SPORTS
THURSDAY. DECEMBER 1. 2005
10A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NFL
Broncos following on hooves of Colts
BY EDDIE PELLS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — This season is shaping up as a special one for the Denver Broncos. Still, there is something disconcerting about that 9-2 record and Denver's postseason prospects.
The elephant sitting in the middle of the Denver locker room — the subject everyone knows is there but very few want to deal with — is the undefeated Indianapolis Colts.
You know, the Colts? The team that has plastered Denver in the playoffs the last two years by a combined score of 90-34.
You know, Indianapolis? The city that coach Mike Shanahan said was imperative to avoid in the playoffs if Denver is ever going to get back to the Super Bowl.
There they are, two games ahead and showing no signs of slowing. Barring a drastic change, and if form holds, all signs point to another rematch with the Colts in Indy.
This time, though, it would be in the AFC title game instead of the first round of the playoffs.
"They're undefeated. They're in our conference. So, I guess you have to look at them," Broncos running back Ron Dayne said. "But it's not like we spend any time worrying about it. We've got to worry about our own stuff."
That, by and large, is the company line among the Broncos. Predictably, they talk about taking them one at a time and worrying about next week, not the playoffs.
For the most part, that strategy has worked.
At 9-2, the Broncos have so far avoided the midseason slump, the likes of which have plagued the franchise the last few years. They have a two-game lead over San Diego and Kansas City in the AFC West, with a game at Kansas City coming Sunday.
Denver has positioned itself well to earn the division title,
a home playoff game and a bye week. All would be monumental. The Broncos haven't earned any of those since 1998, the year they won their second Super Bowl. That Super Bowl still stands as their last playoff win.
Despite all that promising news, the Broncos know if the season ended today, they would be a second seed and the Colts would be No. 1.
It would mean another week of preparing for Peyton Manning. On the turf. In Indy.
Sure, the Broncos have reason to believe they've improved over the last two years, when they gave up a combined 954 yards passing in a pair of embarrassments. The pass rush has improved with the addition of Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren — among others — and the return to health of Trevor Prvice.
Rookie cornerbacks Darrent Williams and Domonique Foxworth have strengthened a position that got rocked in Indy last year despite the addition of Champ Bailey.
Jake Plummer is playing better. Mike Anderson, Tatum Bell and Ron Dayne are a formidable running back trio.
But, as their undefeated record plainly states, the Colts have clearly gotten better, too.
Could it be that the Broncos have simply picked the wrong year to get really good?
Indianapolis is the first team to start 11-0 since — who else? — the 1998 Broncos, who went 13 games before their first setback.
The good news for the Broncos is that Indy does have a reasonably difficult schedule the rest of the way, with a home game against San Diego (7-4) sandwiched between trips to Jacksonville (8-3) and Seattle (9-2).
Denver's remaining schedule is a bit easier, but far from a cakewalk because of this week's game at Kansas City (7-4) and the season finale at San Diego.
▼ NFL
David J. Phillin/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
St. Louis Rams quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick tries to avoid being sacked by Houston Texans' Jason Babin during the fourth quarter Sunday in Houston.
From Harvard to NFL starter
BY R.B. FALLSTROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Rams interim coach J Vitt has been coy all week about whether rookie Ryan Fitzpatrick had earned his first career start.
But it was telling that on Wednesday it was the rookie from Harvard and not Jamie Martin who met with the media, usual duty for the No.1 quarterback. And that Fitzpatrick was taking snaps with the first unit while Martin, who had a concussion and blurred vision after absorbing a blow in the first quarter of last week's overtime victory at Houston, watched in sweat clothes.
Regardless of Martin's status, it's been more or less an open
secret around Rams Park that Fitzpatrick, a favorite of Mike Martz since he took him in the seventh round of the draft, will get the nod this week against the Redskins. And why not? It's tough to bench the NFC offensive player of the week.
Fitzpatrick threw for 310 yards and got the Rams to overtime with a pair of scores in the final half-minute, before throwing the game-winning touchdown. His yardage is the third-highest by an NFL quarterback in his first game.
"I know, it's unbelievable, it's like the Kennedy assassination," Vitt said after practice. "We'll make that decision later in the week."
to return for the fill-in role behind injured Marc Bulger, who'll miss his second straight game with a shoulder injury and could be out for the season. Martin sustained a concussion and blurred vision in Sunday's game and still had blurred vision on Wednesday. The third-stringer is Jeff Smoker, released twice this year. Fitzpatrick didn't seem to care what happened.
The decision could be a rubber stamp if Martin isn't cleared
"The coaches are going to do what's best for the team and put us in the best situation," he said. "And whatever decision they make is a good decision."
Since leading the comeback, Fitzpatrick has had a whirlwind of attention with an appearance on ESPN's "Cold Pizza," a mob of reporters surrounding him on Wednesday and countless telephone calls from long-forgotten school friends.
"It is pretty comical," he said. "Me not doing any interviews and then being the guy with cameras in his face."
"Guys respect his skill level, guys respect his intensity, guys respect his commitment," Vitt said.
But he's not getting jokes about his Ivv League schooling.
Vitt doesn't think he needs to work to keep Fitzpatrick's ego in check, either.
"I don't think he's a nightlife guy and I don't think he's got a lot of distractions in his life." Vitt said. "He comes to work, he studies his game, he goes home and studies his game some more and gets up and comes to work."
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