There is almost nothing that happens to the Indianapolis Colts that isnt a direct cause of, or has a direct effect on, Andrew Lu

There is almost nothing that happens to the Indianapolis Colts that isnt a direct cause of, or has a direct effect on, Andrew Luck. Nike Air Max 90 Dames . The third-year quarterback has more than lived up to the expectations left by his predecessor Peyton Manning and his early success is only raising the bar each season. Lucks 8,196 passing yards are the most for a quarterback through his first two NFL seasons and his 22 wins are second all-time behind another third-year quarterback, Seattles Russell Wilson. After bringing a two-win team to 11 wins in his first season and winning the AFC South in his sophomore year, is it third times a charm for Luck and the Colts in 2014? That is still to be determined. What can be said for sure is he is one year older and the conductor of what could be one of the leagues most dangerous wide receiver trios in 2014. At the tender age of 35, Reggie Wayne is ready to reclaim his place as the Colts No. 1 receiver just 10 and a half months after tearing his ACL. “I feel like I kind of left them hanging a little bit last year, so I want to be back out there with my teammates,” he said at the end of June. Wayne had one of his most prolific seasons in 2012 – Lucks rookie year – catching 106 passes for 1,355 yards, but managed just seven games last season due to the career-threatening injury. Its hard to believe Wayne will be in the physical shape he was as a ripe 24-year-old, but the happy and hungry six-time Pro Bowler believes he has some gas left in the tank. “This has probably been the healthiest Ive been probably since 02,” Wayne said. “One blessing I do take out of last year is maybe it was time for me to kind of let my body heal a little bit…and Ive done that.” But Wayne isnt the only veteran itching to return to form in blue and white. Six-year receiver Hakeem Nicks joined the Colts as an unrestricted free agent a week after hinting a desire to move to Indianapolis in March. “I would be dangerous with a quarterback like Andrew Luck," Nicks told ESPN.com. Nicks spent the first six years of his career with the New York Giants, collecting consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in 2010 and 2011 as well as catching 10 passes for 109 yards in the Giants Super Bowl XLVI triumph over the New England Patriots in February 2012. At 6-foot-1, Nicks will likely be most dangerous as a red zone target, where the Colts connected on just 56 per cent of their opportunities in 2013. Two seasoned receivers expected to attract a fair amount of attention from opposing defences will open doors for another third-year superstar, T.Y. Hilton. The more likely scenario for the electrifying Hilton is that he opens up space for the rest of the pass attack. “Weve got some new things that we want to do,” T.Y. Hilton told JMV on ESPN 1070 The Fan two weeks before the start of training camp. “Right now we are just getting everyone caught up to pace… we are going to be 100 miles per hour with the playbook.” Hilton has already racked up a stunning 10 100-yard receiving games in his first two seasons, tied for second most in NFL history. His 1,083 yards in 2013 were 475 more than the Colts next leading receiver, tight end Coby Fleener. Hiltons 82 receptions were also 30 more than Fleeners 52. The Miami native also established himself as a lethal deep threat last season with seven catches of more than thirty yards and three of 50 or more, including a 73-yard touchdown in Week 5 against the Seahawks. Like Luck, Hilton doesnt intend on slowing down. “It has been incredible,” Hilton said at his inaugural childrens football summer camp on July 12. “Im just enjoying the ride. Enjoying the moment. Thats what its all about, and Im still learning.” For the second half of the 2013 campaign – after Waynes season-ending injury – Luck was throwing to receivers with a grand total of zero 1,000-yard campaigns, including a sophomore Hilton. In 2014, should Hilton, Nicks and Wayne be in the starting lineup in the season opener on Sept. 7 against the Denver Broncos, Luck will begin his quest for footballs ultimate prize with 11 combined 1,000-yard seasons on the résumés of his top three wide receivers. Bombs away! GROUND AND POUND When the Colts traded away their 2014 first-round pick for Trent Richardson two games into last season, it can be safe to say they were hoping for the player who was once considered one of the NFLs top running back prospects in recent memory. They were hoping for the player who collected 950 yards and 11 touchdowns in his rookie season in 2012. What they got was a shadow of Richardsons potential. His 157 carries in 14 games in Indianapolis netted a measly 2.9 yards per carry and three touchdowns. By comparison, Luck ran for four touchdowns. "It was ambitious to think that he could come in -- What was it? -- Week 3 or 4 last year, and pick it up to hit the ground running,” Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton said during the teams off-season workouts in mid-July. “It was one of those situations where the defence knew when we put him in the game that more than likely we were running the football and they were packing the box. He was faced with some tremendously tough looks, but hell be better in 2014." Or so they hope. TIGHT SHIP In addition to an obviously talented group of wide receivers, the Colts have another offensive dimension in third-year tight ends Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener. Allen, who played 32 snaps last season before suffering a season-ending hip injury, is hoping to return to his rookie form where he caught 45 passes for 521 yards and a touchdown in 2012. The Colts, and tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts, see Allens return as a new beginning. “Getting him back is like getting a brand new player,” Roberts said, via the teams website on July 10. “His skillset allows us to protect it up, or throw it or run it when we see the advantage.” In Fleener, the Colts have a growing product that caught 52 passes for 608 yards and four touchdowns in his sophomore season. The is 6-foot-6, 244 lbs. Lemont, Illinois native doubled his receptions, yards and touchdowns over the first two years of his pro career and is poised to go even higher. OLD GUARD DOG Robert Mathis, a six-time Pro Bowler, is a beacon of consistency. The outside linebacker, and oldest member of the Colts defence, has missed 13 regular-season games since he first broke into the NFL in 2003. However, coming off one of the best seasons of his career in which he led the NFL with 19.5 sacks and eight forced fumbles, the 33-year-old will be forced to miss four more to start the 2014 season after using a fertility drug banned by the NFL due to its performance-enhancing properties. The Colts will have to make do without the heart and soul of their defence for four games, but the club certainly isnt concerned about Mathis when he returns. "He only knows one speed," Colts GM Ryan Grigson told the Indy Star in June. "Theres never any throttling back, no matter what. He always sets the tone and the precedent out there, how you do this, how you work, how you practice.” "Hes a guy who doesnt miss." Nike Air Max 90 Dames Sale . Mika Zibanejad and Jason Spezza scored in the shootout to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 victory over Nashville on Saturday night. Air Max 90 Goedkoop . - Zac Leslie scored two goals and assisted on two more, and Justin Nichols made 34 saves as the Guelph Storm blanked the Kitchener Rangers 6-0 in Ontario Hockey League action on Sunday. http://www.airmax90salenederland.com/ . Louis Cardinals have agreed to a one-year contract.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hey Kerry, I need you to explain this to me. How can you call opposite, offsetting penalties at the same time? By this I mean calling a diving penalty right alongside and tripping penalty? In Saturdays Canucks-Flames game, there was an offsetting penalty called against Kevin Bieska and Markus Granlund. Bieksa was called for hooking while Granlund was called for holding the stick. My question is how you can call these penalties? How can a player be called for tripping if the other player was diving?? How can Kevin be called for hooking when the Calgary player clearly had a hold of his stick? For me this does not make sense. If I dive, then you clearly did not trip me. If I tripped you, then clearly you did not dive. Please help clarify this so I do not have to yell louder at the TV while watching games. Thanks, Justin Clark, Vancouver Justin: First, let me explain how offsetting penalties can in fact be called on a play, after which I will provide my take on why that should not have been the case once Markus Granlund grabbed and pulled Kevin Bieksas stick under and through his own arms. Justin, you cited diving as a secondary penalty which often leaves fans confused and scratching their heads. Diving/embellishment is a current hot-button-issue that has been allowed to flourish in recent years. Embellishment thrived in epidemic proportions during the playoffs last season and drew comparisons to poor theatrical performances demonstrated in soccer. Until this current season, the referees have not been given the full support of management that they required to eradicate diving from the game. Had the refs received the necessary support, I am confident embellishment would have been greatly diminished similar to the successful measures taken to deal with obstruction a few years ago. Any previous lack of support however, appears to have changed through a strong mandate given to the officials at their training camp in September and continued to this point of the season. Players are being held accountable for unnatural falls to various forms of restraint (illegal or otherwise). While it is not often that we see a stand-alone diving penalty, they have been assessed with more frequency this season than in the past. Repeat diving offenders are not only being fined but are subjected to public embarrassment and additional scrutiny by the officiating community by having their names published. Let me explain how a referee can call a tripping infraction and a diving penalty on the same play. Once the referee raises his arm to signal any infraction that he determines has been committed, the resulting actions of the player fouled are also under close scrutiny. Nothing used to annoy me more than when I responded immediately to a legitimate infraction only to have the player that had been fouled attempt to sell it through embellishment/diving. Players that embellish must be held accountable ffor their dishonesty along with the ultimate embarrassment they heap upon the game. Nike Air Max Goedkoop. The referees are charged to use their authority and discretion wisely when determining if a player resorts to embellishment. I support them in their efforts. While I fully support the referees cause to eliminate diving and readily admit that offsetting penalties are sometimes deserved, I do not believe that Kevin Bieksa committed a hooking violation on this play. Bieksa cut across from his right side defence position, just inside the Canuck blue line, to accidentally deflect a loose puck onto the stick of Granlund who was attacking the Canuck zone from his right side. Bieksa responded by bringing his stick down and across the thigh pad of Granlund in an effort to apply a legal stick-check. The stick of Bieska did not hook or impede the hands or body of the Flames attacker at this point but instead bounced off Granlunds thigh pad. Bieksas stick was then firmly grabbed and controlled by the left hand of Granlund. Referees are instructed to apply a catch and release standard whenever a player uses his hand to relocate a stick that is placed in a vulnerable or unsafe location about his body. The legal catch and release (closing hand on the stick for safety measures) is distinctly different from fending off an active stick check with an open palm or forearm designed to protect the puck. Both maneuvers are deemed legal so long as the closed hand on the stick is executed quickly and only designed to move an opponents out of harms way. If the stick is held for any extended time to gain an advantage then a minor penalty should be assessed to the attacking player for holding the stick. (Rule 54.2) On this play the referee did not react to Bieksas initial stick-check action, nor did he respond by raising his arm when Granlund firmly grasped the stick in his hand and continued attacking toward the net. Bieksa had no choice but to raise his right arm in surrender and ultimately give up on the play, aside from continuing to move his feet, once his stick was effectively taken from him. Granlund could have avoided a penalty if he had released and pushed the stick away from his body in this moment. Instead, Granlund used his hand to further relocate Bieksas stick under his left arm and across his body. At this point of the play the referee had still not yet raised his arm to signal an infraction for either hooking (Bieksa) or holding of the stick (Granlund). It wasnt until Granlund attempted to make a play near the net and lost the puck that the referee raised his arm and assessed offsetting minor penalties. The only infraction committed on this play was by Markus Granlund. Since Granlund had possession and control of the puck at the time he grabbed, relocated, and clamped down on Bieksas stick the whistle should have been blown to impose a holding the stick penalty prior to any subsequent attempt by the Calgary attacker to make a play with the puck. There are situations when offsetting penalties are most appropriate Justin, this just wasnt one of them. ' ' '