THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2013
PAGE 9
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Our goal has always been to win Super Bowls, and Peyton gives us a chance to win another world championship."
Pat Bowlen
Broncos owner
ESPN.com
FACT OF THE DAY
The Kansas City Chiefs defense leads the NFL with 36 sacks this season.
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q. Who holds the record for most touchdown passes through 8 games in an NFL season?
A: Tom Brady, with 30.
A mid-season review of the NFL
—ESPN.com
THE MORNING BREW
After tonight's game, we will officially be halfway through the 2013-14 NFL season. This has been a season of bizarre happenings, with teams at both the top and bottom of their divisions that no one saw coming. This season has had no shortage of injuries, upsets and controversies. Powerhouses aren't playing like powerhouses and underdogs are starting to produce more upsets. Here is my recap of the first half of the NFL season.
Injuries
Every NFL season is bound to have its fair share of injuries. But this year, star players are dropping like flies all around the league, and seriously hurting their team's chances of making the playoffs. Just last week, four players went down with season ending injuries. Reggie Wayne and Sam Bradford ended their years with ACL injuries. Jermichael Finley went down with a neck injury and Brian Cushing will miss the whole season again with a leg injury. Randall Cobb and Doug Martin will also be missing serious amounts of time as they tend to their injuries. A lot of lesser-known players like T.Y. Hilton and Mike James are going to have to shoulder the load and help their
By Ben Felderstein
bfelderstein@kansan.com
teams win games
Surprises
This NFL season is featuring many surprises in the standings and power rankings league-wide. Last week the NFL power rankings came out with the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs as number one. The Chiefs are atop the AFC West with a record of 8-0, a game ahead of Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. As weak of a schedule as the Chiefs have played, it is still impressive to finish half of the season without a loss. Can the Chiefs compete with the powerhouse Denver Broncos to win the AFC West? That will truly judge the Chiefs' Super Bowl hopes. The Vikings and the Giants are two teams that are surprising on the other end of the spectrum. They went into the week 29th and 30th in the power rankings after both being playoff teams last season. The Giants squeaked out a victory yesterday against the Michael 'Vick-less'Eagles and the Vikings played the Packers on Sunday Night Football.
Individual Performances
The consensus first-half MVP is none other than Peyton Manning. He has 29 touchdown passes through eight games. He has a passer rating of 123.3 and has only thrown six interceptions, three of which came in yesterday's game against the Redskins.
He is leading the Broncos to an impressive year where they are favorites to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch are leading the Seattle Seahawks to an equally impressive year. To go along with one of the best defensive units in the league, Lynch is second in the league in rushing yards and touchdowns while Wilson is top 10 in the league in passer rating.
There are also a few players having uncharacteristically poor seasons. Tom Brady has thrown only nine touchdown passes and has a QBR of 75.3. Most of Brady's offensive weapons are hurt, and he is struggling with his young receiving unit. Indianapolis' Trent Richardson had a standout rookie season with the Brown, but is having quite the sophomore slump. He has 333 rushing yards and a mere two touchdowns. The trade to
the Colts hasn't catapulted his production this season like some had thought.
Playoff Predictions AFC:
o South Hamilton City
o Wild Card 1: Kansas City Chiefs
o East: New England Patriots
o West: Denver Broncos
West: Denver Broncos
North: Cincinnati Bengals
o North: Cincinnati Bengals
o South: Indianapolis Colts
o Wild Card 1: Kansas City Chiefs
o Wild Card 2: Miami Dolphins
o AFC Champions: Indianapolis Colts
NFC:
East: Dallas Cowboys
o East: Dallas Cowboys
o West: Seattle Seahawks
o North: Detroit Lions
o South: New Orleans Saints
o Wild Card 1: Green Bay Packers
o Wild Card 2: Carolina Panthers
o NFC Champions: Seattle Seahawks
Sea Hawks in mating:
Seattle Seahawks vs. Indianapolis Colts
**Super Bowl Champions:**
Seattle Seahawks
Super Bowl matchup:
This week in athletics
Edited by Evan Dunbar
Monday
Women's Golf
2013 Palmetto Intercollegiate
All Day
Kiawah Island, S.C.
Tuesday
Men's Basketball
Pittsburg State
7 p.m.
Lawrence
Wednesday
Volleyball
Baylor
6 p.m.
Lawrence
Women's Basketball
Pittsburgh State
8 p.m.
Lawrence
Thursday
No Events
Friday
Soccer
Oklahoma
3 p.m.
Lawrence
Women's Tennis
Houston Invitational
All Day
Houston, Texas
Saturday
Women's Tennis
Houston Invitational
All Day
Houston, Texas
Cross Country
Big 12 Championships
10 a.m.
Waco, Texas
Football
Texas
2:30 p.m.
Austin, Texas
Women's Tennis
Houston Invitational
All Day
Houston, Texas
Sunday
BAYLOR BLOWOUT
Woman's Basketball Emporia State 2 p.m. Lawrence
Women's Rowing Head of the Hooch Final Results Chattanooga, Tenn.
Football Notebook
CONNOR OBERKROM
coberkrom@kansan.com
Baylor's strong offense tramples Kansas
After two drives off Jake Heaps, Coach Charlie Weis decided to bring in Montell Cozart in Saturday's game against Baylor. Cozart got his chance to showcase his arm coming in for four straight drives after Heaps was taken out.
Cozart finished the day 4-of-14 for 69 yards and his highlight play came in the third quarter when he threw a 45-yard downfield strike to Rodriguez Coleman, the longest play of the day for the Kansas offense.
Weis said he knew that Cozart was going to pass more than he did last week against Oklahoma.
but the quarterback position is still a little fuzzy.
"We knew Montell was going to play more this week than he did last week," Weis said. "And I think as we go forward, rather than just worry about settling on one [quarterback], we have to both get them ready to play."
As the game got out of hand in the second half, Heaps and Cozart split the offensive reps and looked to carry a similar role going forward.
Heaps threw one touchdown pass in the second half. Combined, Heaps and Cozart threw 11-of-33 for 154 passing yards.
The future is promising for Cozart and as the learning curve
has sped up with the new situation, along the sidelines he was still himself. Tight end limmay Mundine pointed out that he was poised as he has been all season.
"Just like last week into the game, he was very calm, cool and collected, he wasn't stuttering or shaking." Mundine said. "He was a little quiet at times, but other than that he was perfectly fine."
Piterson saw two targets in the first three plays, but didn't have
Tony Pierson was suited up for the first time in two games after suffering a head injury in the Oct. 5 game against Texas Tech. He saw some action in the first two series and then didn't see the field the rest of the game.
any receptions.
Pierson stretched the Baylor defense early on, with one deep ball over the middle that Heaps overthrew and the other a corner route that he dropped near the sidelines.
"It hurt a little with Tony going down early because all the bombs were going to him," Weis said.
Weis said that he aired on the side of caution with Pierson and that he was dizzy after he came out.
Kansas' game plan of trying to milk the clock and trying to keep Baylor's high-octane offense off the field went awry.
Kansas' first tour possessions spelled out trouble, accounting for
14 plays of just 11 yards of offense.
After forcing Baylor to punt twice, Kansas' offense had a chance to make a statement, but the stalling offense continued to haunt the Kansas defense.
Kansas defender just four times Kansas rushed just four times in the first four drives and as its passing game was stifled, so was its running game, rushing the ball 23 times for a meager 53 yards over the first half.
After Baylor's two punts, the floodgates opened. Baylor scored in its next four straight possessions and jumped to a 28-0 lead.
and jumped to Kansas passed it more than its are accustomed to and the reality set in once again - the passing game had to prosper in order for
"I knew the way they played defense and the way we've been playing on offense that those safeties were going to play really close to the line of scrimmage," Weis said.
Kansas to have a fighting chance.
Kansas had the ball for more than half of the game outdueling Baylor in time of possession 37:53 to 22:07, but their miscues of trying to hold onto the ball early in the game turned the game over to Baylor. After a few hiccups on offense, the Bears never looked back, racking up 743 yards of offense and 59 points.
Edited by Casey Hutchins
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