Indianapolis, IN
Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts: TV, Radio and Betting
Chicago Bears (1-1) at Indianapolis Colts (0-2)
Kickoff: Noon Sunday
Where: Lincoln Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
TV: CBS (Andrew Catalon, Tiki Barber, Jason McCourty and AJ Ross
Radio: ESPN AM-1000 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)
Sirius XM Radio: Channel 160 or 382
I’m worried about Caleb Williams, not his talent— his mind.
Let’s talk sports psychology: pic.twitter.com/etsWtfxte0
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) September 16, 2024
Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 FM (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)
The Line: Colts by 1, over/under 43 1/2.
The Series: The Colts lead 25-19. The Colts won the last game in 2020 at Soldier Field 19-11.
The Coaches: Bears coach Matt Eberflus is 11-25 in his third season and hasn’t faced Indianapolis, the team he worked for as defensive coordinator from 2018-21.
Was it all bad for Caleb Williams Sunday night in Houston?
The @nflnetwork analyst on why everyone should pump the brakes on criticizing #DaBears rookie QB:#NFL pic.twitter.com/KA2Dca98s1
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) September 16, 2024
Colts coach Shane Steichen is 9-10 in his second season and hasn’t faced the Bears. His team finished 9-8 last year.
LINCOLN RILEY MENTION FOR BEARS COACH MERELY MORE SILLY NAME DROPPING
BEARS GM RYAN POLES COMES UNDER FIRE FROM BILL BELICHICK
RANKINGS DIP FOR BEARS FAILS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THEIR DEFENSE
THE DANGER BEARS FACE IN TURNING CALEB WILLIAMS INTO A CRASH DUMMY
Last Week: The Bears lost 19-13 on Sunday Night Football to the Houston Texans, the team that had beaten the Colts 29-27 in the season opener in Indianapolis. The Bears had only 71 yards rushing and Caleb Williams completed 23 of 37 while throwing for 174 yards.
.@ChicagoBears @CALEBcsw on 3-9 opening drive with a “malachi crunch”. The timing doesnt seem crisp. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/VSGEMW53go
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 17, 2024
The Colts gave up 261 yards rushing on 53 carries to the Packers in a 16-10 loss at Lambeau Field. Indianapolis had the ball for only 19 minutes and 49 seconds as Green Bay’s running game kept the Colts offense off the field.
The Matchup: The two Super Bowl XLI oppponents get together again. The Bears try to establish something on offense, either on the ground or through the air, after two poor efforts on that side of the ball to start the season. Protecting Williams will be a key in the passing game after he was sacked seven times by the Texans Sunday night. The test for the Colts will be stopping the run, even though the Bears haven’t shown they can do it yet. The Colts gave up 213 and 261 on the ground in the first two games. Bears running backs D’Andre Swift, Khalil Herbert, Travis Homer and Velus Jones Jr. have averaged only 2.48 yards per rushing attempt this sesaon.
Colts QB Anthony Richardson is trying to become more efficient. So far he has been a big-play machine, but many of the big plays were for the other team. He has thrown four interceptions in two games. Williams has two interceptions in two games. Richardson has completed less than half his passes (26 of 53) but has completions of 50, 53, 57 and 30 yards while the Bears’ long on the year is 27 yards. The Colts want to see receiver Michael Pittman more involved. He has seven receptions but for only 52 yards.
Of Note: Williams started last week’s game by completing seven straight passes, becoming the first Bears rookie QB to do this since Jim McMahon in 1982. … The Bears rank last in yards per play (3.0), yards per pass (3.0) and net passing yards per game (99). … Although the Colts are winless, the Texans are the only team in the AFC South to have won a game this year. … The Bears defense has allowed three points in the second half this year. … The injury to watch for the Bears this week is again wide receiver Keenan Allen, with plantar fasciitis. He missed last week’s game and did not practice all last week.
Next Week: The Bears host the Rams on Sept. 29 at noon and the Colts host the Steelers Sept. 29 at noon.
Betting Trends
Caleb Williams showing up to the Bears facility after tonights game pic.twitter.com/9thjpIgI3C
— DeaconPalmer69 (@DeaconPalmer69) September 16, 2024
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Indianapolis, IN
Everything Taylor Swift said about Indy in the Eras Tour docuseries
Taylor Swift excitement takes over Indianapolis
The city of Indianapolis prepared for Taylor Swift’s stop on The Eras Tour, the airport was decorated to welcome all Swifties.
Stop the presses: Taylor Swift talked about Indianapolis.
Yes, little old us! From the biggest artist in the world’s lips to millions of TV screens across the world, a major Indianapolis moment. We’re even on a nickname basis: She said “Indy.” She likes us, she really likes us!
The Circle City gets a shoutout from Swift and some serious screen time in the fourth episode of “The End of an Era,” the new Disney+ documentary series chronicling Swift’s record-smashing Eras Tour. The six-episode series features behind-the-scenes footage of Swift, her family and friends and the Eras Tour crew throughout her two-year globetrot that clocked 149 shows in 51 cities, including three shows in Indianapolis in November 2024.
Several notable names pop up in the series — Kansas City Chiefs tight end and Swift’s fiancé Travis Kelce, for one, along with her pop protégés Sabrina Carpenter and Gracie Abrams. But the real star of the show in episode four, “Thank You for the Lovely Bouquet”? The downtown Indianapolis JW Marriott, of course.
The hotel is known for plastering graphics of the people, teams and events du jour on the side of its 376-foot building, and Swift got more than a casual nod when Indianapolis relished in the Taylor Treatment. In case you missed it, a so-much-larger-than-life image of Swift — classic red lips, body suit and boots, pink acoustic guitar in hand — graced the building.
Abrams, who opened for Swift in Indianapolis during her Nov. 1, 2 and 3, 2024 shows, spotted the graphic first and texted Swift about it while she was in transit.
“Gracie texted me and she was like, ‘I knew you were tall, but check this out,’” Swift, who stands 5-foot-10, said in the documentary. “I’m on the side of the hotel, like a million feet tall.”
The tribute struck a chord with Swift. Remember that unfortunate “sexy baby” line from “Anti-Hero,” the lead single off her 2022 album “Midnights”? The one where she envisions herself as this colossal omen “slowly lurching toward your favorite city”?
Turns out, being emblazoned on one of Indianapolis’ most notable structures isn’t all that dissimilar.
“I used to have this joke, and that’s part of why I wrote ‘Anti-Hero.’ It’s like, ‘I’m a 5-foot-10 woman followed around by 500-foot-tall monster shadow, and this monster just knocks over buildings and wreaks all this havoc,” Swift continued. “Me being that size tall and I’m a hotel, it’s like, ‘Eh, that’s kind of how it feels sometimes.’”
Local efforts to transform downtown into Swift City paid off in documentary screen time. Cameras captured the friendship bracelet décor strung across The District Tap, renamed street signs like Ready For It Road and Long Live Lane and groups of fans dancing and singing at the corner of Meridian Street and Georgia Street. (And if you crane your neck and really squint, you’ll catch the IndyStar sign outside our former home at the Circle Center Mall.)
Indianapolis had the rare distinction of closing out the Eras Tour’s U.S. dates with Swift’s Nov. 1-3 run of shows. That run also came days before the 2024 presidential election, and the significance of the timing wasn’t lost on Swift.
“The one thing I can provide for people is an escape, like nothing could ever or should ever bother any of us. And nothing will for three-and-a-half hours,” Swift said in the documentary. “I’m glad that I will have given just 100% girlhood and hope and belief and sweat and effort, because that’s the job.”
Contact IndyStar Pop Culture Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X @hmb_1013.
Indianapolis, IN
Shoppers find calm amidst holiday rush at Fashion Mall at Keystone
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Procrastinators on Tuesday hit the Fashion Mall at Keystone to snag those last-minute gifts.
There were lines to get to shops, including jeweler Pandora, but that didn’t stop 8-year-old Blane Randolph from getting something for his mom. He’s looked at getting a frame or bracelets. “It feels good, because I like giving stuff to people.”
The National Retail Federation has estimates consumers are each budgeting an average of $890 for seasonal items, and that holiday sales in the U.S. will surpass $1 trillion.
Experts say buying at brick-and-mortar stores means having last-minute gifts in hand without worrying about shipping.
James Payer of the Fashion Mall at Keystone on the north side of Indianapolis described the shoppers as calm this season. “The stress level isn’t as stressful as it used to be, because people have a plan and they’re executing that plan.”
He recommended grabbing a coffee or a gelato while shopping to enjoy the experience.
Besides the big box stores, News 8 got a chance to stop by a local gift shop called Silver in the City in downtown Indianapolis and spoke to shopper Jennifer Courteney. “I love shopping small and making sure we’re using stores that are local and not big box stores for everything, so it’s really important to shop small and support local business on Mass Avenue.”
She got little baby socks with meatball prints, and a Star Wars book for a new dad. She didn’t seem too frazzled by the last-minute shopping.
Indianapolis, IN
Why former starting CB Jaylon Jones is buried on Colts depth chart
INDIANAPOLIS — The fall Jaylon Jones has taken down the Colts depth chart has been one of the most surprising developments of this season.
Jones, a full-time starter in his first two years in Indianapolis, played only four defensive snaps against the 49ers on Monday, a night when Jones was the team’s clear-cut fifth cornerback despite injuries to Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward.
Monday night’s game was the fourth time in seven games that Jones has played fewer than five snaps, and from the sounds of it, even an abysmal defensive performance that hemorrhaged 440 yards and 41 points is no guarantee that Jones will be elevated on the depth chart for this week’s game against Jacksonville.
“We evaluate each guy each week, and certainly, everything will be up at that position to be evaluated going forward,” defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. “We’ll look at all avenues.”
The team’s reluctance to play Jones stems from a hamstring injury that plagued the third-year cornerback throughout the summer.
Jones first suffered the hamstring injury during organized team activities in the summer, injured it again a couple of days into training camp and pulled it significantly again in the season opener, robbing Jones of precious time to learn how he fits in Anarumo’s scheme.
“Obviously, starting the year with the injury kind of set him back,” Colts defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson said. “If we would have had him throughout all of training camp and continuing to play, obviously, I think he plays better.”
Jones has never been through an injury like that one.
He dealt with a significant hamstring injury in college that forced him to miss the first two games of a season, but Jones had never missed that much time before.
The experience taught him something.
“Trusting my process, man, understanding I need to do all the right things, make sure my body’s ready to go and I’m available,” Jones said. “A learning experience.”
The time in the training room seems to have driven a wedge between Jones and the field. Jones has played 149 defensive snaps in seven games this season, starting against Pittsburgh and Jacksonville, but he hasn’t been able to hold onto that spot consistently. In those snaps, Jones has limited opponents to 9 of 18 passing for 117 yards, a touchdown and an 89.4 rating when he’s the nearest defender in coverage, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.
But Indianapolis has consistently chosen trade pickup Mekhi Blackmon over Jones in a pinch; now, undrafted rookie Johnathan Edwards and street free agent Cameron Mitchell have passed a player who started 27 games the past two seasons and played 1,932 snaps for the Colts. Of those three, only Blackmon has a better rating against him than Jones (88.4) and he’s given up a higher completion rate.
Henderson rebuffed a question last week about whether Jones is a poor fit for Anarumo’s defense.
“None of them are perfect,” Henderson said. “Even the best ones have things in their game you wish you could tweak and change. … You try to grow them in the area he needs to grow, keep him confident in the areas that he’s really good at. If he’s in, use him to his strengths.”
Indianapolis believes the 6-2, 200-pound Jones is best suited to playing against tight ends.
“He’s doing well in the role that he plays,” Henderson said. “He’s going to go guard the really good tight end pass-catchers in this league.”
From a philosophical standpoint, the role sounds weighty, particularly for an Indianapolis defense that has given up the second-most yards in the NFL to tight ends this season.
Practically, Jones is playing more of a bit part.
Anarumo has talked a lot about getting more defensive backs onto the field to avoid pitting a tight end against linebackers regularly, and Jones seems to be the perfect solution.
Except that the Colts actually reserve those looks for a handful of passing situations each game. If a team attacks Indianapolis on first or second down, an opposing tight end is often looking for holes in the zone against Colts linebackers Zaire Franklin and Germaine Pratt.
“We don’t go into any game looking at linebackers covering tight ends at all,” Anarumo said. “Our deal is to try to match up, and that would be more in the true passing situations. … That was a little bit of the predicament last night.”
Jones is handling his reduced role without complaining publicly.
He has tried to focus on his own game, rather than the decisions that have kept him on the sidelein.
“Looking in the mirror, being consistent within myself, within my game,” Jones said. “Once I do that, I think it takes care of everything else. … Being consistent with my process, zoning in on the little details. I’m just happy doing my role, playing my role, trying to help my team win games.”
But it has not been easy.
“In moments like this, just growing,” Jones said. “I think I became more of a man this year, just because there’s going to be adversity in the road, there’s going to be bumps in the road, things like that, but I’m just doing my role, doing what I can for this team so we can win games.”
Even though it’s hard to play a big role in a team’s wins or losses when a cornerback spends all but a handful of snaps on the sideline.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
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