Ashtons linemates, Spencer Abbott and Greg McKe

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(SportsNetwork.com) - The Baltimore Ravens have long been defined by their defense, but it is Joe Flacco and the offense that has the club off to a 3-1 start. Meanwhile, Andrew Lucks MVP-type start to the season has the Indianapolis Colts at .500. The two clubs put their winning streaks on the line this Sunday at Indianapolis Lucas Oil Stadium. Lost in the never-ending Ray Rice saga is the fact that the Ravens have ripped off three straight victories since a Week 1 loss to Cincinnati, putting them second in the AFC North behind only the 3-0 Bengals. Baltimore has won three in a row by an average of 17.3 points, posting two blowout wins around a two- point nail-bitter over Cleveland. Baltimores latest win came last Sunday on a big game by Steve Smith Sr. over his former Carolina Panthers club, with the wide receiver hauling in a pair of touchdown passes in a 38-10 rout. Smith spent his first 13 seasons with the Panthers before getting released in March. He signed a three-year deal with the Ravens and came back to haunt his former club, grabbing seven passes for 139 yards. Im 35 years old and I ran around those guys like they were school-yard kids, said Smith. Flacco threw for 327 yards and also hooked up with Torrey Smith for a touchdown pass, while running backs Justin Forsett and Lorenzo Taliaferro combined for 124 yards on 29 carries. Each back also found the end zone as Baltimore racked up a season-high 454 yards. The Ravens are aiming to open a season 4-1 for the fourth time under head coach John Harbaugh and will do so while kicking off a span of two straight and four of their next five on the road. That made last weekends home win over Carolina all the more important. To step up like they did, in a really important game at home, a game that we needed to win, Harbaugh praised of his team. Were about to head on the road, were about to be the road warriors here for a while. And that becomes a very important game to win. The Colts have also picked up a pair of important wins, rebounding from losses at Denver and at home versus Philadelphia to begin the campaign with dominating wins over Jacksonville and Tennessee. Indianapolis routed the Jaguars 44-17 in Week 3, then blew past the Titans 41-17 last weekend. Luck threw four touchdown passes for a second straight game, racking up 393 yards passing. Reggie Wayne and T.Y. Hilton both went over 100 yards receiving, with Wayne notching 119 yards and a score on seven catches. Ahmad Bradshaw caught his fourth touchdown pass of the season, the most among all running backs this season. Were blessed with a bunch of great playmakers, guys that need the ball in their hands, and as a quarterback thats what you want, said Luck. At 2-2, the Colts sit second in the AFC South, right behind 3-1 Houston. Their win over Tennessee pushed their winning streak over division opponents to nine in a row. Needless to say, after posting 85 points in two weeks, the Colts are a pretty confident bunch right now. It gives us a mojo and thats what were taking with us on the road, Bradshaw said of getting to .500. In every game, the mojo, we just got to have energy at all times, come out playing strong, fast and physical. Thats the way we did today. The Colts will play three of their next four on the road after this game and will try to remain unbeaten against the Ravens in Indy. They have won all four regular-season meetings in Indianapolis and lead the all-time regular-season series 7-3. These clubs are meeting for the first time since the Ravens won a 24-9 decision at home on Jan. 6, 2013 in an AFC wild card game clash. That marked the final home game in the career of Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis, and true to form, the Ravens defense did not give up a touchdown. WHAT TO WATCH FOR High-powered offenses are set to clash against middle-of-the-road defenses, and both the Colts and Ravens rank in the top three in point differential. Baltimore is second at plus-43, while the Colts are third at plus-41. The Ravens are sixth in the league with 394.3 yards per game and are averaging 25.8 points per game, while the Colts lead the NFL in scoring at 34.0 PPG and are averaging an NFL high-tying 444.0 YPG. Luck leads the NFL with 13 touchdown passes, the most ever by a player through the first four games in franchise history. He has also completed passes to nine different receivers in back-to-back weeks. Hes doing a great job of that, of taking what the defense is giving him and not getting greedy, so to speak, and spreading the ball around, said Colts coach Chuck Pagano. Theyve got to make a decision defensively who they want to identify like we do as game- wreckers and take those guys away, but its going to open it up obviously for somebody else either in the run game or the pass game. Luck is the first player in NFL history with consecutive games of 370-plus passing yards, four-plus touchdown passes, a 70-plus completion percentage and one interception or fewer. Flacco, meanwhile, has been helped by an offensive line that has not given up a sack in three straight games. The Ravens prevented the Panthers from getting to Flacco despite tackle Eugene Monroe missing the game with a knee injury. James Hurst stepped in and helped give Flacco time to complete 22 of his 31 pass attempts. Its been really good. We get the ball out, and those guys have been holding up big time when we do the play-action, when teams come after us and when were dealing with really good defensive lines, Flacco said of the unit. Both quarterbacks are also getting helped by veteran receivers. Smith became the oldest player in NFL history to notch over 400 yards receiving in the first four games of a season, with the 35-year-old having 429 on 25 receptions. He can also provide an emotional spark, like he did versus the Panthers, something Colts cornerback Darius Butler knows well. I played with Steve in 2011 in Carolina, so I know what kind of a player he is, what kind of attitude he brings to a locker room, to a team. Itll be a great matchup for us on the back end and us as a whole against the Ravens, Butler said. Wayne, also 35, is coming off his 200th career game and posted the 43rd 100- yard contest of his career. His seven catches moved him past Isaac Bruce (1,024) for seventh most on the NFLs all-time list, while Wayne is just 27 yards shy of passing Cris Carter (13,899) for ninth most all-time and 132 from moving past eighth-place James Lofton. I think hes a technician. I think he has mastered the craft of being a wide receiver, Luck said of Wayne. He sees coverages incredibly well. He knows what zone, man, where the blitz is coming from. He understands football and I think hes mastered his craft, and he takes it seriously. Its his profession and he gives it the respect it deserves. The Colts have allowed just five sacks on the year, but theyll need to watch Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs, who had three sacks and forced three fumbles in the last regular-season meeting in 2011. Fellow linebacker Elvis Dumervil has 3 1/2 sacks in his last three games overall, notching 1 1/2 sacks versus Carolina. Indianapolis defensive tackle Arthur Jones has six tackles on the year, his first with the Colts after spending his first four campaigns with the Ravens. He had 8 1/2 sacks during his time with Baltimore and had a big run of nine tackles, two fumble recoveries and a sack in four playoff games as the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII. Colts safety Mike Adams had two interceptions last weekend as the Titans avoided throwing towards cornerback Vontae Davis. However, fellow safety LaRon Landry begins a four-game suspension this weekend for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances. The ban was announced on Monday and the Colts lose their second-leading tackler in Landry. OVERALL ANALYSIS This is a key stretch for the Ravens, who have already lost to the first-place Bengals and cant afford to lose much ground during this road-heavy month. The challenge is you have to go play another team in their environment, and that takes an incredible amount of discipline and poise, noted Harbaugh. And the more disciplined and poised we are, the more able we are to execute under (pressure) and tune out the noise ... well be good, and thats what we have to do. However, tuning out the noise in Indy is the least of the Ravens worries as Luck is red-hot. Baltimores defense has been up to the task for the most part this season, but containing Luck on his own turf could prove to be too big a task. Sports Network predicted outcome: Colts 27, Ravens 23 http://www.airforce1foruk.biz/nike-womens-air-huarache-flurorescent-green-sneakers-654280-001.html . -- Orleans Darkwa ran in from 1 yard with 1:45 left, and the Miami Dolphins rallied from two scores down in the final minutes to beat the Dallas Cowboys 25-20 on Saturday night. http://www.airforce1foruk.biz/mens-womens-vivid-mint-superstar-adidas-originals-pharrell-williams-supercolor-shoes-s41822.html . Hes had three top-10 results this season and feels ready to put it all together and finally hoist a trophy at the top level. http://www.airforce1foruk.biz/nike-trai ... black.html. Next up is another showdown with Michigan. Payne scored 18 points, Branden Dawson had 14 and No. 22 Michigan State beat No. 12 Wisconsin 83-75 on Saturday to reach the Big Ten tournament championship. http://www.airforce1foruk.biz/mens-nike-air-huarache-og-light-arctic-pink-sneakers-634835-065.html . Al Harrington, another former Knicks forward, scored 22 of his 24 points after halftime for the Nuggets, allowing them to withstand Anthonys attempt to rally the Knicks after his poor shooting had them behind until the final minutes of regulation. Anthony finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, missing 20 of 30 shots in the Knicks sixth straight loss. Adidas Supercolor Red . Right-hander Ricky Nolasco and the Twins agreed to terms on a free-agent contract Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.TORONTO -- Carter Ashton hasnt scored in 30 NHL games this season, but he knows how to put the puck in the back of the net in the American Hockey League. Ashton scored a hat trick -- giving him 13 goals in 16 AHL games this season -- to power the Toronto Marlies to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action on Sunday. "He took the game over," said Marlies coach Steve Spott. "You see what he can do at this level. "Hes going to have to find that same confidence and swagger when he plays for the (NHL parent) Maple Leafs. Here in the AHL, he does a nice job, he maintains possession of the puck, he uses his ......., uses his speed, and it becomes a weapon for him. He just needs to find the confidence to do that at the next level." Ashton broke a 2-2 tie -- and completed his hat trick -- during a goal-mouth scramble when he deposited a rebound into the net past Monsters goalie Calvin Pickard at 6:16 of the third period. Defenceman T.J. Brennan, with his team-leading 21st of the season, gave the Marlies a two-goal cushion 45 seconds later when his point shot trickled through Pickards legs. Brandon Kozun closed out the scoring with an empty-netter at 17:51. "Its definitely a process, so to come back down and get these games and some good ice time, thats good for me," Ashton said. "And we finished off our homestand with a win, so thats great." Toronto went 7-3-0 on its 10-game homestand and improved to 33-18-4 on the season, good for first place in the North Division. Ashtons linemates, Spencer Abbott and Greg McKegg, collected two assists apiece in front of 4,351 fans at Ricoh Coliseum. Joey Hishon and Mike Sgarbossa replied for the Monsters, who dropped their second game in a row to fall to 23-26-6. "Give Lake Errie credit, they found a way to get back into it after a two-goal deficit," said Spott, who watched the Monsters strike twice in the latter stages of the second period after Toronto had staked a 2-0 lead.dddddddddddd "We knew we were at home, playing the last period of a 10-game homestand, and we wanted to take advantage of it. I give our guys a lot of credit for the way they played the final 20 minutes." Marlies goalie Drew MacIntyre was sharp making 26 saves, while Pickard stopped 18 of 22 shots. Toronto led 1-0 after the first period and the score was tied 2-2 through 40 minutes. The Marlies opened the scoring 53 seconds into the first period when Ashton took a pass from Spencer Abbott in the slot, cut to the left and whipped a wrist shot past Pickards blocker. The Monsters had some chances of their own in the opening frame -- including a two-minute 5-on-3 power play and a breakaway by right winger Guillaume Desbiens -- but they couldnt beat MacIntyre. Ashton gave the Marlies a two-goal edge when he deflected Greg McKeggs point shot past a screened Pickard at 10:02 of the second period. The advantage was shortlived, however, as Hishon put the Monsters on the scoreboard 52 seconds later when he redirected a slapshot past MacIntyre. Sgarbossa tied it up when he whacked in a rebound for a power-play goal at 18:35 of the middle frame. Ashton regained the lead for Toronto with his third goal of the game at 6:16 of the third period, and Brennans goal 45 seconds later sealed the win for the Marlies. Kozun capped the scoring with an empty-netter at 17:51 Toronto went 0 for 3 on the power play while Lake Erie was 1 for 6. The Marlies and Monsters are off until next weekend, when Toronto visits Lake Erie for back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '