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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19,2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"We look forward to the challenge of playing the Raiders, and that's exactly what it is when you have these rivals like this."
- Andy Reid, KCChiefs.com
FACT OF THE DAY
Kansas City has not won nine-plus games in back-to-back seasons since 2005-2006.
ESPN
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
u. women was the last time Kansas City was made back-to-back playoff appearances?
A:1994-1995
ESPN
THE MORNING BREW
Chiefs have legitimate shot to win AFC West
A bad 16-point loss to a very poor Tennessee Titans team in week one had many Kansas City Chiefs fans calling for Andy Reid's job. To make it even worse, linebacker Derrick Johnson was lost for the year with a torn Achilles tendon.
But the following week, Kansas City traveled into Mile High Stadium to face Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, the Chiefs' kryptonite a year before. The team outplayed Denver and Manning in almost every aspect except for the scoreboard, losing 24-17.
The Chiefs finished with more total yards, first downs and did not commit one turnover. In addition, Denver committed 11 penalties totaling 71 yards. The Chiefs suffered again by losing running back Jaamaal Charles
and safety Eric Berry to sprained ankles in the first half.
Since that point, Kansas City has won seven of its last eight games, including impressive wins against New England, San Diego and Seattle, the defending Super Bowl champions. New England now has the best record in the AFC at 8-2.
The Chiefs also beat the pesky St. Louis Rams 34-7, a team that has knocked off both Seattle and Denver
this season.
With the Broncos loss to the Rams over the weekend, Kansas City is now tied for first place in the AFC West with Denver at 7-3. Denver still holds the tiebreaker over the Chiefs with the week two win.
But in the next two weeks, Kansas City couldn't ask for a better
After taking on the Raiders, the Chiefs will have three extra days to prepare for their matchup against
schedule. They will travel to rival Oakland this Thursday, facing the best possible team on a short week. The Raiders are the only team in the NFL to be officially eliminated from playoff contention at 0-10.
Denver on Nov. 30. The Chiefs will have to win both of those games to stay in the AFC West race.
Kansas City's schedule the rest of the season is no cakewalk, though. They will still have to face the NFLs best, the Arizona Cardinals, in Phoenix and make
the trip up to Pittsburgh and play the talented Steelers team. The season will conclude hosting the San Diego Chargers, which could be AFC West clinch game for either the Chiefs or the Broncos if Kansas City were to lose.
Edited by Kelsie Jennings
Jayhawks improve,but Bowen always expects to win
STELLA LIANG
@Stelly_Liang
Bowen, interim Kansas football coach, said the team practiced hard before the game and came out focused Saturday.
After a competitive game with then-No. 4 TCU, the message Clint Bowen had was clear: The team is improving, but the bottom line is Kansas lost.
Junior receiver Tre Parmalee (11) junior defensive lineman Andrew Bolton (95) and sophomore safety Tevin Shaw (30) and the rest of the Kansas team raise their helmets towards the KU student section after TCU's 34-30 defeat of Kansas on Nov. 14.
"When we step onto the field you expect to win. And you do everything in your power to win."
CLINT BOWEN Football coach
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
Bowen said. "When we step onto the field, you expect to win. And you do everything in your power to win."
"I really want to commend our players," Bowen said. "Last week was a tough preparation week."
The Jayhawks matched up well against one of the top teams in the Big 12, but Bowen said they don't want to just be competitive, they want to win.
On paper, the matchup was in TCU's favor, but until late in the third quarter, the Jayhawks led the game.
"The bottom line is that we lost the game," Bowen said. "That has to be the story. We lost. A loss is never acceptable."
The performance gave the team a lot of attention. After the game, TCU coach Gary Patterson said Kansas did a great job and voiced support for Bowen.
"We have talked about that our expectations are that we're Big 12 football players playing in the Big 12 conference,"
Despite the outcome, there are many positives to come from Kansas' performance.
the players continue to improve every week, and I think our development is starting to show up." Bowen said. "I think our players are starting to see positive results from their hard work and the improvement on the field. It keeps them motivated and keeps them going."
The previous week, Kansas defeated Iowa State at home for its first Big 12 victory of the year. On Oct. 11, Kansas played tough against then-No. 16 Oklahoma State before falling behind. Outside of a blowout loss to Baylor, the Jayhawks have shown improvement week-to-week.
Offensively, the team has shown the biggest strides. Against TCU, both Nigel King and Jimmay Mundine had more than 100 receiving yards. On Monday, Mundine was named a semifinalist for the Mackey Award, which is given
to the nation's best tight end. Bowen said the recent success of both King and Mundine can be attributed to a more conscious effort to throw the ball their way and involve them in the offense.
the recent performances is confidence. Bowen said there is confidence in sticking to the game plan.
"You know, it's confidence in what we're telling them, if they carry it out, we'll have results on the field," Bowen said.
Maybe one of the biggest positives to come from
confidence in being able to match up with top teams like TCU.
He said there is also
"I think there is also confidence that they lined up against a team that quite frankly everyone [outside the team] thought that was going to kind of steamroll them over,"
Bowen said.
Now, the Jayhawks have turned their focus to visiting the Oklahoma Sooners and seeing if their recent trend of improvement continues.
— Edited by Alyssa Scottt
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