10 lead. They put us away, 31-10 after that. Garner ran for 59 yards and a touchdown. He also had 19 receiving yards. Radford was 15 of 33 for 160 and an interception. Rose had 78 receiving yards. Keisel had 2 interceptions. Crockett, Watkins and Weigmann each had a sack. Week 13: Indy (3-8) at Buffalo (2-8-1) The Bills are 3 point favorites. Buffalo scores first, early in the second quarter, on an 18 yard touchdown pass for the 7-0 lead. At the half, we trail 10-0. On our first possession of the second half we drive 78 yards but settle for a 22 yard field goal to make the score 10-3. Buffalo extends their lead to 17-3 as we head to the 4th quarter. We end up dropping this game 31-10. Garner ran for 75 yards and had 12 receiving yards. Radford was 9 of 24 for 138 with an interception. Jacobs had 80 receiving yards. Carpenter had 64 receiving yards. Richard, Morris, and Cooperstein each had a sack. Week 14: Indy (3-9) at Tampa (9-3) Tampa is favored by 16 points. This one was pretty ugly. We trailed 24-7 and ended up losing 47-10. Garner ran for 57 and had 10 receiving Radford was 9 of 24 for 98 yards and 6 interceptions Watkins had a sack.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-08-2003, 01:38 PM
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#14 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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I’ll spare everyone, including myself the gory detail of the rest of the season and just give you the results:
Jacksonville at Indy. We kick a game winning field goal with no time left on the clock for a 23-20 victory. Atlanta crushes us 33-6. Houston ends our season, 27-7. We finish 4-12, dead last in our division, and tied with 2 other teams for the worst record in the league.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-08-2003, 01:44 PM
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#15 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Most of the guys we signed last year were to two year contracts. Only a couple panned out, so here are our resignings:
FB Walter Whitener WR Oscar Carpenter C Shaun LaMontagne C Martin Richmond P David Haberman DT Keith Farley CB Joey Devine Tampa Bay wins their third Superbowl title, the most in the league by beating New England in the big game. Blaine Garner was named Offensive Rookie of the Year. Nick Watkins was named 2nd team DT.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-08-2003, 02:01 PM
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#16 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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We start out the off season by making another ridiculous attempt at getting a new stadium build in Indianapolis. There is no doubt this proposal will fail, then we will once again try to move this team.
Our coach and scout stay on for the final year of their contracts. There are a few guys who I can go after in the free agency period, but nobody I see is really worth my effort, nor my money, so I pass. The Draft: We draft #3 in each round this year. Round 1: T Arnie Foreman, Ohio State. Finally a real stud for our offensive line. Round 2: ILB Vinny Levine, Cal. A legit starter for our team in an important position. We run a 4-3 defense. Round 3: WR Antoine Mitchell, Fresno State. A solid guy who will be our #3, and could possible replace Rose as our #2. Round 4: OLB Shannon Tanner, Minnesota. High quality player, already a bit developed. Could possibly start right away. Round 5: K Gus Covert, Vandy. Great looking kicker. Round 6: TE Norm Hamernik, Tulane. Pretty good looking tight end. Nice pass and run blocking skills. Round 7: QB Shaun Nixon, Georgia. A project, at best.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-08-2003, 10:36 PM
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#17 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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2024 Indianapolis Colts:
Offensive Outlook: Radford is not the future under center, but for now, I think he will be able to hold his own. Garner is the real deal at running back, and we have a couple of new guys at FB and TE who should be able to provide some better blocking for him this year. Our offensive line still is weak, but the addition of Foreman at one of the tackle spots is a very big improvement and a step in the right direction. Defensive Outlook: Not too much has changed this year. I think we are better on the defensive line, and at linebacker, but we still don’t have any outstanding players. The players we do have seem a bit better than in the past though. At corner, we have two great players in Keisel and Devine. I feel they can matchup with any teams two best receivers. The safety spots are a bit shaky, but I don’t think we will get killed there, except for maybe against the top competition. I am looking for us to approach a 500 record, but even that seems a bit of a reach. Preseason: We go 1-3, but only suffer a few nicks and cuts. Nothing that will hold anybody out of our opening day lineup. 2024 Regular Season: Week 1: Jacksonville at Indianapolis The books have the Jaguars as 5 point favorites. The Jags jump out to a quick 3-0 lead and that score holds until we get a 9 yard touchdown pass from Radford to TE Rossum at the start of the second quarter to give us a 7-3 lead. Jacksonville answers on their next possession with a 63 yard touchdown drive to regain the lead at 10-7. That scores holds until halftime. The Jags extend their lead to 17-7 early in the second half. About midway through the 3rd quarter, Garner runs one in from 8 yards out to close the gap to 17-14. On our next possession, we turn the ball over deep in our territory, and Jacksonville makes us pay by scoring an easy touchdown and taking a 24-14 lead. We get an interception early in the 4th quarter, our offense takes the field and very quickly, Hicks, our backup RB, runs one in from 21 yards out. This is a game again, with the score 24-21. Just a minute later, we give up a 67 yard pass play, followed by a 6 yard touchdown play and fall behind by ten points again, at 31-21. We turn the ball over again, and the Jags all but put us away with a field goal and a 34-21 lead with only 6 minutes left. When all was said and done, we lost 41-21. Garner ran for 64 yards and a touchdown. Hicks ran for 58 yards and a touchdown. Radford was 17 of 34 for 250 yards with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. Carpenter had 75 receiving yards. Rossum had 51 receiving yards and a touchdown. Whalen had an interception. Week 2: Minnesota (0-1) at Indy (0-1) The Vikings are 4 point favorites. Minnesota scores first after intercepting a Radford pass. They punch it in and take a 7-0 lead. In the second quarter we get burned on a 45 yard pass play and now trail 14-0. We fall behind 17-0 before Garner gets a 12 yard touchdown run with under a minute left in the half. We also connect on a 56 yarder as time expires to cut the lead to 17-10 at halftime. The Vikings increase their lead early in the third quarter with a touchdown and go up 24-10. On the last play of the third quarter, we kick a short field goal and cut the lead to 24-13. Our defense just keeps getting beat though, and we fall behind 31-13 early in the fourth. That score holds until the end, and we go to 0-2 on the year. Garner ran for 88 yards and a touchdown. Radford was 19 of 43 for 227 yards and 3 interceptions. He is really beginning to frustrate me now. Carpenter had 105 receiving yards. Rose had 46 receiving yards. Whalen had an interception.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-08-2003, 10:55 PM
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#18 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 3: Kansas City (2-0) at Indy (0-2)
The Chiefs are only 4 point favorites. I would take the points. I think we are due. We open up the scoring with a short field goal, 12 minutes into the game. In the second quarter, Radford finds Rose in the corner of the end zone to give us a 10-0 lead. They start to find seams in our pass defense and march down field for a touchdown and cut the lead to 10-7. The half ends with that same score. The second half starts out with their passing game just beating our secondary down the field. The Chiefs get another touchdown and take their first lead, 14-10. Our offense responds and moves down the field. Radford connects for 28 yards to Carpenter and we are back on top, 17-14. In the fourth quarter, we convert a key fourth and 1 situation and then later in the drive, FB Lance dives into the end zone from 2 yards out to give us a 24-14 lead. The Chiefs take the kickoff and on their first play, McWilliams intercepts a pass and take it 35 yards for the score and the 31-14 lead! That seemed to have pissed them off, as they cover 85 yards in 2 and a half minutes to cut the lead to 31-21, and there is still just over 10 minutes left in the game. They trick us with the onside kick, and recover it. Moving quickly they get a field goal to cut the lead to 7, at 31-24. This time they kick deep, and our offense takes the field and has a decent drive to get us into field goal range. We connect on it and go back up by 10, 34-23, and now there are only 3 and a half minutes to play. Our defense holds and we come away with the 34-24 victory! Garner ran for 104 yards. Radford was 17 of 30 for 242 yards with 2 touchdowns. Rose had 94 receiving yards and a touchdown. Rossum had 70 receiving yards. Carpenter had 28 receiving yards and a touchdown. Stitson, Whalen and McWilliams each had a pick. That make 3 picks in 3 games for Whalen. Week 4: Indy (1-2) at Houston (2-1) The Texans are 4 point favorites. Typical start for us. We turn the ball over and Houston converts it into a 7-0 lead. Then another turnover, and now a 14-0 lead. Follow that up with a 3 and out, and we are now down 21-0. We finally get on the board with a field goal as the first quarter runs out. Not long after that, though, we trail 28-3. We get another field goal before the half, but still trail 28-6 at halftime. In the third quarter, we kick our 3rd field goal, but are still way back at 28-9. That is as close as we ever get and the final score ends up as 38-9. Garner was held to 20 rushing yards and 10 receiving. Radford was 10 of 20 for 191 with 3 interceptions. Kirchof and Keisel each had an interception. DT Keith Farley is out for the year with elbow surgery.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-08-2003, 11:14 PM
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#19 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 5: Buffalo (1-3) at Indy (1-3)
We are 7 point dogs at home against a 103 team. I promise you, take the points! We take the opening kickoff and drive 44 yards and connect on a long field goal to open a 3-0 lead early on. We get the ball back and Radford finds FB Whitener in the end zone for a 5 yard touchdown and a 10-0 lead. In the second quarter our secondary gets beat a couple of times and Buffalo gets on the baord, but we still lead, 10-7. That score holds until halftime. Buffalo starts with the ball in the second half. They run off 8 and a half minutes of clock, but we hold them to three, and the game is tied at 10. We finally get the ball, lose 7 yards total, and punt. Buffalo drives into the redzone, but our defense finally steps up and Keisel intercepts a pass. That pumps the offense up and as the fourth quarter starts, Radford finds Rose streaking down field and hits him for a 44 yard touchdown strike to give us a 17-10 lead. We stuff Buffalo, get the ball back and kick an important field goal to give us a 10 point cushion. Our defense holds and we come away with a 20-10 victory! Garner ran for 83 yards and had 25 receiving yards. Radford was 18 of 33 for 254 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Carpenter had 95 yards. Rose had 72 yards and a touchdown. Crockett, Stinson and Austin each had a sack. Duffy and Keisel each had an interception. Week 6: Indy (2-3) at Jacksonville (5-0) The Jaguars are 2 touchdown favorites. I don’t know if we can pull this off on the road, but I think we keep it close. We get the ball first and Radford gets sacked three times, and we punt. Nice start guys. Jacksonville convert the good field position into a 3-0 lead. Our defense plays that old ‘bend but don’t break’ type of game, and midway through the second, only allow another field goal. So we trail 6-0. Our offense gets it going a bit and we connect on a 50 yard field goal, but also miss a 35 yard one in the next 10 minutes. Our defense continues to play pretty good and we only trail 9-3 at the half. We give up a fourth field goal midway through the 3rd quarter, but our offense cannot move the ball, so we trail 12-3. A fifth field goal gives them a 15-3 lead as we head to the fourth quarter. We trail 18-3 when we finally score the game’s first touchdown. Whitener hauls in a Radford pass to make the score 18-10 with 6 and a half to play. We cannot finish the job though and lose 21-10. We don’t give up a single touchdown, but do allow them to kick 7 field goals on the day. Garner ran for 57 yards. Radford was 14 of 28 for 170 with a touchdown and a pick. Carpenter had 97 yards. Rose had 28 yards. Crockett had a sack. Deese had an interception.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-08-2003, 11:32 PM
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#20 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 7: Indy (2-4) at New Jersey Jets (1-4)
The Jets are 1 point favorites. A blocked punt leads to a Jets field goal and we trail 3-0 early on. We line up to punt again, but this time the Jets get called for roughing the kicker, and give us new life. We convert that drive into a field goal and tie the game up at 3. In the second quarter, Garner breaks off a 33 yard touchdown run to give us a 10-3 lead. We add a filed goal to go up 13-3, but the Jets get a late touchdown to make it 13-10 at halftime. The Jets take a 17-13 lead in the third quarter after we shank a punt 17 yards. A field goal midway through the third increases the Jets’ lead to 20-13. Our offense cannot do a thing in the second half, but with time running down in the game, we block a Jet punt and take over a the 25 yard line with just 2:53 on the clock. We face a 4th and 3, and unbelievably, we elect to kick the field goal. We trail 20-16 with just over 2 to play. We never see the ball again, and lose, 20-16. Garner ran for 67 yards and a touchdown. He had 38 receiving yards. Radford was 16 of 34 for 132 yards. Carpenter had 23 receiving yards. Hilliard and O’neill each had a sack. Devine had an interception. Week 8: Indy (2-5) at Miami (5-2) The Fish are 9 point favorites. For a change of pace, we take the opening kickoff, drive 73 yards and cap it off with a 14 yard touchdown pass from Radford to Rossum to give us an early 7-0 lead. With under 2 minutes to play in the half, we give up a touchdown after an interception by Radford and go into the half tied up at 7. Late in the third quarter, Radford throws another pick, this time it is returned for the score and we trail 14-7. Our offense just plain sucks for the rest of the game, and we lose 21-7. Garner ran for 97 yards. Radford was 16 of 38 for 148 yards with a touchdown and 4 interceptions. Carpenter had 48 receiving yards. Crockett had 2 sacks. Deese had 1 sack. LB Vinny Levine is Out for 3 weeks with a strained muscle.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-08-2003, 11:53 PM
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#21 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 9: New England (2-5) at Indy (2-6)
Somehow, we are favored by 3 points. The game begins, I go to grab a beer and when I come back, the first quarter is not even over and we trail 21-0. I go grab a couple more beers and one this one is over, we lose 42-18. Garner ran for 75 yards. Radford was 7 for 17 for 50 yards and a pick. Jarvis came in for Radford and was 9 for 12 for 101 and a touchdown. Mitchell had 69 receiving yards. We move to quick wrap ups because this is not going nearly as well as I thought. Week 10: We beat the Titans on the road 24-20. Garner ran for 88 in the effort, and Radford had a career day. He threw for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns, without an interception. Carpenter was unstoppable. He had 177 receiving yards and 2 scores, while Rossum had 72 yards receiving and the other touchdown catch. The defense had 4 sacks and a pick. Week 11: bye Week 12: We get crushed, 26-7 in Detroit. They run their record up to 10-1, while we fall to 3-8. Crockett had 3.5 sacks in the losing effort. Week 13: Pittsburgh squeaks by on their home field by a final score of 14-12. We fall to 3-9 on the season. Our defense did have 3 interceptions on the day. The game is marred by injuries on our side of the ball: WR Carpenter, out for season DE O’Neill, out for 7 weeks (essentially, the rest of the season) SS Hodges, Questionable for the rest of the season RB Garner, Out for 3 weeks Week 14: We soundly beat the Packers, 36-17 on our home field, without our 2 best offensive players, Garner and Carpenter. Hicks ran for 182 and 2 scores in the win. We improve to 4-9. Week 15: Houston gets us, 23-20 on a last second field goal. Radford threw for 264 with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions in the losing effort. Week 16: We fall to 4-11 after a humiliating defeat, 38-6 in Chicago. Radford threw 3 interceptions against no touchdowns. Week 17: We finish up the season on a positive note, as we beat Tennessee37-9 in our home stadium. That brings our final 2024 record to 5-11. Not nearly what I had hoped for, and a major disappointment. Contracts to be extended: FB Walter Whitener WR Donald Rose C Martin Richmond P David Haberman DE Fred Crockett S Ted Whalen Everybody else whose contract expires will be let go in the off season. It is time to start hittin gthe FA market. Hopefully, some talent will be available to us. Oakland beats Detroit in the Superbowl. That is Oakland’s first title. Leo Boyle from the Jets is named league MVP for the second straight year.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-09-2003, 12:33 AM
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#22 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Offseason.
I am sitting around my house trying to figure out how I am going to move this team out of Indianapolis when the phone rings. It is the owner. He is pissed off with my performance and threatens to fire me if I do not start obtaining my goals. Great, more pressure. We propose a move to Los Angeles once again. In a poll taken by USA Today, they are far and away the only city that wants an NFL team at this point. The next closest team was 20 percentage points behind in the poll. We propose a small crappy stadium that is projected to cost 580 million. We offer to pay half the cost. An offer they cannot refuse, I hope. Our scout Preston Rodderick gets a new 3 year contract. We bring on a new coach after Mooney’s contract expired. The new guy is 56 year old Marcus Sims. He has no prior experience in the NFL. He is pretty decent across the board, but his specialties are linebackers and the secondary. Free Agency: Unfortunately for us, there is really nobody worth our time and effort in free agency. Remember, we are not allowed to sign anybody that was in the league prior to 2022. We do make a small, 1.5 million dollar offer to Safety, Jessie Dunn, which he accepts. We skip the rest of the FA period. Draft: We are drafting #6 in each round this year. Round 1: QB Anthony Flanders, Nebraska. To be honest, I did not want to draft him, but Radford has been so frustrating, I need a change. There were a few other impact players worthy of a top 10 pick. I would say Flanders is more of a 10-12 type pick, but we bite the bullet and hope he pans out. Round 2: G Julio Earl, Northwestern. Another piece to the puzzle that is our offensive line. Round 3: OLB Sean Farmer, Colorado. High quality linebacker and has a chance to start for us right away. Round 4: DT Korey Eldridge, Rice. Could develop into a starter. Round 5: RB Deion Hanks, Florida. Best player in a position we need to fill, although he is strictly a backup. Round 6: DE Danny Yukich, Michigan. Another career backup. Round 7: G Jerry Tamaarkin, C. Florida. Yet another career backup. Weak draft this year. As the draft is ending I get the worst news of my life, Our proposal to move failed by half of a percentage point. Bullshit! On a good note, the 49ers offer a 4th round draft pick for Roy Radford. We gladly accept.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-09-2003, 02:31 AM
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#23 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Connecticut
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Just wanted to say keep up the good work. I am Miami fan so I really don't care for Indy too much. Must have been all those tough division games. But I usually try to read most of the FOF4 dynasties. If they have a good story to start, I continue to read. Your's was a good start. I am doing that with my dynasty, making a story out of it. Good job. Oh, good luck moving the team.
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02-09-2003, 11:13 AM
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#24 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Here are your 2025 Indianapolis Colts:
Offensive Outlook Rookie Anthony Flanders is our new QB this year. He will make the rookie mistake, but we see him as an immediate upgrade. Garner is still our running back and he is panning out to be a great one. Rossum has broken out from an undrafted to rookie to one of the better performing tight ends in the league. Our offensive line is still a weak spot, but it is starting to come along, partially thanks to Foreman, at the tackle position. Defensive Outlook: Our front 4 is still average at best, but Fred Crockett has come out of nowhere to be a force. Our line backing unit is subpar once again. I am very happy with Keisel and Devine at the corner spots, and once again I think our safeties will hold their own for the most part. Preseason: Not a great preseason for us. We go 1-3 and lose a couple key parts of our team: WR Don Rose, Doubtful C Shaun Lamontagne, Doubtful DE Danny Yukich, Out CB Bucky Keisel, Out 2025 Regular Season: Week 1: Houston at Indy Houston is favored by 6 points. It is not until we are under a minute left in the first half that the scoring begins. Luckily, it is us…Hickman runs ones in from 3 yards out to give us a 7-0 lead. That is how the first half ends as well. The Texans get a touchdown on their first possession of the second half and the game is tied up at 7. That score holds until the end of regulation. So we have a 7-7 tie and we head to overtime. We never touch the ball in overtime. Our defense gives up a field goal, and we start out the year 0-1. Garner ran for only 37 yards. He also had 40 receiving yards. Flanders was 22 of 39 for 189 yards. Carpenter had 50 rec. yards. Rossum had 56 rec. yards. Farmer, McDaniel, and Austin each had a sack. Deese and Kirchof each had an interception. WR Don Rose will be activated for next week. DE Kris Austin will likely miss the rest of the regular season. CB Bucky Keisel will be back next week. Week 2: Arizona (0-1) at Indy (0-1) We are 8 point dogs. I promise you, take the points. Our first drive results in a 34 yard touchdown pass from Flanders to Rose, and we take the early 7-0 lead. Arizona gets a field goal late in the first, but midway through the second quarter, Hickman runs one in from 3 yards out. This was setup by a 50 yard pass play and we take the 14-3 lead. Still in the first half, we convert a key 4th and 3 situation, and finish the drive off with a 1 yard touchdown pass from Flanders to Rossum. We take a 21-3 lead into halftime. We add on a field goal in the third quarter to go up 24-3. Our defense locks them down the rest of the way and we come out with a pretty easy 24-3 victory. Garner ran for 82 yards. Flanders was 21 of 29 for 275 yards and 2 touchdowns. Carpenter had 109 receiving yards. Crockett and Tolliver each had a sack. Devine had 2 interceptions. Levine and Hodges each had an interception. CB Bucky Keisel re-injured himself and will be Out for about a month.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-09-2003, 11:30 AM
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#25 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 3: Pittsburgh (1-1) at Indy (1-1)
The Steelers are 2 point favorites. With about 4 minutes left in the first quarter, Flanders hits Carpenter on a 40 yard pass play to give us a 7-0 lead. The Steelers tie the game up in the first few seconds of the second quarter. With under a minute to play in the half, Pittsburgh scores another touchdown and they take a 14-7 lead into halftime. We get a field goal to start the second half and pull to within 4 points. On the last play of the third quarter, Pittsburgh gets their 3rd touchdown of the game and take a 21-10 lead. We score a junk touchdown with 3 seconds left in the game, but we lose at home, 24-17. Garner ran for only 19 yards. He had 11 receiving yards and a touchdown. Flanders was 18 of 35 for 259 yards with 2 touchdowns. Carpenter had 79 receiving yards and a touchdown. Rose had 52 receiving yards. Levine, Farmer and Conant each had a sack. Week 4: Indy (1-2) at Denver (2-1) Denver is a 3 point favorite. We get first possession and drive 52 yards in almost 8 minutes, and come away with a 3-0 lead. Denver wastes no time in taking control of the game with a touchdown and going up 7-3. We answer right back, still in the first, with a 13 yard touchdown pass from Flanders to Rose. We regain the lead at 10-7. Midway through the second quarter, Flanders hits Garner for a 8 yard touchdown strike and we go up 17-7. Denver answers right back with a touchdown drive of their own, but they miss the extra point, and a wild first half ends with us holding a 17-13 lead. Denver opens the second half with a touchdown drive to take a 20-17 lead. On our next possession, Flanders throws one right to Denver’s defense and they take it all the way back for a 27-17 lead. Things get a bit out of hand in the fourth quarter and we lose 37-20. Garner ran for 75 yards and had 39 receiving yards with a touchdown. Flanders was 24 of 34 for 276 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. Rossum had 94 receiving yards. Carpenter had 69 receiving yards.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-09-2003, 11:47 AM
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#26 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 5: San Diego (3-1) at Indy (1-3)
We are 7 point dogs, and we really need a win. Only 5 minutes into the game, we take a 7-0 lead on a Flanders touchdown pass to Carpenter. Early in the second quarter, the Chargers tie the game up at 7. With just a minute to play in the first half, Rossum hauls in a 21 yard touchdown pass from Flanders and we take a 14-7 halftime lead. We add a field goal to go up 17-7 in the third quarter. Our defense does their job in the fourth quarter and we take the victory, 20-7. Garner ran for 94 and received for 44 yards. Flanders was 22 of 35 for 259 yards and 2 touchdowns. Rossum had 67 receiving yards and a touchdown. Carpenter had 77 yards and a touchdown. 5 players had a sack on our defense. Deese had an interception. CB Keisel will return next week. Week 6: Jacksonville (1-3) at Indy (2-3) We are 3 points favorites and have a chance to get to .500 on the year. Jacksonville gets the ball first and drives into our territory and take a 3-0 lead. We answer with our own field goal on our first possession and the score is tied at 3. Early in the second quarter, Garner runs one in from 2 yards out to give us a 10-3 lead. Late in the half, the Jaguars tie the game up on a 29 yard pass play. They get the ball back once more before halftime and take a 13-10 halftime lead. Jacksonville gets a second half field goal and follows that up with a touchdown to take a 22-10 lead. Another touchdown gives them a 29-10 lead and we are pretty much done. We score a couple late touchdowns, but still lose 29-23. Garner ran for 48 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had 66 receiving yards and a touchdown. Flanders was 21 of 32 for 321 yards and a touchdown. Rose had 104 receiving yards. Carpenter had 90. Tolliver had 2 sacks. Farley and Tanner had a sack each.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-09-2003, 12:56 PM
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#27 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 7: Kansas City (3-2) at Indy (2-4)
The chiefs are 6 point favorites. The Chiefs take the opening kickoff and drive 73 yards for the touchdown and the 7-0 lead. Their second possession leads to a field goal and we are down 10-0. Third possession, field goal, and we are down 13-0. We finally get a stop, but our offense cannot do a thing. KC gets the ball back, and Keisel intercepts a pass and takes it 46 yards for the touchdown and we pull to within 6, at 13-7. That is how the first half ends. The third quarter goes by without any scoring so we head to the fourth, still down 13-7. We get a field goal at the 10 minute mark to cut the lead to 3. We get the ball back at the 2 minute warning and on the first play, Flanders finds Carpenter for a 39 yard gain, down to the 25 yard line. We get it inside the 20 and Garner breaks off a 14 yard touchdown run to give us a 17-13 lead with just 53 seconds left! Our defense holds and we get the win! Garner ran for 78 yards and a touchdown. Flanders was 15 of 24 for 209 yards and an interception. Rose had 72 yards. Carpenter had 83 yards. The defense had 6 sacks. Keisel had an interception and scored a touchdown. Week 8: Indy (3-4) at Oakland (5-1) Oakland are 11 point favorites. On our very first play, Flanders throws an interception and Oakland returns it for 7. Later in the first, they increase their lead to 14-0. In the second quarter they put together a 93 yard drive to go up 21-0. Late in the half, Rossum catches a touchdown pass to make the score 21-7. A 65 yard run sets up Oakland for yet another touchdown with under a minute to play and we trail 28-7 at halftime. The second half is just as ugly, and we lose 42-21. Garner ran for 62 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had 25 receiving yards. Flanders was 24 of 39 for 259 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions. Clausen, McDaniel, and Tolliver each had a sack. Week 9: bye. Indy is 3-5 at the halfway point of the season. Our division leader is only 4-4, so we still have a bit of hope.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-09-2003, 01:13 PM
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#28 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Burlington, VT USA
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Great Stuff
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02-09-2003, 05:27 PM
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#29 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 10: Indy (3-5) at Houston (4-4)
The Texans are 6 point favorites. We get killed, 38-9. We were down 14-0 before 5 minutes were up. Garner ran for 42 Flanders was 10 of 23 for 147 with 2 picks. Carpenter had 95 yards and a touchdown. Week 11: Tennessee (4-5) at Indy (3-6) The Titans are favored by 2. We fall behind 3-0 in the first quarter, but tie it up early in the second. When halftime rolls around we trail 9-6. Early in the third we tie the game up at 9. Later in the third, they get the games first touchdown and take a 16-9 lead. Early in the fourth they take it in again and we trail 23-9. We trade field goals in the fourth and lose 26-15. Garner ran for 62 yards. Flanders was 19 of 28 for 254 yards and an interception. Rose had 131 receiving yards. Carpenter had 81. Week 12: Indy (3-7) at St. Louis (5-5) The Rams are 3 point favorites. The Rams strike first, 9 minutes into the game to take a 7-0 lead. That score holds all the way until halftime. Early in the second half, Flanders connects with Carpenter for a 72 yard touchdown strike and we tie the game up. On our next possession we get a field goal and take a 10-7 lead into the fourth quarter. Our defense holds on in the fourth and we come out of St. Louis with a 10-7 victory! Garner had 37 on the ground and 20 receiving yards. Flanders was 20 of 37 for 239 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Carpenter had 102 receiving yards and a touchdown. Tanner and Levine each had a sack. Conant had an interception.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-09-2003, 06:34 PM
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#30 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Well, once again we are out of contention for anything but a top draft pick, so we will move a bit quicker thru the final 4 games.
Week 13: We lose in Buffalo on a last second field goal, 23-22. Rose had 87 receiving yards and a touchdown. Week 14: Nothing to report here other than a 34-3 blowout in San Francisco. Week 15: We score 10 points in the last 2:04 of the game to pull off the 26-22 upset in Tennessee. Garner ran for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns. Week 16: We suffer our 10th loss of the year at home to Seattle, 34-17. Garner ran for 70 yards and a touchdown. Week 17: We win on the road, 25-21 in Jacksonville to finish the season off at 6-10. That game was the basement game, and Jacksonville finished 5-11, so actually ended up in third place. Sweet.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-09-2003, 06:41 PM
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#31 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Before the playoffs begin, we resign the following players:
RB Nick Hickman FB Walter Whitener FB Christian Finley TE Cary Rossum D Dwayne Becerra DE Fred Crockett Everybody else will hit the FA market. Playoffs: Houston beats Washington in the Superbowl to take home their second title. RB Vernon Crane of Houston was named league MVP.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-09-2003, 06:56 PM
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#32 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Offseason
We make another ridiculous proposal to Indianapolis to build us a new stadium. Once again, just standard procedure, so next season we can try to move out of this damn city. Our scout and coach remain on, their contracts have not expired yet. Free Agency: There are finally some very high quality players for me to go after in free agency this year. Signings: DT Jimmy Jarvis, 74 million over 5 years. Never got a chance to start in 4 years in Oakland, but looks like one heck of a player. WR Bryce Schwartz, 74 million over 5 years. Had 1220 yards and 7 touchdowns for the Saints last season. C Duane Kuiper, 1.4 million over 1 year. 13 KRB’s for San Diego last year. That is all we do in free agency, but Jarvis and Schwartz are huge signings for us, and both will make an immediate impact. Kuiper may start, or he may backup, depending on where we go in the draft. Draft: We draft #8 in each round, plus we have the #7 pick in round 4. Round 1: T Austin Arnold, Oregon State. A stud, and should be our best lineman yet. Round 2: S Matt Wilkins, Louisiana State. This guy should be able to shore up a decent secondary, and make them above average. Round 3: C Sean Alfred, Maryland. BPS and a position we do need to fill. Round 4: ILB Byron Blackburn, Alabama. Another position we have been weak in. Round 4: P Tommy Creighton, Florida State. So we had an extra pick, and took this maxed out punter. Round 5: TE Al Metzler, Arizona. Strictly a backup, but a pretty good one. Round 6: DE Heath Guffey, Houston. Another backup. Round 7: CB Edgar Wolfe, Louisville. Backup material.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-09-2003, 07:22 PM
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#33 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Offensive Outlook: Flanders will enter his second year as quarterback. He has a lot of upside still. Garber is still solid as our starting running back. Rossum has broken out into a true star at tightend. Our offensive line is the best it has ever been, and still fairly young, so they are going to get better and better. I am happy offensively. Defensive Outlook: Our line got beefed up with the addition of Jarvis, and Crockett is another star play who was never drafted. Our linebackers are below average, and this an area of concern. We have 3 of the best corners in the league, but our safety situation is still not quite up to par. Preseason: Would you believe we went 3-1? Neither do I. Things are turning around with this team. We did suffer some bad injuries though: DT Jimmy Jarvis will miss a few weeks. LB Ed Deese will also miss a few weeks. Regular Season Week 1: Tennessee at Indy We are favored by a point. Tennessee jumps out to a 3-0 lead on the first possession of the game. Midway through the second quarter we take the lead on a 14 yard touchdown pass from Flanders to newly aquired WR, Schwartz. The half ends with the same score. Midway through the 3rd, Tennessee gets another field goal, and our lead is cut down to 7-6. Later in the third they get another field goal and take a 9-7 lead. Yet another field goal midway through the 4th quarter gives them a 12-7 lead. Our offense cannot get the job done for us, and although we don’t let them into the end zone, they come away with a 12-7 victory. Garner ran for 30 yards and had 70 receiving yards. Flanders was 20 of 36 for 261 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Schwartz had 67 yards and a touchdown. Carpenter had 65 yards. Week 2: Indy (0-1) at Dallas (1-0) Dallas is favored by 4. Dallas takes a 3-0 lead 10 minutes into the game. Rossum hauls in a 9 yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter to give us a 7-3 lead. Dallas regains the lead with an early second quarter touchdown. Another touchdown puts them up 17-7. We get a late field goal to make the halftime score 17-10. Garner catches a 9 yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter and the game is all tied up at 17. Dallas gets a field goal later in the third, and we are down 20-17 heading into the final 15 minutes of regulation. We tie the game up with 8 minutes to play on a 45 yard field goal. We miss a 49 yard field goal as time runs out, and this game heads to overtime. We win the toss, but go three and out. Our defense cannot hold Dallas and we lose 26-20. Garner ran for 84 yards and had 53 receiving yards and a touchdown. Flanders was 29 of 46 for 352 yards and 2 touchdowns. Schwartz had 80 yards. Carpenter had 78 yards. Tanner had a sack. Jarvis will return next week.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-09-2003, 07:40 PM
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#34 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 3: Buffalo (1-1) at Indy (0-2)
Buffalo is favored by 3. I guarantee a win this week. We could very well be 2-0 right now, and I’ll be damned if we fall to 0-3. We take the 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Schwartz catches a 1 yard touchdown pass later in the first to give us a 10-0 lead. We open the second quarter with another field goal to go up 13-0. Just minutes later we block a Buffalo punt and recover it in the end zone for a touchdown and now we are up 20-0. We give up a touchdown late in the half, but still lead 20-7 at halftime. Garner runs one in from 10 yards out just minutes into the second half to extend our lead to 27-7. Midway through the quarter, we give up a 91 yard touchdown pass to Buffalo. We still lead by 13 points though. Still in the third, Buffalo connects on a 51 yard touchdown pass and we are starting to fall apart. We only lead by 6, at 27-21. On the first play of the 4th quarter, Buffalo takes the lead, 28-27. The drive was sparked by a 49 yard run. We are getting killed on the big plays now. Just minutes later, we trail 34-27, another big play for Buffalo. There is only 9:42 left on the clock. An interception sets them up in great field position and suddenly we trail 41-27. We lose by that final score, after leading this game 20-0. We have hit a new low. Garner ran for 139 yards and a touchdown. Flanders was 18 of 35 for 222 yards with a touchdown and 4 interceptions. Week 4: Baltimore (2-1) at Indy (0-3) The Ravens are 3 point favorites, and we are still reeling from last week’s meltdown. We take a 3-0 lead 8 minutes into the contest. Rossum catches a 5 yard touchdown pass early in the second to give us a 10-0 lead. Still in the second, Flanders gets flushed from the pocket and runs 68 yards to pay dirt and we have a 17-0 lead. We add a field goal to take a 20-0 lead at halftime. We know that lead is not safe with us though. We go up 23-0 before Baltimore comes up with their first score, a touchdown with 4 minutes left in the third. We still lead 23-8. We take that lead into the fourth quarter. Garner puts the game away for us with a 14 yard touchdown run with 5 minutes left in the game. We go on to win 37-8. Garner ran for 90 yards and a touchdown. He also had 94 receiving yards. Flanders was 27 of 30 for 304 yards and 2 touchdowns. Rossum had 58 yards and a touchdown. Schwartz had 52 yards. Whalen, Keisel, Farmer and Kirchof each had an interception.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-14-2003, 05:36 PM
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#35 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 5: Pittsburgh (2-2) at Indy (1-3)
We are favored by 4 points today. Pittsburgh takes a 3-0 lead midway through the first and no other scoring occurs n the first quarter of play. Midway through the second quarter, Rossum catches a 55 yard touchdown pass and we take a 7-3 lead. They answer with their own touchdown with just a couple of minutes left in the half to claim a 10-7 halftime lead. No score in the third quarter, but we tie the game up at 10 points apiece with just over 13 minutes to go in the contest. With 5 minutes left in the game, the Steelers score a touchdown to go up 17-10. Schwartz hauls in a 28 yard touchdown pass just before the 2 minute warning to tie the game up for us. Of course, Pittsburgh has just enough time to move into field goal range and hit the game winner as the clock runs down to 0:00. We lose 20-17. Garner ran for 67 yards. Flanders was 15 of 32 for 260 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. Carpenter had 74 receiving yards. Schwartz had 81 and a touchdown. Rossum had 67 and a touchdown. Week 6: Jacksonville (2-3) at Indy (1-4) We are favored by a point. No score in the first quarter, but Jacksonville gets a touchdown on the very first play of the second to take a 7-0 lead. The rest of the half is scoreless, and Jacksonville takes that 7-0 lead into the half. They double their lead to 14-0 midway through the third quarter. Garner finally gets us in the end zone later in the third and we trail 14-7. With 12 minutes left in the game, we nail a 50 yard field goal to pull to within 4 points, at 14-10. We get one last shot with 2:40 on the clock, and advance the ball across midfield with just 1:40 to play. A 13 yard completion puts us down to the 27 yard line with 1:13 to play. An incompletion and a sack puts us in a 3rd and 17 situation. An incomplete pass on third down brings up our last chance, and Flanders hits Schwartz for 28 yards, down to the 8 yard line with just 21 seconds left! A sack pushes us back 4 yards, and there are 12 seconds left. We do have 1 more time out, so that should give us 2 chances at the end zone. On second down, Schwartz hauls in a 12 yard game winning touchdown pass!!!! Colts win 17-14.! Garner ran for 96 yards and a touchdown. Flanders was 21 of 38 for 248 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Schwartz had 109 yards and a touchdown. Carpenter had 60 yards. Keisel and Whalen each had an interception.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-14-2003, 05:51 PM
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#36 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 7: Indy (2-4) at Cincinnati (2-4)
The Bengals are 3 point favorites. We are coming off a very emotional victory. The Bengals get the ball first, but we force a fumble, and Garner runs on in from 44 yards out to give us an early 7-0 lead. The Bengals get a field goal in the first quarter, but as the second quarter begins we are in the redzone and looking for 7 more. This time Rossum pulls in a 12 yard pass and we lead 14-3. Cincinnati answers right back with a touchdown of their own and cut our lead to 14-10. I am a bit worried about how easily the Bengals are racking up yards on us. With 4 minutes left in the half, Flanders throws his second touchdown pass, this time to FB Whitener and we lead 21-10. The Bengals answer again answer right back and at halftime our lead has been trimmed to 21-17. Our first drive of the second half results in Rossum pulling in his second touchdown pass of the day and we go up 28-17. The third quarter ends with that same score. Only 2 minutes into the fourth quarter and Garner breaks off another long touchdown run, this one was 39 yards and we go up 35-17. We add afield goal later in the fourth and take this game, our second in a row, 38-17! Garner ran for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had 54 receiving yards. Flanders was 21 of 27 for 226 yards and 3 touchdowns. Rossum had 48 yards and 2 touchdowns. Carpenter had 59 yards. Farmer had a sack. Week 8: Indy (3-4) at Cleveland (5-2) Despite our 2 game winning streak, we are 10 point dogs. The Browns get a touchdown on their opening drive to go up 7-0. They add another touchdown to go up 14-0 early in the second quarter. By halftime we trail 24-0. We score a few junk points in the second half, but our winning streak is snapped with a 34-10 defeat. Garner was held to 1 yard. Flanders was 14 of 33 for 185 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions. Schwartz had 66 yards. Mitchell had 62 yards and a touchdown. Crockett had a sack.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-14-2003, 06:10 PM
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#37 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 9: bye week
Week 10: Houston (4-4) at Indy (3-5) Houston is a 2 point favorite today. We get the early 7-0 lead on a 13 yard touchdown pass to Carpenter. The Texans get a field goal and we head to the second quarter, up 7-3. Late in the second quarter, Houston takes a 10-7 lead. A 44 yard pass to Rossum sets us up for field goal, and the halftime score is tied at 10. Neither team can score in the third quarter, so we head to the fourth, still tied at 10. With 7:17 left in the game, Houston scores a touchdown and takes a 17-10 lead. They go up 20-10 on a 50 yard field goal, and with only 4 minutes left, things look bleak for us. We get a touchdown with just 31 seconds left and no timeouts. Even if we recover the onside kick, we have little chance. We do not recover and we lose, 20-17. Garner ran for 60 yards and had 39 receiving yards and a touchdown. Flanders was 19 of 32 for 199 yards and 2 touchdowns and an interception. Rossum had 75 yards receiving. Carpenter had 22 yards and a touchdown. Watkins and Guffey each had a sack. Whalen had an interception. Week 11: Indy (3-6) at Tennessee (6-3) We are 1 touchdown underdogs this week. Midway through the first quarter we work our way all the way down to the 1 yard line, but settle for a field goal and take a 3-0 lead. Midway through the second, Rossum catches a short touchdown pass and we go up 10-0. We add on a field goal right before the half and take a 13-0 halftime lead. Rossum catches another touchdown pass early in the third quarter and we go up 20-0. 2 minutes later, Tennessee gets on the board with their first touchdown of the game, and they trim our lead to 20-7. Flanders runs one in himself to start the fourth quarter and we lead 27-7. We allow a late touchdown, but the game was already over at that point, and we take the 27-14 victory. Garner ran for 67 yards and had 30 receiving yards. Flanders was 34 of 38 for 374 yards and 2 touchdowns. Schwartz had 133 receiving yards. Rossum had 40 yards and 2 touchdowns. Carpenter had 52 yards. Crockett had 2 sacks. Watkins, Guffey and Keisel each had a sack. Hodges had an interception. WR Carpenter was hurt and will miss 3-4 weeks.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-14-2003, 06:27 PM
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#38 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 12: Washington (7-2-1) at Indy (4-6)
We are 5 point dogs. Less than four minutes into the game, Schwartz catches a 10 yard touchdown pass and we lead 7-0. A few minutes later, Keisel intercepts a pass and take it 42 yards for the score and we lead 14-0. The Redskins get their act together and strike on a 44 yard touchdown pass to make it 14-7. Flanders gets hurt, but Nixon leads us on a touchdown drive in his place, capping it off with a touchdown pass to Schwartz for the 21-7 lead. It takes just 1:15 for Washington to get that touchdown back and make it 21-14. The half ends with that score. Washington gets a field goal to start the second half, and our lead is down to 21-17. Later in the third, another field goal pulls them to within 1, at 21-20. An interception by Nixon sets them up for the touchdown and the 27-21 lead. We head to the fourth quarter with a 6 point deficit. With 10:30 to play, we get a field goal and pull to within 3, at 27-24. Washington returns the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for the score, and now we are in trouble, down 34-24. An interception puts us back in business, and we get a field goal to make it a 1 possession game, at 34-27, with 7 minutes to play. We can’t quite finish the job though, and lose, 37-27. Garner ran for 96 yards. Nixon was 14 of 27 for 106 yards and a touchdown. Flanders was just 4 of 6 for 55 yards and a touchdown. Schwartz had 71 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jarvis had a sack. Keisel, Blackburn and Hodges each had an interception. Flanders dislocated his shoulder and will be out for the rest of the season. A quicker look at the rest of another very disappointing season in Indianapolis. Week 13: Nixon throws for 290 yards and a touchdown in a 25-21 upset in Denver. We move to 5-7 on the year. Week 14: Garner runs for 53 yards and a touchdown, while Schwartz had 151 receiving yards and a touchdown, but we lose to the Giants 27-17. Week 15: Schwartz has 104 receiving yards and we stay out of the basement by beating Jacksonville, 20-12. We are now 6-8 on the season, and officially eliminated from the playoffs. Week 16: We lose to Philly, 27-20, and that was only Philly’s 3rd win of the season. Our guys are ready for the off season apparently. Week 17: Houston crushes us 31-0 for a fitting end to another miserable season. We finish this one 6-10.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-14-2003, 06:32 PM
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#39 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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The following players are resigned, everybody else will hit the free agent market:
K Gus Covert ILB Vinny Levine CB Scott Kirchof Yeah, that is it. I am tired of these players. New England beats San Francisco, 45-38 in the Superbowl to take home their very first title. RB Vernon Crane, of Houston, takes home his second consecutive NFL MVP trophy. TE Rossum was named to the NFL 1st team. He was our only award winner.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-14-2003, 06:51 PM
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#40 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Time to try another move. LA is still the only city who is showing a real interest in obtaining an NFL franchise. We offer to pay half the cost for a tiny, 45,000 seat stadium with very limited club and luxury seats. Total cost is 414 million. We pony up 207 million. An offer they cannot refuse, right?
Our coach and scout are still under contract, and I have no intentions of firing them right now. Free Agency: We start off with a big bang, and sign the best safety out there to a 4 year, 33 million dollar contract. That should help our secondary tremendously. We follow that up by signing DT Omar Greene to a 3 year, 11.61 million dollar deal. I think we got a tremendous bargain there. Our final signing is OLB Levon Mugica. He signed a 3 year, 24 million dollar contract. All three of our signings were on the defensive side of the ball. We could easily see where we are determined to make improvements. The Draft: We draft #10 in each round this year. Round 1: S Jim Auyeung, Sacred Heart. He will team up with newly signed FA Omar Greene to complete a terrific, revamped secondary. Round 2: WR Kennedy Waschke, Iowa. Impact player at a skill position, which gives us 3 high quality receivers, and also makes one expendable as we start approaching the cap. Round 3: C Paul Lynch, Ball State. In our continuing effort to get a stable O-line, we might have finally found our center. Round 4: FB Leonard Giese, Stanford. Although Whitener has been adequate, we finally have a high quality FB, who should be ready to start in a year. Round 5: S Bryan Goodlink, Southern Cal. Pass defense specialist. He has no run stopping skills, but is very good everywhere else. Round 6: DE Cris Silverstein, Kentucky. Basically a run stopper, but will only be a backup. Round 7: DT Brenden Garcia, New Mexico. Another backup, but is just a bull rusher. Immediately following the draft, we trade our now #4 WR, Renaldo Norton to St. Louis for their 3rd round pick next season. As I hang up the phone with St. Louis, I notice my voice mail has a message. I pick it up and hit my code…………….. “Hello, Marmel? This is Phil Jackson, mayor of Los Angeles. I am happy to announce that our voters passed issue 73.4.2, and stadium construction is set to be completed in 2032. Welcome to LA!” I pass out.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-14-2003, 07:02 PM
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#41 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Burlington, VT USA
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Congrats on your move.
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02-14-2003, 07:12 PM
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#42 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Your 2027 Indianapolis Colts
Offensive Outlook: Our offensive has pretty much the same look as last year. Flanders will be under center and Garner will get most of the work at running back. An pretty good combination. Whitener might be in his last year as starting fullback with rookie, Giese being groomed for the spot. Rossum continues to improve at tight end. Our line is not the greatest, as usual, but it is anchored by T Foreman. Defensive Outlook: A new look to the defense this year as we switch to the 3-4 defense. Crockett and Jarvis on the defensive line are both potential 1st teamers. We really bulked up our line backing corps, although they are still not the best group out there. We have 3 legit starters at corner, and 2 brand new safeties who will quickly make some noise in the NFL this season. Overall: I am pumped about this team. Our offense has always been pretty good, and now that Flanders has a couple seasons under his belt, I think his mistakes will be minimal. The defense is revamped and I am looking forward to watching them shut down some teams this year. I feel we should be competing for a playoff spot for the first time since I took the reigns of this team. I just have to hope that I keep my job long enough for this to pan out. The owner is really grumbling about my performance lately. 2027 Preseason: We only won 1 game in the preseason, but we were quite competitive in every game, all against winning teams from last season. Our only injury is TE Rossum, who will only miss 1 or 2 weeks of play.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-14-2003, 07:37 PM
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#43 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 1: Indy at Jacksonville
The Jaguars are 2 point favorites. They finished last in our division last season. We fall behind early, 7-0...not a good sign, nor a good start. We get an interception on their next drive though and convert it into 7 points on a Schwartz touchdown catch. We head to the second quarter, tied up at 7. We cannot get anything going on offense and Jacksonville makes the score 14-7, just 5 minutes into the second quarter. We get a couple field goals after that and the halftime score has Jacksonville up 14-13. The third quarter goes by without any scoring, so we head to the fourth, just down 1 point at 14-13. With 12 and a half minutes left in the game, Garner runs it in from 2 yards out to give us a 21-14 lead after the 2 point conversion. A fumble recovery sets us up for another Garner run, this time from 4 yards out and we take a 28-14 lead. Jacksonville makes a game out of it by scoring a touchdown with 6 minutes left to play. We lead 28-21. Our defense does their job, we add a field goal and win on opening weekend, 31-21! Garner ran for 66 yards and 2 touchdowns. He had 38 receiving yards. Flanders was 19 of 30 for 238 yards and a touchdown. Schwartz had 158 receiving yards and a touchdown. Guffey and Tanner each had a sack. Holliday had an interception. FB Whitener will be out for about a month. WR Carpenter will be out for about a month. DE Crockett will miss a couple of weeks. TE Rossum will make his return next week. Week 2: Carolina (0-1) at Indy (1-0) We are 2 point favorites at home. We take the opening kickoff and drive into field goal range to take an early 3-0 lead. Carolina ties it up on their first possession. On the first play of the second half, we get another field goal, after getting down to the 1 yard line, but still, we go up 6-3. Carolina answers later in the quarter, and the halftime score is 6-6. Neither team can score in the third quarter, so we head to the fourth, still tied at 6. With 11 minutes left in the game, we get our third field goal and take a 9-6 lead. With under a minute to go, Carolina drives down field and ties the game up with a 45 yard field goal. With just 30 seconds to go, we kneel down and decide to take our chances in overtime. We win the toss and take the ball. We cannot do a thing and get off a pretty poor punt. They face a third down, and Devine comes up with an interception and returns it 25 yards to the 30 yard line. We are already in range for a long field goal. Instead, Flanders hits Mitchell for 23 yards and the game winning score! Indy wins 15-9. Garner ran for 91 yards and had 31 receiving yards. Flanders was 17 of 36 for 173 yards and a touchdown. Rossum had 54 receiving yards. Mitchell had 40 yards and the game winning touchdown. Mugica had 2 sacks. Holliday and Jarvis each had a sack. Devine had an interception. WR Schwartz will be out for a few weeks.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-14-2003, 10:28 PM
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#44 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 3: Pittsburgh (0-2) at Indy (2-0)
We are 3 point favorites this week. Eleven minutes into the game Pittsburgh scores after blocking a field goal attempt by us, and they take a 7-0 lead. We get an early second quarter field goal to make the score 7-3. They get the ball back and drive for a field goal of their own to up the lead back to 7 points. Just inside the two minute warning, the Steelers get another touchdown and now we face a 17-3 deficit. We get a field goal with just seconds left on the clock, and at halftime, we trail 17-6. Another Steeler touchdown in the third puts us down 24-6, and things don’t look to good for us right now. By the time this one was over, we were humbled, 31-6. Garner ran for 83 yards. Flanders was 17 of 39 for 179 yards and an interception. Rossum had 51 receiving yards. Jarvis and Bishop each had a sack. Holliday had an interception. WR Carpenter and DE Crockett will return next week. Week 4: Indy (2-1) at Houston (2-1) The Texans are favored by 3 points. It only takes Houston 1:30 to get a field gaol and take the 3-0 lead. In the second quarter, they add a touchdown and take a 10-0 lead. Still in the second, we fall behind another 7 points, at 17-0. That scores holds until halftime, and we have now gone 6 quarters without a touchdown. We hold them to 3 points in the second half, but we are now at 2 full games without a touchdown, as we lose 20-0. Garner ran for 12 yards. Flanders was 14 of 36 for 116 yards and an interception. Mitchell had 71 receiving yards. Jarvis and Guffey each had a sack. WR Schwartz and FB Whitener will return to next week’s lineup.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-14-2003, 10:45 PM
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#45 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 5: Buffalo (2-2) at Indy (2-2)
We are favored by 1 point this week. With three minutes left in the first quarter, Buffalo gets a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Early in the second quarter, Garner breaks off a 35 yard touchdown run and the game is tied at 7. Just three minutes later, Buffalo gets another touchdown and regain the lead at 14-7. Schwartz hauls in a 21 yard touchdown pass with 5 minutes left in the half to tie the game at 14. We recover their fumble on the kickoff and Garner runs in his second of the day to give us a 21-14 lead. Then they fumble the next kickoff, but we only get a field goal out of it. Still, we up our lead to 24-14. The half ends with that score. Buffalo starts off the second half with a touchdown to make the score 24-21. Later in the third, Buffalo ties the game on a short field goal. We head to the fourth quarter, tied at 24. With 13 minutes left in the game, Prior runs in a 1 yard touchdown and we go up 31-24. At the 10 minute mark, Garner runs one in from 9 yards out for his third touchdown of the day and a 38-24 lead. Our defense holds and we win this one 38-24. Garner ran for 139 yards and 3 touchdowns. Flanders was 23 of 35 for 321 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Schwartz had 213 receiving yards and a touchdown. Carpenter had 44 yards. Tanner had a sack. Hodges had an interception. Week 6: Jacksonville (3-2) at Indy (3-2) We are 2 point dogs, at home. Seven minutes into the game we strike first. Schwartz grabs a 21 yard touchdown catch and we are up 7-0. We get a second quarter field goal and take a 10-0 lead into the half. Our first drive of the second half goes 7 minutes and results in 3 points, and a 13-0 lead. Schwartz catches a 22 yard touchdown pass on our next possession and we go up 20-0. Schwartz pulls in his third touchdown catch of the day, on a 28 yarder with 11 minutes left and we are comfortably ahead 27-0. We end up winning this one by a final of 27-7. Garner ran for 103 yards. Flanders was 23 of 33 for 286 yards and 3 touchdowns. Schwartz had 130 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. Carpenter had 86 yards. Crockett had 2.5 sacks.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-14-2003, 11:23 PM
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#46 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 7: Indy (4-2) at NY Jets (1-4)
The Jets are actually favored by 1 here. Late in the first quarter we score the games first points. Carpenter catches a 28 yard touchdown pass for the 7-0 lead. Early in the second, the Jets block a punt, and 1 play later they tie the game up at 7. They follow that up with an interception, which is converted into another touchdown, and just like that, we trail 14-7. We get a field goal on the last play of the half, and trail at halftime 14-10. Late in the third quarter, the Jets extend their lead with a touchdown and go up 21-10. An interception sets up a Garner touchdown run in the fourth quarter, but we fail to convert the 2 point conversion, and trail 21-16 with 8:39 left on the clock. Inside the 2 minute warning, Flanders hits Mitchell for 41 yards, down inside the 10 yard line. Then with 56 seconds left, Rossum catches the 7 yard touchdown pass and we lead, 24-21. Our defense barely holds on to the victory! Garner ran for just 30 yards, but had a touchdown. He also had 21 receiving yards. Flanders was 21 of 38 for 305 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Schwartz had 102 receiving yards. Carpenter had 70 yards and a touchdown. Mitchell had 73 yards. Keisel had a sack and an interception. Holliday had an interception. Week 8: Indy (5-2) at Miami (3-4) The Dolphins are favored by 2. It was a minute into the second quarter before a team was able to score. Too bad it was Miami with the 7-0 lead. We get a field goal with 6 minutes left in the half to cut the lead to 7-3. Miami gets another touchdown just before the half to take a 14-3 lead at halftime. Just 43 seconds into the second half, Flanders hits Schwartz for a 62 yard touchdown and we cut the lead to 14-10. We go to the fourth quarter with that same 14-10 score. Only 3 minutes into the final quarter, and Rossum catches a 24 yard touchdown pass to put us up 17-14. With 6 minutes left, Schwartz catches a 6 yard touchdown pass to all but put this one away, at 24-14. Maybe I spoke too soon. It only takes 1:50 for Miami to get that touchdown back, and our lead is just 3, at 24-21. We quickly go three and out and Miami has the ball back with well over 3 minutes left. Holliday recovers a fumble for us though, and we can run a lot of time off the clock now. We take the clock down to 1:30 and get a field goal out of it, and lead 27-21. The defense holds with ease and we take the win. Garner ran for 63 yards and had 44 receiving yards. Flanders was 21 of 37 for 335 yards and 3 touchdowns. Schwartz had 166 yards and 2 touchdowns. Carpenter had 52 yards. Rossum had 32 yards and a touchdown. Crockett had 2 sacks. Keisel, Jarvis and Tanner each had a sack. Through 8 games, we are 6-2 and in first place by 1 game!
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-14-2003, 11:41 PM
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#47 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 9: New England (4-3) at Indy (6-2)
The defending champs are 2 point favorites. Ten minutes into the game, the Patriots take the 7-0 lead. We come right back with an 82 yard touchdown play from Flanders to Schwartz! In the second quarter, The Patriots regain the lead with a touchdown. Just 2 minutes later, Schwartz recovers a Garner fumble in the end zone for a touchdown and the game is tied at 14. New England gets a last second field goal to take a 17-14 halftime lead. 5 minutes into the second half, Holliday picks off a pass, and Garner gets a 37 yard touchdown catch to put us up 21-17. Minutes later, Flanders throws a touchdown pass to Mitchell and we go up 28-17. Still in the third quarter, New England answers on their next drive with a touchdown to make it 28-24. Just a minute and a half into the fourth quarter, Mitchell catches his second touchdown pass of the day to put us up 35-24. We add a field goal and take this one 38-24. Garner ran for 85 yards, had 43 yards receiving and a touchdown. Flanders was 18 of 26 for 323 yards and 4 touchdowns. Schwartz had 155 yards and a touchdown. Mitchell had 20 yards and 2 touchdowns. Crockett and Guffey each had 1.5 sacks. Holliday, Hodges and Devine each had an interception. Week 10: Indy (7-2) at Tennessee (4-5) We keep winning, but we are still 2 point dogs. That is OK, as long as we keep winning. We get the ball first and drive 80 yards in 2:28, capped off by a 16 yard touchdown catch by Schwartz for the 7-0 lead. Ten minutes into the game we go up 10-0 with a field goal. Schwartz grabs another touchdown to start the second quarter, and we now lead 17-0. With exactly 10 minutes left in the half, the Titans get on the board with a field goal. 5 minutes later they get a touchdown to cut the lead to 17-10. We get a late field goal and take a 20-10 halftime lead. We get another field goal midway through the third to go up 23-10. We begin the fourth quarter with a Garner touchdown catch and we now lead 30-10. Tennessee gets a late touchdown, but we still win this one, 30-17. Garner ran for 72 yards, had 38 receiving yards and a touchdown. Flanders was 28 of 37 for 335 yards and 3 touchdown. Schwartz had 80 yards and 2 touchdowns. Carpenter had 88 yards. Rossum had 58 yards. Keisel, Jarvis and Greene each had a sack. Holliday and Hodges each had an interception. Week 11: bye week. Indianapolis stands at 8-2, first place in the division by 2 games. We have the best AFC record by 1 game. Also of note, is St. Louis, who are 6 games from a perfect regular season. They are 10-0.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-15-2003, 12:02 AM
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#48 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 12: Indy (8-2) at New Orleans (5-5)
We are 4 point underdogs. Just a minute into the game, Schwartz catches a 7 yard pass and breaks it for a 92 yard touchdown score! We lead 7-0. The Saints get a field goal on their first possession and the score is 7-3. They take the lead, still in the first quarter, on a touchdown. 10-7 Saints. Prior grabs a 1 yard touchdown pass to open the second quarter, and give us back the lead at 14-10. With 3 minutes left in the half, Rossum gets a touchdown catch and we lead 21-10. The Saints get a late field goal, but we lead 21-13 at the half. The Saints start the second half with the ball and drive downfield for a field goal to make the score 21-16. Then they get an interception and a quick touchdown to take a 22-21 lead. Early in the fourth quarter, we block a punt and recover it in the end zone to regain the lead at 29-22. Our defense is able to keep them out of the end zone and we win again, 29-22. Garner ran for 76 yards and had 43 receiving yards. Flanders was 20 of 35 for 326 yards with 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Schwartz had 173 receiving yards and a touchdown. Carpenter had 55 yards. Rossum had 31 and a touchdown. Keisel had a sack. Week 13: Indy (9-2) at Oakland (5-6) We are favored by 2 points. 8 minutes into the game, Oakland strikes first and take a 3-0 lead. Early in the second, they increase their lead to 10-0. They continue to outplay us and we face a 17-0 deficit at halftime. We don’t score until the last minute of the game, and get beat soundly, 17-3. Garner ran for 56 yards and had 35 yards receiving. Flanders was 18 of 47 for 245 yards with 3 interceptions. Schwartz had 95 yards. Carpenter had 68. Crockett had 2 sacks. Keisel and Ellington had a sack each. We still hold a 1 game lead in the division and in the conference. St. Louis lost and fell to 11-1.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-17-2003, 08:14 PM
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#49 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 14: Indy (9-3) at Tampa Bay (7-5)
The Buccaneers are 4 point favorites this week. They took the opening kickoff and drove the length of the field to take a 7-0 lead, 5 minutes into the game. After their second possession of the game, we trailed 14-0. In the second quarter, Tampa scored their third touchdown of the game and now they have a 21-0 lead. Finally, with 10 minutes left in the half, we get a 21 yard touchdown play, Flanders to Mitchell. The score is now 21-7. Tampa gets a field goal before halftime and they lead 24-7 going into the half. They get a field goal to begin the second half, and now they lead 27-7 By the time this one was over, we were crushed, 34-10. Garner ran for 52 yards. Flanders was 13 of 39 for 185 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interception. Schwartz had 78 receiving yards. Hodges had an interception. Week 15: Houston (7-6) at Indy (9-4) Houston is a 3 point favorite. Less than five minutes into the game, Flanders hits Garner for a 25 yard touchdown pass and we take an early 7-0 lead. We add a field goal 3 minutes later to go up 10-0. In the second quarter, we add another field goal and take a 13-0 lead into halftime. With 4 minutes left in the third quarter, Houston gets on the board by returning an interception 32 yards for a touchdown. We lead 13-7 now. On our next possession, Flanders throws another interception, and again it is returned for a score. Suddenly, we are trailing 14-13. Early in the fourth quarter, we kick a 51 yard field goal to regain the lead at 16-14. Houston scores the go ahead touchdown with just a minute left on the clock. We trail 21-16, but we do have 3 timeouts left. We never even get to midfield and now we have dropped two games in a row. Garner ran for 81 yards. He also had 54 receiving yards and a touchdown. Flanders was 20 of 39 for 276 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Schwartz had 139 receiving yards. Rossum had 56 yards. Keisel had a sack. Blackburn had an interception. We are now tied at 9-5 with Jacksonville for 1st place in our division. We both trail Kansas City by 1 game for home field throughout the playoffs in the AFC. St. Louis is a league best 13-1.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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02-17-2003, 08:28 PM
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#50 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Week 16: Atlanta (8-6) at Indy (9-5)
The Falcons are 3 point favorites. Seven minutes into the game, Atlanta strikes first and they take a 7-0 lead. Schwartz catches a 10 yard touchdown pass later in the first to tie the game up at 7. Prior runs one in from three yards out to give us a 14-7 lead with 4 minutes left in the half. With just a minute left in the half, Atlanta ties the game up at 14. With 4 minutes left in the third quarter, Atlanta takes the lead with a short field goal, and take the 17-14 lead. They add another field goal just before the end of the quarter and take a20-14 lead into the fourth quarter. We get 3 points back 5 minutes into the fourth quarter and cut the score to 20-17. With just 2 minutes left in the game, Flanders hooks up with Mitchell for a 34 yard touchdown and we take a 24-20 lead. Our defense cannot hold the Falcons and they drive 80 yards to take the game, 27-24. Garner ran for 55 yards. Flanders was 24 of 34 for 340 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Schwartz had 112 yards and a touchdown. Carpenter had 58 yards. Rossum had 89 yards. Crockett had 3 sacks. Greene, Jarvic, Guffey, and Keisel each had a sack. Holliday had 2 interceptions. Blackburn had an interception. DT Jarvis will miss about 3-4 weeks with a strained muscle. This loss drops us to 9-6. Houston and Jacksonville are both at 9-6 as well. There are 2 other teams in the division at 9-6. So that makes 5 teams, with a division and 2 wildcards up for grabs.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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