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PAGE 6
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29. 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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THE DAILY DEBATE
Who is the midseason favorite to win the Super Bowl?
"DENVER BRONCOS"
As the Denver Broncos get set to take on the New England Patriots in the next installment of the Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady bowl, it's worth remembering who the Super Bowl XLIX favorites are. It's the Manning-led Broncos, and it's not close.
At this time last year, there were questions for the Broncos. Questions regarding their offensive line — especially the pass blocking, and the defense that was ranked as one of the worst in the league. The Broncos could outgun teams with Manning under-center, but they weren't physical on either side of the ball.
Broncos General Manager John Elway has made certain that last year's 43-8 Super Bowl debacle at the hands of the Seahawks wouldn't happen again. Elway stacked talented players like canned goods before a winter storm. Now, not only do the Broncos have the most potent offense in the league; they boast a top-tier defense, too. Elway snatched Aqib Talib out of Bill Belichick's hands in New England. Per ProFootballFocus, Talib is graded as the 16th cover cornerback in the league.
Paired with Chris Harris Jr., who sits at No. 1, that's a recipe for man-to-man, which allows the downright terrifying Broncos' front seven to get into blitz packages.
Oh, and speaking of that front seven, it's probably worth mentioning the Broncos signed seven-time Pro Bowler and two-time NFL sack leader Demarcus Ware this offseason. Suddenly, the Broncos are averaging 3.3 sacks per game, third in the league. It's important to give credit, also, to Von Miller, who is playing out of his mind with nine sacks in seven games — second-most in the NFL. Miller watched half of the Broncos' 2014 season in street clothes as he was out due to a drug suspension, then an injury. This year, he's raised the Blue and Orange to an entirely new level.
one Broncos are allowing the second-fewest yards per pass attempt and 243 passing yards per game; both numbers are down from last season. That vaunted front seven leads the league yards allowed per rushing attempt (3.4) and rush yards allowed per game (72.4). Overall, the team is graded as the third best defense in the league by PFF.
Of course, you can't talk about the Broncos without touching on how seemingly unstoppable this offense is. The team that broke the NFL record for most points in a season seems even more complete this season. Demaryius Thomas is a freak of
nature, Emmanuel Sanders brings the ability to stretch the field, Wes Welker can get under the defense and Julius Thomas mismatches almost every defender who comes his way. And there's a five-time MVP throwing the pigskin to these guys. The Cowboys are going to make a good run out of the NFC, but, on paper, the Dallas defense isn't ready for what Manning and this offense will bring. So much of the Cowboys' season — probably too much for Jerry Jones' own good at his age
— rides on the legs of NFL leading-rusher DeMarco Murray and the back of Tony Romo, quite literally. It's hard to find flaws among this Broncos team that is, without a doubt, the most balanced team in the NFL right now, on both sides of the football. I'd be shocked if Peyton Manning isn't raising his second Lombardi trophy and cementing his spot as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time come February.
- Edited by Logan Schlossberg
"DALLAS COWBOYS"
If I said Dallas was going to win the Super Bowl at the beginning of this season, people would have called me crazy. No doubt people will still call me crazy, but Dallas has shown that it has what it takes to be a serious Super Bowl contender this season.
After losing all four preseason games and its season opener game against San Francisco, it appeared Dallas was shaping up to be no more than mediocre, just like it has been for the past several years. But the Cowboys' momentum started to shift after they defeated the Tennessee Titans and the St. Louis Rams on the road, and returned to defeat the Saints and the Texans at home.To
prove these wins weren't just a fluke, they took down defending champion Seattle in their own stadium.
That would be like ICO beating Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse. Despite an overtime loss against the Redskins at home Monday, Dallas has everything going its way. They have a healthy offensive line that has proven unstoppable. DeMarco Murray broke an NFL record when he recorded seven straight 100-yard games. He currently leads the NFL with 1,048 rushing yards and is tied with Arian Foster with seven touchdowns, the most by a single player this season. Teamed with Dez Bryant and Jason Witten, the Dallas Cowboys present an extremely versatile pass/run offense that has been very hard to defend this season. Tony Romo has stayed healthy thus far, something that has been a challenge in years past. He left Monday's game briefly because of his back injury, but returned moments later.
The second half of the season will be tougher than the first as the Cowboys take on Philadelphia in Dallas on Thanksgiving, followed by the Bears on the road and then the Eagles again in Philly. They wrap up their season against Indianapolis, which has proven itself a force to be reckoned with, and finally a road rematch against the Redskins. Of course, Dallas has a reputation for being the least clutch team in the NFL and losing in the last minute, so there is still plenty of time for the team to crumble. But there is something different about this year's Cowboys. They remind me of the Kansas City Royals. At the beginning of the season, no one expected them to amount to much, but now they are playing in the World Series. As long as Dallas keeps its offensive line healthy and its momentum going, it will continue to pose a serious threat come postseason time.
Edited by Jacob Clemen
DAILY DEBATE RESULTS: OCT.28, 2014
Should the Kansas City Royals re-sign James Shields?
YES: 58%
NO:42%
VOTE FOR THE WRITER WITH THE MOST CONVINCING ARGUMENT AT KANSAN.COM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura pitches in the top of the fifth inning of Game 6 of baseball's World Series Tuesday in Kansas City, Mo.
Royals shut out Giants 10-0,head to Game 7
GJ MELIA
@gjmelia
The Kansas City Royals defeated the San Francisco Giants 10-0 in Game 6 of the 2014 World Series Tuesday night to tie the series at three going into Wednesday's Game 7.
Kansas City exploded in the second inning for seven runs. Giants' starter Jake Peavy was replaced after giving up the first two runs of the inning by reliever Yusmeiro Petit, who came in with three runners still on base.
The Royals' Yordano Ventura began the game fiercely, getting the Giants' first three batters to strike, fly and pop out.
The Royals then batted in five more runs to take the commanding 7-0 lead.
With one out in the third
inning, Ventura walked three straight batters to load the bases. He was then able to get out of the inning thanks to a double play turned by shortstop Alcides Escobar.
Kansas City added two more runs in the third and fifth innings to extend the advantage to nine. RBI doubles by rightfielder Lorenzo Cain and Escobar scored second baseman Omar Infante in each inning.
In the seventh, Royals third basemin Mike Moustakas hit a solo home run off of Giants' reliever Hunter Strickland, which is Moustakas' fifth home run of the postseason and first of the World Series. It was the fifth home run allowed by Strickland of his seven 2014 postseason appearances.
Ventura pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing
only three hits. Kansas City relievers Jason Frasor and Tim Collins finished the game off for the Royals, preserving the shutout. The 10-0 win is the largest shutout in the World Series since Kansas City beat St. Louis 11-0 in Game 7 in 1985.
The game is scheduled to start at 7:07 (CST). With a win, the Giants will clinch their third World Series Championship in five years, winning in 2010 and 2012. If the Royals win, it will be their second championship overall and first since 1985.
The pitching matchup in Game 7 will be the same as Game 3, with Giants' starter Tim Hudson and Royals' starter Jeremy Guthrie taking the mound.
Edited by Jordan Fox
SKC learns repeats are hard
Repeat. It's a word that is often muttered but rarely satisfied in sports circles.It's a word that hasn't even been whispered in Sporting Kansas City locker rooms prior to Thursday's opening round of Eastern Conference playoffs.
Sporting KC recognizes how grueling it is just to win a berth in the MLS Cup playoffs, but it also set certain expectations for themselves. One of those expectations was to return to the playoffs, and in 2014, it came through with the club's fourth consecutive playoff berth.
CHRISTIAN HARDY
@HardyNFL
In each of the past two seasons, only 60 percent of the playoff teams were returning teams from the previous season. In other words, two teams in each conference failed to return to the playoffs after winning a berth in the previous year.
"We were never worried," Sporting KC defender and captain Matt Besler said. "This year has been a long season, but the MLS season is tough. It's not easy to make the playoffs ... We've accomplished our main goal, and that is to get into the playoffs."
Sporting KC hasn't been one of those teams that was unsuccessful in earning a playoff spot since they won a No. 1 seed in 2011. However, 2014 posed the biggest threat to manager Peter Vermes' now four-season playoff streak. The team lost several pieces after making its run to the MLS Cup in 2013, and it still hasn't fully recovered after the blows it took following last season.
The 2012 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, Jimmy Nielsen, retired from the MLS after winning the MLS Cup in December. In February, the team traded away forward Teal Bunbury to the New England Revolution for a 2015 pick. Defensive midfielder Uri
Success is measured by how the team fills the holes left by those players. By the start of the 2014 season, Sporting KC had traded a 2016 pick for goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum, the team's effort to replace Nielsen. The team brought in a hoist of midfielders; Jimmy Medranda in February, Toni Dovale in March, Jorge Claros and Martin Steuble in July, in an attempt to replace Rosell. The emergence of Dom Dwyer had already replaced the spot Bunbury left.
Rosell, who also started in the MLS Cup, was sold to Sporting Clube de Portugal in June. But that's business. Every offseason, every club has players leave.
That's when the injury bug bit manager Peter Vermes' squad, and it's a bug that still hasn't lost its grip.
In May, Kansas City's starting fullback Chance Myers ruptured his left Achilles tendon in a match against Toronto, which consequently forced him to miss the rest of the season. The team also lost Ike Opara, the team's top center back option behind Aurelien Collin and Matt Besler, to an ankle injury which required season-ending surgery in April.
Those two injuries, plus Besler and midfielder Graham Zusi's mid-summer departure to join the Men's National team in the World Cup from May to July, left the back line scrambling. Igor Juliao, a 20-year-old Brazilian defender on loan, picked up most of the minutes in Myers' departure, while homegrown defender Kevin Ellis contributed when the middle back needed a gap filled. Erik Palmer-Brown also contributed to the middle before he fractured a bone in his foot in September, forcing him to miss the rest of the season.
The void left by Rosell has yet to truly be filled in the defensive midfield. Though Benny Feilhaber hasn't done a terrible
job in his place, the lack of a real defensive midfield centerpiece has put more pressure on the lacking back line to perform. Shuffling goalkeepers between Gruenebaum, Eric Kronberg and Jon Kempin, didn't help, either.
Until Sunday, Vermes had never made injuries an excuse for his team. But after Feilhaber, Juliao and Gruenebaum — who has rightfully taken over the goalkeeping job — missed Sunday's loss due to minor injuries, he didn't shy away from talking about how difficult this season has been. His team is tired, it's beat up, and it needs a lot of rest.
"When you have as many guys out as we do, at some point you have to understand: You can't replace those guys," Vermes said after the 2-0 loss to the Red Bulls. "We don't have a full complement of our team. We're not playing a full complement of players. It's been that way for probably several months now, and it takes a toll."
All three players who missed Sunday's match are 50-50 for Thursday's rematch against New York, and any of the three on the field would be a massive boost for Kansas City. All three were at training Tuesday morning, though Feilhaber departed early.
Though the prospect of players missing games has shuffled things up and made things difficult to get back to the playoffs on the field, the players who are healthy enough have a brand new six-game season in front of them.
"At the end of the day, it really just comes down to us going out and doing it," Besler said. "You can rattle off all of the excuses. There's a lot of them. There's a lot of things this team has been through this year. I think we have a strong enough team to get through anything this year."
Edited by Kelsie Jennings
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