THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2014
PAGE 7
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THE DAILY DEBATE
Who is the best team in the NFL?
By Kyle Hicks
@udkylehicks
"PACKERS"
We all know that Allen Fieldhouse is one of the
greatest home court advantages in sports. Throughout this year, and especially in past couple weeks, Lambeau Field is giving the Phog a run for it's money. Before you get offended for comparing our great stadium to another, lets look at some of the Packer's unreal statistics at home as of recently.
With four straight blowouts at home against Minnesota, Carolina, Chicago and Philadelphia, the Green and Gold have put up an astounding 128-9 point differential at halftime. Even though Aaron Rodgers has been the centerpiece of this team, the Packers' defense has done anything but lack on their end.
Speaking of Rodgers, he has gone his last 11 home games
without a single interception, throwing 29 touchdowns along the way. This sets his passer rating at a whopping 129. As for this season, he has maintained a league high passer rating at 120.1 with 28 touchdowns and just three interceptions.
Yet even in a passer-friendly league, where the teams with the best quarterbacks inevitably dominate, a team needs more than a great player under center to win Super Bowls. With the addition of Julius Peppers this off season and Clay Matthews' recent switch to inside linebacker this season, the Packer's defense has found their stride with seven turnovers in the past two games combining for four touchdowns on defense and special teams.
Rodgers may not have the best running back or wide receiver in his arsenal, but he does have an abundance of options almost equal to that. Sitting at the second and third spot for most receiving
touchdowns are two packers: Randall Cobb (10) and Jordy Nelson (9). Rodgers' go-to receiver in Nelson also ranks third in receiving yards with 998 and has caught 60 passes thus far.
As for the backfield, Eddy Lacy hasn't fully matched up to his electric past season, but when Rodgers is playing the way he is, he doesn't have to. This is not to say that Lacy is having a bad season at all. With a Marshawn Lynch-esque power running style, Lacy makes a lot out of nothing by breaking several tackles. He also ranks 17th in rushing yards, which is all they have needed out of him thus far.
If the Packer's total dominance at home hasn't convinced thus far, keep an eye out for them in week 13 against one of the AFC's best the New England Patriots. If the Packers play like they have been, New England has a big plate ahead of them.
- Edited by Andrew Collins
"PATRIOTS"
Kylan Whitmer
@KRWhitmer
We are officially 11 weeks into the NFL season
and multiple teams stand out while fans and analysts debate over who the best team in the league is.
Arizona, Green Bay and Kansas City are all riding hot streaks and should be in consideration, but no team in the NFL is playing better than the New England Patriots right now.
Since being dismantled 41-14 during week four at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs during Monday Night Football, Tom Brady and company have recovered and taken care of the competition.
DAILY DEBATE RESULTS: OCT. 30, 2014 Who would win a matchup between Kentucky and the Philadelphia 76ers?
Tom Brady would help his team continue its hot streak by racking up 361 yards passing and four touchdowns as the Patriots defeat a respectable Buffalo Bills squad 37-22.
The team went on to defeat the New York Jets and Chicago Bears at Gillette Stadium leading up to back-to-back games against two more AFC division leaders.
The Patriots haven't stopped there.
Week nine is when the Patriots made a strong argument for best team in the NFL. New England faced the red-hot Denver Broncos, who were 6-1, with the only blemish on their schedule being an overtime loss in week three to the defending champion, the Seattle Seahawks. The Broncos had been blowing out their competition and Peyton Manning and his offense were the consensus favorites to win the Super Bowl. That didn't faze the Patriots.
The loss against Kansas City seemed to be a wakeup call for the Patriots as we saw Bill Belichick bench his star quarterback in the fourth quarter. Just a week later, Brady threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns as the Patriots defeated the AFC North division leader Cincinnati 43-17.
This past weekend we saw the Patriots dominate another AFC division leader as they visited the leader of the AFC South, Indianapolis. The team would win with a score of 42-20 as Andrew Luck and the Colts didn't have what it took to take the W.
double the supposedly unstoppable Broncos offense in points and go on to win 43-21 against the AFC West division leaders.
New England's defense would record two interceptions against Manning while Brady threw for over 300 yards and four touchdowns again. The Patriots would
PHILADELPHIA: 69%
This last week we may have seen a new star emerge from the Patriots offense. While Brady threw two interceptions on the night, first year running back Jonas Gray len a helping hand and ran for 199 yards and a franchise-record four touchdowns. For the fantasy football fans, that's almost 50 points for Gray owners.
The Patriots have tough matchups coming up in the next two weeks against NFC North division leaders Green Bay and Detroit. If the Patriots can stay hot and survive the next two weeks they will be the clear Super Bowl favorites.
- Edited by Ashley Peralta
KENTUCKY: 31%
Women's basketball rewind: TSU
SCOTT CHASEN
@SChasenKU
Game to forget:
Game to remember:
Chayla Cheadle was solid against the Tigers, scoring a team-high 15 points, while adding four rebounds and two assists. The Missouri-native got out to a solid start, scoring nine in the first half, and she was a big part of why the Jayhawks were able to put the game away early.
None of the Jayhawks had too bad of a game, but Lorraine Enabulele did have somewhat of a down performance. Enabulele failed to score in her time on the court, and she seemed to hurt her left leg towards the end of the game, although she would ultimately come back into the game.
Unsung hero:
Jada Brown was a key piece for of the Jayhawks' victory, despite scoring just four points. Brown snagged nine rebounds in her 28 minutes of play, and her overall effort was key as Kansas emerged with a blowout victory.
Player Kansas couldn't contain:
Sophomore guard Keyla Morgan drives to the basket during the first half Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse. Morgan finished with six rebounds and four points in the Jayhawks' 69-44 victory against Texas Southern University.
While Kansas didn't have any struggle in stopping Texas Southern, Morgan Simmons managed to be quite productive, racking up 11 points and 10 rebounds. However, even Simmons struggled, as she committed three fouls and had three turnovers, in addition to shooting just 43 percent from the free throw line. Overall, it was a strong defensive performance from Kansas.
MISSY MINEAR/KANSAN
First half summary:
The Jayhawks got off to a hot start, connecting on each of their first four field goal attempts and hitting five
of their first seven 3-point attempts. The Jayhawks used a 16-2 run early in the first half to take a commanding lead, and the team never looked back. One play in the first half managed to sum up the game quite well, occurring with about 13 minutes to go. Terriiell Bradley crossed over her defender and swung the ball out to Natalie Knight, who passed inside to Bunny Williams. Williams then kicked the ball out to Keyla Morgan, who found Chayla Cheadle in the corner for a wide open three. Every single player touched the ball, which was indicative of the Jayhawks ball movement; eight different players registered a made field goal.
Second half summary:
The second half was more of a grind it out effort, as the Jayhawks outscored the Tigers 28-20. The scoring slowed way down, but with Kansas starting the half with a 17 point lead, it didn't matter all that much. Chelsea Gardner had a solid second half, recording 10 points and two rebounds. Overall the Jayhawks managed to maintain control throughout the entire period, as there was never really a question about who was going to win the game.
Moving forward:
"It started from Day I when Dr. Zenger and I talked about this thing, about how we needed to create an identity about what Kansas football is going to be."
Looking ahead the Jayhawks will need to continue to show improvement shooting the ball, as they shot just 2-of-8 from three-point range during the second half. The Jayhawks' next matchup will be against Alabama, who currently sit at 1-2. However, the real test will come Saturday and Sunday, as the Jayhawks will be playing their second and third game in as many days.
sage was simple: 'We're going to play smart, and we're going to play tough.'
FBALL FROM PAGE 10
The Big 12 is taking notice of that identity
According to an eye-witness account of the exchange, TCU players told Kansas, "You guys played your asses off. Don't let anyone tell you that you don't belong, because you do."
A perennial underachiever over the past six seasons, Bowen has cost a lot of people money in the past two months. That Kansas covered the 28-point Vegas spread.
"We never put any limitations on ourselves," Bowen said. "They're here to play Big 12 football."
Hearing the same message they've been fed by Bowen from people outside the program, validates.
Kansas is becoming known as a team that routinely competes at or above its ceiling.
But Kansas had a team with National Championship aspirations on the ropes — a bona fide shot at winning this football game.
the fifth time in six tries under head coach Clint Bowen, against No. 4 TCU, was reason to be optimistic.
On my final walk from the press-box above Kivisto Field to the press-conference room inside the Anderson Family complex, a young boy passing by said it best.
Despite talent disparities, the team has looked mentally and physically prepared to take the field in each of Bowen's five games as head coach.
Kansas football is fun again.
"Tuesday night when we went out there on a day that they said the temperature felt like it was 18. Our kids went out there dressed appropriately — not with a ton of clothes on."
By the Numbers:
7 — The Jayhawks
This, as compared to last year's team that wasn't properly equipped with longer-tipped cleats on a frozen Jack Trice Stadium last year, losing 34-0.
— Edited by Jordan Fo
shot 7-of-14 from three in the first half, despite going just 0-5 from 3-point range in the second half of their home opener.
68. 2 — Chelsea Gardner is now shooting 68.2 percent from the field this season, which is more than 12 percent higher than she shot in her junior season.
15 — Kansas managed to get to the line for just 15 attempts Tuesday, which is less than 45 percent of the amount of attempts they had in the home opener.
Edited by Jordan Fox
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