Other » Given the postseason history involving Indianapolis

KANSAS CITY http://www.steelersfootballauthentics.com/diontae-johnson-jersey-authentic , Mo. �? and Kansas City over the years, Andrew Luck and the Colts have every reason to feel confident heading to Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday.The Chiefs have every reason to believe they’re due.Four times the teams have met in the playoffs, twice in the wild-card round and twice with a spot in the AFC title game on the line. Each time the Colts emerged victorious. All but one were down-to-the-wire nail-biters, one a record-setting shootout and another a defensive slugfest, and each left Colts fans feeling euphoric and Chiefs fans feeling cursed.Asked whether he understood the magnitude of the next installment in the one-sided series, Chiefs cornerback Kendall Fuller replied quite simply: “Oh, yeah.”“Especially what they’ve been going through over the years and things like that,” he said. “We definitely see how fans feel, what they’re expecting and stuff like that.”There was the 1996 wild-card matchup in which Chiefs kicker Lin Elliott missed three field goals and the Colts won 10-7. The divisional showdown in 2003, when the Colts won 38-31 in a game featuring no punts. The 23-8 whitewashing three years later and, most recently, the 45-44 shootout in which Luck led the Colts from a 38-10 second-half hole to beat Andy Reid’s first Chiefs team in 2013.There are still more than a dozen players around who were involved in that game five years ago, yet each acknowledged this week that history has no bearing on what will transpire Saturday .“Obviously, they are a great team,” said Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri, who has played in the past two playoff games against Kansas City. “They’ve won a lot of games. They’ve got a very explosive offense. They’ve got probably the best returner in the National Football League with (Tyreek) Hill.“We are going to have to play our best game,” Vinatieri said, “to try to keep up with them.”The Chiefs happen to believe the same thing.Yes, they earned the No. 1 seed with their third consecutive AFC West title Justin Layne Jersey , and have arguably the game’s best young quarterback in Patrick Mahomes. Hill joins Travis Kelce, a healthy Sammy Watkins and running backs Spencer Ware and Damien Williams in giving him plenty of weapons, while a defense that’s been statistically poor also has more sacks than any other team.Yet the Colts, the sixth and last seed in the playoffs, may be the hottest team playing. They rebounded from a 1-5 start to win nine of their last 10 games to reach the postseason, then dominated the Houston Texans last week with a bludgeoning ground game and stingy defense .“The way this locker room has prepared,” Luck said, “it’s all about just getting better, getting better. … It takes no heroes. You don’t need a hero, whether it’s a playoff game or a regular-season game. It’s just everybody doing their jobs that get things done.”Of course, having a little playoff karma never hurts. The Colts certainly have that when it comes to Kansas City, while the Chiefs believe they long ago hit their quota of misfortune.“All of us feel like we are here now and focused on the present day,” Mahomes said, “and we feel like we have a different team, and that we can go out there and win a big football game.”SPEAKING OF MAHOMESColts coach Frank Reich played 13 seasons in the NFL and has spent most of the past decade working with quarterbacks. And he had high praise for Mahomes, who shattered just about every Chiefs passing record this season.“I’ve heard people use the term ‘generational arm talent.’ I think that’s really true,” he said. “As a former quarterback, I don’t say that about too many people. I don’t throw that term out real easily. I think he’s a legit generational arm talent.”MACK TRUCKColts running back Marlon Mack ran for a franchise-playoff-record 148 yards in their 21-7 win over the Texans. Now he gets to face a Chiefs rush defense that was last in the NFL in just about every statistical category. “I think that’s an indication of how our entire offense played,” Luck said. “It’s a combination of Marlon and the offensive line.”FAMILIAR FACESMuch of the credit for the Colts’ turnaround belongs to general manager Chris Ballard http://www.steelersfootballauthentics.com/benny-snell-jr.-jersey-authentic , who worked in Kansas City’s front office before taking over in Indianapolis. It was Ballard who orchestrated two solid drafts and rebuilt the Indy defense. “I’m not surprised,” Reid said. “He’s got the energy to go get it. The energy and the eye to see it and go get it. That’s important.”WHAT A RUSHChiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones had 15 1/2 sacks this season, while linebacker Dee Ford has 13 sacks and seven forced fumbles. But one of the most productive rush tandems in the NFL should have its hands full with an offensive line that allowed sacks on a league-low 2.7 percent of pass plays. “We’re ready for the challenge,” Ford said.HEALTH CHECKColts wide receiver Ryan Grant (toe) has been ruled out, while defensive lineman Tyquan Lewis is doubtful with a knee injury. The big question for the Chiefs is strong safety Eric Berry, who practiced only once this week with a recurrence of the heel injury that sidelined him much of the season. He was listed as questionable on the final injury report.100<button class="view-gallery">View Gallery</button> Gallery:View from the sidelines: NFL cheerleaders 2018Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports | Raj Mehta The Texas Rangers were great until the rain showed up. After that, they were holding on.

The Rangers led 5-0 when heavy showers forced a 29-minute rain delay in the top of the fourth inning Thursday night. The first batter after the delay hit a two-run homer to give the Rangers a 7-0 lead, but it was all Detroit Tigers after that.

The Tigers had the winning run at the plate with no one out in the ninth inning, but closer Keone Kela retired the next three batters to finish off a 7-5 victory and snap a three-game losing streak.

The Rangers didn’t arrive in Detroit until the early hours of Thursday morning after an extra-inning loss to the Astros the previous night.

”We had a tough night last night and some tough travel, but our guys showed up tonight,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. ”We needed to get a win to gain some momentum and gain some confidence.”

Yovani Gallardo (3-0) got the win, giving up four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two while winning his third straight start.

Kela allowed a run in the ninth – the first he’s given up in 12 career innings against Detroit – before finishing off his 21st save.

Matthew Boyd allowed a season-high seven runs and seven hits in four innings. He is 0-3 with a 10.59 ERA in his last four starts.

”Everyone goes through good stretches and bad stretches at this level, and a lot of it depends on luck,” he said. ”Once the game is over, you have to put it away and focus on getting ready to take the ball in five days.”

Tigers bench coach Steve Liddle, who managed while Ron Gardenhire recovered from the heat exhaustion that caused him to leave Wednesday’s loss in Chicago, wasn’t pleased with Boyd’s pitch selection.

”He never threw his fastball, so they were sitting on his soft stuff all night,” Liddle said. ”They saw what he was doing and made adjustments Zach Gentry Jersey , but he never made any adjustments to counter that.

”You can’t throw the same thing over and over and expect to win games.”

Detroit lost is third straight and dropped to 2-14 since June 17.

”We were down a touchdown early and we had the winning run at the plate in the ninth,” Liddle said. ”That’s something positive we can take from this.”

The Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Gallo became one of the few players to clear Comerica Park’s right-field stands with a home run. Gallo came into the game hitting .191 with 20 homers.

Nomar Mazara made it 3-0 with an RBI grounder in the third, and Tigers third baseman Ronny Rodriguez misplayed Adrian Beltre’s grounder to allow a fourth run to score.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s fourth-inning RBI single extended the Rangers’ lead to 5-0 on the final pitch before a 29-minute rain delay. The game had started 15 minutes late due to a brief rain shower.

On Boyd’s fifth pitch after play resumed, Guzman hit a two-run homer to put Texas ahead by seven.

The Tigers made it 7-3 in the bottom of the fourth on RBI singles by John Hicks, Jim Adduci and Rodriguez, but Gallardo got Jose Iglesias to hit into an inning-ending double play.

”It’s tough coming out of the rain delay,” Gallardo said. ”We were ready to start the game and it rained, and then I had to stay loose through the second one. I gave up those three runs, but we got out of it.”

Goodrum homered in the sixth to make it 7-4.

Rodriguez started the ninth with an infield single and Iglesias reached on an error by third baseman Jurickson Profar. Victor Reyes followed with an RBI single to make it 7-5, but pinch-hitter Jeimer Candelario bounced into a force at second.

Kela struck out Nicholas Castellanos and retired Goodrum to end the game.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rangers: RHP Chris Martin (groin) was placed on the 10-day disabled list and RHP Ricardo Rodriguez was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock. … LHP Martin Perez (elbow) was scheduled to make his third rehab start for Round Rock on Thursday. Perez has not pitched for the Rangers this season after elbow surgery.

Tigers: Gardenhire was told by doctors to stay in the air-conditioned clubhouse with the heat index approaching 100 degrees at game time. Temperatures are forecast to be much cooler in Detroit on Friday. … RHP Drew VerHagen (broken nose) is expected to make one more rehab appearance for Triple-A Toledo before rejoining the Tigers.

BANISTER’S MILESTONE

The win was Banister’s 300th as a manager in his 574th game, making him the fastest manager to 300 wins in Rangers history. ”It’s a nice milestone for the organization and the ball club,” he said. ”I’ve been fortunate enough to be granted a great opportunity here.”

UP NEXT

Bartolo Colon (5-5, 4.76) will try to break a tie with Dennis Martinez for most wins by a pitcher born in Latin America when he starts against the Tigers on Friday. Colon is the last active major-league player to have played at Tiger Stadium, which closed in 1999. Jordan Zimmermann (3-0, 3.91) is scheduled to start for Detroit.

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