Tag: indianapolis colts

New York Giants named a potential landing spot for Michael Pittman Jr.

The New York Giants have needs at just about every position and must address their personnel deficiencies this offseason.

Most notably, they will need to shore up their offensive line and finally add a true No. 1 wide receiver despite some previous protest by general manager Joe Schoen.

There won’t be an abundance of options in free agency but there will be some. And Pro Football Focus recently named the Giants as a potential landing spot for one of them — Michael Pittman Jr.

New York traded a third-round pick for tight end Darren Waller last offseason, but that experiment may already be a failure as he struggles to manage a nerve issue with his hamstring. The Giants have plenty of speed and slot receivers, please get Daniel Jones a big target on the outside.

The 26-year-old Pittman Jr. is coming off a career-best season in which he caught 109 passes for 1,152 yards and four touchdowns. He earned an overall PFF grade of 77.7 and a receiving grade of 80.0.

Both of those grades would have topped the Giants offensively.

At 6-foot-4 and 223 pounds, Pittman Jr. would provide New York the true big-bodied, downfield threat they’ve been missing for years. He would be an ideal complement to Wan’Dale Robinson, Jalin Hyatt, and Darius Slayton.

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Rays unveil dubious 2022 Wild Card banner on Opening Day

Don’t call it a banner day.

The Tampa Bay Rays unveiled a banner on Opening Day at Tropicana Field on Thursday – commemorating their 2022 Wild Card appearance.

The Rays’ playoff run last season lasted all of two games, both of which were losses to the Cleveland Guardians in which they failed to score a run.


The Rays’ 2022 Wild Card appearance wasn’t exactly much to celebrate.
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It joins the pantheon of dubious banners raised to the sports rafters.

The NFL’s Indianapolis Colts famously raised a banner lauding their status as a “2014 AFC Finalist” following their 45-7 loss to the Patriots in the AFC title game, continuing their history of “finalist” banners.

In 2018, the NHL’s Nashville Predators celebrated their status as the Presidents’ Trophy winners the previous season with three banners – one for finishing as the league’s top regular season team, another for winning the Central Division crown, and one to mark their status as “Regular Season Western Conference Champions,” which is not a thing.


One of the Predators’ 2018 banners drew some derision from fans.
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The WNBA’s Washington Mystics celebrated being the league’s “attendance champions” in back-to-back seasons with banners for 2002 and 2003.

As for the Rays, the sellout crowd of 20,025 at Tropicana Field was at least treated to a 4-0 win over the Tigers, relying heavily on their pitching and defense.

“A very Rays-like win,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We’ll sign up for those types of wins a lot.”


The Washington Mystics unveil the 2003 attendance banner before opening night.
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Helping matters was outfielder Manuel Margot’s diving catch on a ball lined toward the right field line in the seventh inning to preserve a 3-0 lead.

“I knew I had to do something, whether it was just to trap it or make a play,” Margot said through an interpreter, “because the game was close at that point.”



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Ex-NFL star Vontae Davis arrested for DUI after alleged crash

Former NFL cornerback Vontae Davis was arrested Saturday by the Florida Highway Patrol and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to Broward County arrest records.

Davis had a bond amount listed at $500, per the record.

Though there’s only one DUI charge listed, Fox Sports 640’s Andy Slater reported Sunday morning that Davis “allegedly crashed into a disabled car on the side of the highway, which then hit a person next to it.” Officers then allegedly found Davis sleeping, and when they asked why he was sleeping on the shoulder, Davis replied, “I was tired.”


Vontae Davis was arrested Saturday for driving under the influence.
Broward County Sheriff’s Office

Slater, citing anonymous sources, reported that Davis claimed he was driving home from a club, where he had two mixed drinks. The person Davis allegedly struck was taken to a hospital with “multiple injuries,” according to Slater.

Davis, a former first-round pick of the Dolphins in 2009, spent his first three seasons in Miami before a 2012 trade sent him to the Colts. He proceeded to spend the bulk of his remaining career with Indianapolis, though he made a brief — and controversial — cameo with the Bills in 2018 by signing as a free agent in the offseason, but then retiring at halftime of the season opener.


Vernon Davis infamously retired at halftime of the season-opener during his final NFL season.
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Vontae Davis spent the bulk of his career with the Colts after Miami traded him in 2012.
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“This isn’t how I pictured retiring from the NFL,” he wrote in a statement published on the NFL’s Twitter account the next day. “But today on the field, reality hit me and hard. I shouldn’t be out there anymore.”

Davis was selected to consecutive Pro Bowls in 2014 and ’15, a pair of seasons when he combined for eight interceptions, 34 passes defended, and two forced fumbles. He’s the brother of former star tight end Vernon Davis.



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Giants can make playoff scenario real simple by beating Colts

The Giants are in the only place you want to be in Week 17 of a football season. They have the gift of crystal-clear clarity. They don’t have to look around the league, the way the Jets and a half-dozen other teams do, and figure out what help they need elsewhere; relying on the kindness of strangers is a terrible place to be this deep in the season.

And there is the other end of the spectrum too: The Giants don’t have to concern themselves with how much their starters should play, how badly they need the game, the risk-reward of winning a regular-season game. It’s easy. Easiest formula possible.

Win the game.

That’s all. That’s it. Beat the Colts on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, get a ticket punched for the playoffs, play a what-the-hell game the following week in which there will likely be no stakes on the table for either them or for the Eagles.

Beat the Colts, and let the cards fall where they may.

“I think we just try to control our own destiny each week by trying to win a game,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said. “The goal is always to try to go 1-0, and that’ll be no different this week.”

Give Daboll this: The same kind of discipline and self-awareness he demands of his players? He expects that from himself, too. No fewer than four different times Monday afternoon, as he met reporters for the first time since his team’s heartbreaking 27-24 loss to the Vikings on Christmas Eve, he was eased by interrogators toward a path of discussing the playoffs.

He took the Fifth on all of it.

Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley and the Giants just need to beat the Colts this week to make the playoffs.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

“I think everybody knows what you just said,” Daboll said, and what had been asked was if his message to the team was at all different this week because a victory stamps them good to go for the postseason. He wasn’t biting. He wasn’t even nibbling. “Making sure we’re prepared, ready to go and go out there and put our best foot forward.”

The Giants and Colts aren’t exactly ancient rivals, and in the 72 years since their first encounter — Giants 55, Colts 20 at Baltimore’s old Memorial Stadium — they’ve faced each other only 19 times, the Colts winning 12. The most famous, of course, was one day less than 64 years ago, Dec. 28, 1958, when Alan Ameche’s touchdown won the first NFL overtime game ever played, delivering the NFL championship to Baltimore.

And it has been a few days longer than 20 years ago since the Giants most recently beat the Colts (only the Chargers, whom the Giants haven’t beaten since 1998, have a longer run); the Colts have won four straight (including two Manning Bowls) since.

That final three weeks of the 2002 season are a bit more relevant than you’d think. The Giants were 8-6 and needing to win their final two regular-season games of the year — at Indianapolis, and home to Philadelphia — the same two teams they close the season against this year — and beat the Colts at RCA Dome 44-27 thanks to a career day from Amani Toomer, who caught 10 balls for 204 yards and touchdowns of 82, 21 and 27 yards from Kerry Collins.

NY Post illustration

They clinched a week later when they outlasted the Eagles in overtime at Giants Stadium.

(And for their troubles the Giants drew the 49ers in the first round of the playoffs, which is the likely scenario for them this time around, as well. If you’re a Giants fan, you’ll be happy to know we won’t be talking about that game in this column at all)

The Giants ought to be a significant favorite over the Colts, who will be without Jonathan Taylor and will likely be quarterbacked by Nick Foles (who made his season debut Monday night against the Chargers). There ought to be a playoff-worthy atmosphere at MetLife Stadium, the one consolation prize to not clinching a spot in the tournament in Minneapolis.

Michael Pittman Jr. of the Colts is tackled as his helmet comes off by Derwin James Jr. #3 of the Los Angeles Chargers and Drue Tranquill.
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And Daboll, as we have seen, will neither encourage nor permit his players’ imaginations to get too carried away.

“We’re not in it yet,” he said, effortlessly flicking aside one last gnat of a question. “I’m not going to look too far down the road, and we’re going to try to beat the Colts.”

Simple answer. Simple equation. Simple truth. Simple task. Beat the Colts, and nothing else matters.

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Seahawks vs. Buccaneers, Raiders vs. Colts

Action Network NFL analyst C Jackson Cowart is in his first season in The Post’s Bettor’s Guide. Here are his best bets for Week 10. 

Seattle Seahawks (+3) over Tampa Bay Buccaneers (in Munich, Germany)

We bet on the Seahawks last week, and we’re happy to go back to the well on one of the most underrated teams in the league.

Given what we expected coming into the year, it’s a bit baffling to see Seattle ranked fifth in team DVOA and ninth in net points per drive (0.28), but there’s no denying that the formula has worked in the first year sans Russell Wilson. Geno Smith and the Seahawks’ offense gets much of the credit, but this defense has been one of the NFL’s best in recent weeks and should be able to thwart Tom Brady and this limping Bucs unit.

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Geno Smith of the Seattle Seahawks
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LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (-4.5) over Indianapolis Colts

Some spots are just too obvious to stay away. That’s the case here with the Raiders, and I’m honestly surprised this game hasn’t hit the key number of 7.

Betting on the NFL?

Forget the coaching mess for a second: On the field alone, the Colts rank 31st in DVOA and have one of the worst offenses in football behind struggling sophomore passer Sam Ehlinger. Now consider that his play-caller this week was a quality control coach two years ago, and his current boss has zero coaching experience beyond high school football. This could be the ugliest result of the week.

Last week: 1-0-1. Falcons (P), Seahawks (W).

Season: 7-8-1.

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Colts hold on after defensive stand seals win over Broncos

DENVER — Stephon Gilmore batted away Russell Wilson’s pass to Courtland Sutton in the end zone on fourth-and-1 from the 5 to give the Indianapolis Colts a 12-9 overtime victory over the Denver Broncos on Thursday night.

Gilmore also intercepted Wilson’s pass in the fourth quarter to help set up Chase McLauglin’s tying field goal.

McLauglin connected from 47 yards 4:10 into overtime to give the Colts (2-2-1) the lead in the first game in NFL history that pitted quarterbacks with at least four Pro Bowl appearances each, but it featured zero touchdowns.

The Broncos (2-3) decided against a tying chip-shot field goal by Brandon McManus, and Wilson lined up in the shotgun next to running back Melvin Gordon, then threw incomplete over the middle.

Matt Ryan grinded out the victory despite throwing two interceptions into the hands of safety Caden Sterns, fumbling for the 10th time this season and getting sacked six times, giving him 21 so far.

The Colts held on tp beat the Broncos on ‘Thursday Night Football’
AP
The Colts celebrate after their game-winning stop on defense.
AP
Russell Wilson passes during the Broncos loss to the Colts.
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McLaughlin sent it to overtime with a 31-yarder with 5 seconds left in regulation after Gilmore intercepted Wilson’s pass to Jerry Jeudy in the end zone on third-and-4 from the 13.

That kick capped the Colts’ longest drive of the night, 68 yards in 10 plays.

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Bills’ Matt Araiza rockets 82-yard punt in preseason game

The Punt God is among us.

Bills rookie punter Matt Araiza lived up to his nickname by unleashing an 82-yard kick Saturday against the Colts during Buffalo’s first preseason game. 

The kick, which occurred in the waning seconds of the second quarter, went from near Buffalo’s 10-yard line to bouncing into Indianapolis’ end zone.

Bills rookie Matt Araiza booted a massive 82-yard punt that went into the Colts’ end zone.
FOX

The 2022 sixth-round pick gained his godly punting reputation while playing at San Diego State by producing massive punts which could stretch entire football fields – sort of like Saturday’s kick.

For his punting prowess, Araiza won the 2021 Ray Guy Award for averaging a historical 51.2 yards a punt.



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