played only 24 innings to Roots 36 and has the better average. Roots recent conversion rate - three hundreds in 15 fifty-plus s

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Titans linebacker Derrick Morgan knows the feeling only too well of having Andrew Luck somehow escape him. Tennessees Jurrell Casey has also squared up to sack the Indianapolis Colts quarterback on more than one occasion, just to have him slip out of his grasp.Lucks seems to slither away from the Titans far too often.He just kind of squirts the ball out to a running back, so weve been emphasizing that all week -- just kind of trapping his arms and making sure we collectively get him down, Morgan said.Morgan has never beaten Luck, who is 7-0 against the Titans. Tennessee has piled up 12 sacks with six in each of its past two games, and currently ranks fifth in the NFL with 18 for the season. No quarterback has been sacked more than Luck, who already has been taken down 23 times.The Titans (3-3) are eager to see what they can do Sunday against the Colts (2-4) and a quarterback they know only too well how hard he is to sack.Hes a guy who knows his players presence and knows when and not to hold onto a ball and when to take a chance at getting the ball out of his hands, Casey said. Playing against a quarterback like that, you definitely have to do a good job pinning his arms when you get to him.Only Denver (21), Buffalo (20) and Arizona and Minnesota (19 each) have more sacks than Tennessee, and eight different Titans have at least one sack. Linebacker Brian Orakpo is leading the way with seven to match his total for all of last season, and he has at least one in each of the past five games. Morgan and Casey have three apiece over the past two games.Then theres Hall of Fame player and longtime defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau devising new ways to chase quarterbacks.Luck said the Titans look like theyre getting more comfortable with LeBeau and his schemes.Theyve got a very sophisticated scheme and know what theyre doing, Luck said. They do a heck of a job. Obviously, Casey and Orakpo are premier. Theyve got good cover guys with (Jason) McCourty and (Perrish) Cox and studs everywhere.McCourty and Cox each have two interceptions, which Morgan says the linebackers and linemen appreciate.We got a lot of time on a lot of those plays to get back there, Morgan said. Theyre holding it down, allowing us to get back there.Titans coach Mike Mularkey credits LeBeau with mixing up looks to get as many one-on-one matchups as possible while also bringing Orakpo and Casey from different directions. When the Titans get an opponent to third down, pay close attention.Theres no drawings of that in any playbook, Mularkey said. It is exotic. It is very difficult. You better be good with communication, especially if youre at our place. With the crowd noise that we had, thats important that we get that crowd noise again. That is an ally for when we have all that moving by our defense. Theyve got to communicate, and if we can help put that pressure on that offensive line, thats big.Indianapolis is playing a rookie at center in Ryan Kelly and left guard Jack Mewhort has not practiced so far this week with a triceps injury. Luck said the sacks are not a sign of how the offensive line has played. Luck said a lot of the sacks fall on him.I know we can fix it and get better, Luck said.Game notes TE Anthony Fasano (ankle) and CB Brice McCain (ankle) each practiced Thursday after not practicing Wednesday.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalker Andre Dawson Jersey Large .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. Custom Marlins T-shirts . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. http://www.custommarlinsjersey.com/ . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. Cheap Custom Marlins Jersey .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. Custom Marlins Jerseys . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. One of the most prominent numbers of 2016 has been the batting stats for Englands lower middle order. Jonny Bairstow has already scored 1355 Test runs in 2016 - which is more than any other batsman this year - of which 1161 have come when he has batted at No. 6 or 7. With Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali contributing handsomely at those positions too, England have enormous firepower in their lower middle order, who are capable of turning matches around with the ability to not only score runs, but score them quickly. All three have shown the ability to build on a solid foundation by the top order, but more importantly, have repeatedly hauled England out of a hole when they have lost early wickets. Against Australias strong pace attack, it is entirely possible that England lose a few early wickets. If that does happen, the presence of a strong lower middle order could be priceless.While Englands lower middle order has proved their quality time and again in these last 15 months, Australias has struggled. In the period since the last Ashes series in 2015, their Nos. 6 and 7 batsmen have averaged 19.81. The averages for Australia and England are at the two ends of the list: England are at the head of the class with their 50-plus class, while Australia make up the bottom. The difference between the averages for England and India, the next best team, further illustrates how much better than all other teams they have been in this aspect of their batting. Three England batsmen have scored 450-plus runs at Nos. 6 and 7 since the last Ashes, and the numbers for all of them are hugely impressive: they have all scored multiple hundreds - with a top score of more than 150 - and average more than 44 at strike rates greater than 59. Only two Australian batsmen have batted more than twice at those positions in this period, and their numbers are limp by comparison. Peter Nevill, no longer in favour with the selectors after the Hobart fiasco, has tried to dig in and bat time, but only averages 21.61, while Mitchell Marsh hasnt done much better. Nevills 66 is the highest for Australia at these two slots, and one of only three 50-plus scores in 36 innings, compared to Englands highest of 258, and 20 fifty-plus scores in 65 innings.Australia tried new faces at these positions in the Adelaide Test against South Africa, but unless they contribute handsomely and cement their places by the Ashes, England will have a huge advantage in this aspect. The fact that all three of their stars at these positions have a second skill in their armoury - Bairstow behind the stumps, Moeen and Stokes with the ball - further adds to Englands depth. The pace comparisonBoth Australia and England are largely reliant on their quick bowlers for wickets, and on pitches which should be reasonably fast and bouncy, this battle between the two pace attacks promises to be an enthralling one. In the recent Australia-South Africa series, fast bowlers accounted for 822 wickets, the fourth-highest ever in a three-Test series in Australia - the three higher ones were all between 1979 and 1982, and two of them featured West Indies.dddddddddddd In the 15 months since the last Ashes, South Africa, England and Australia have the best fast-bowling stats, and on pitches likely to offer reasonable pace and bounce, this promises to be a spicy pace contest. James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have all taken 50-plus Test wickets at sub-30 averages in the last 15 months, but England seem to have the better support act, in the form of Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes, both of whom have taken 35-plus wickets at impressive averages during this period. Australias third-highest wicket-taker among their pace attack is Mitchell Marsh, with 20 wickets at 38.40. That also suggests Australia might be more reliant on their top two bowlers, and could be badly hit if either of them is unavailable due to injury. Steven Smith v Joe RootThey are the best batsmen in their teams, and among the best going around today. In the last 15 months, they are both among the top six run-scorers in Tests: Root leads the charts with 1669 runs to Smiths 1216, but Smith has played only 24 innings to Roots 36 and has the better average. Roots recent conversion rate - three hundreds in 15 fifty-plus scores - is also a bit of a worry, compared to Smiths four in ten. Both Smith and Root were prolific in the 2015 Ashes - Smith scored 508 runs at 56.44 and Root 460 at 57.50, but the overall averages for both in Ashes games are in the early 40s: 41.29 for Root, and 43.19 for Smith. Those numbers will only go up, since both werent so prolific in their first couple of Ashes series. Smith will have home advantage next season: he averages 63.29 in home Tests, while Root only averaged 27.42 in eight innings in the 5-0 drubbing in 2013-14. Given Roots class and his recent form, though, the numbers are unlikely to be as skewed in the 2017-18 Ashes. The Cook contrastAlastair Cook has played six Ashes series. In the 2010-11 series in Australia, he was in irresistible form, scoring 766 runs in seven innings, with three centuries. In the remaining 25 Ashes Tests, he has scored less than twice the tally of 2010-11, with only one hundred in 48 innings.The Bairstow-Stokes-Moeen troika gives England plenty of muscle in the middle order, but England will a long way towards winning the Ashes if Cook can summon some of the form of 2010-11. With Starc and Hazlewood expected to be at the top of their game, a solid Cook defying them for long periods will significantly ease the run-scoring task for Englands middle order. BT Sport is your new home for Australias home international matches and Big Bash League, including the 2017-18 Ashes series. For more info please visit sport.bt.com/cricket ' ' '