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NFL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5.2009
Giants deal Chiefs a 27-16 loss at Arrowhead Stadium
BY DOUG TUCKER
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The greatest offensive line in the world couldn't have protected Eli Manning from this injury.
New York Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham, left, catches a pass under pressure from Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Brandon Flowers for a 43-yard gain during the first quarter of their NFL football game Sunday in Kansas City. The Giant defeated the Chiefs 27-16.
All the New York Giants quarterback did was drop back to pass, something he's done how many thousands of times?
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Suddenly, he felt pain in his right heel. He stayed in for one more play, a short pass to Hakeem Nicks which the rookie turned into a beauty of a 54-yard touchdown play in a 27-16 victory over Kansas City.
But now Manning and the Giants will have to wait and see if a worrisome bruised right heel will let him play next Sunday against Oakland.
Manning was replaced by David Carr, but said he expects to be ready for the next name.
"It was a noncontact. It just happened into the drop," said Manning, who threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns as the Giants (4-0) won their third road game in a row. "It was the play before the touchdown, where I had Steve Smith deep and threw it a little short."
"I always assume I'm going to play, that I'm going to be out there," he said. "I've always been a pretty quick healer. I'll be doing everything I can possibly do this week to get healthy and prepared to play Oakland. We'll find out more tomorrow. I can walk around and move around, but there is some discomfort."
Manning threw two scoring passes to Smith, who totaled 134 yards on 11 catches, as the Chiefs (0-4) lost for the 27th time in 29 games.
"We've got to stick together as a team, which I think our guys are doing very well," said Chiefs coach Todd Haley. "We've got to pull together and start becoming a team much like that team across the field from us today."
In the final minutes, Matt Cassel threw two short scoring passes that made the final score unreflective of how badly the Giants outplayed their hapless hosts.
From the first quarter, when Jamaal Charles fumbled the opening kickoff and Manning converted it into a quick TD, this battle
between occupants of opposite ends of the NFL standings never seemed in doubt. After going 0 for 11 in third-down conversions the
week before against Philadelphia, the Chiefs were 2 for 15.
"Change is not fun," said Haley.
"We've got to be better in all
The Chiefs have lost their first four games for the first time since 1980.
areas."
MLB
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Royals left fielder Bloomquist makes an attempt for the ball, along with fans, 'Twins' Jason Kubel hits his second three-run home run of the game in the third inning Sunday.
Twins headed to title playoff
BY JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Associated Press
After defeating the Royals, Minnesota will face the White Sox for AL Central championship
MINNEAPOLIS — Hang on to those Homer Hankies: The Metrodome isn't ready to close for baseball just yet.
Jason Kubel got those familiar white towels waving with a pair of three-run homers and Minnesota beat Kansas City 13-4 Sunday, putting the Twins into a one-game playoff with the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central title.
The Twins and Tigers, who beat the White Sox 5-3, will meet at 4 p.m. CDT Tuesday with the division title and a postseason date with the New York Yankees going to the winner.
Delmon Young added two solo home runs and Michael Cuddyer also went deep for the Twins, who overcame a three-game deficit by winning its final four games.
Scott Baker will start the tiebreaker for the Twins against Detroit rookie Rick Porcello. The teams get a day off because the Minnesota Vikings host Green Bay on Monday night.
Minnesota won 16 of 20 to reach the playoff.
Carl Pavano (14-12) pitched on
three days' rest,
giving up four
runs and striking
out seven in 5 2-3
innings in what
was supposed to
be the final regular-season baseball game in the Metrodome.
The Twins move outside to
Target Field next year, but they're more than happy to keep playing under the shabby white roof for the time being.
"The fans want a full 162-game schedule and they're getting it."
"I guess it just says a little bit about the tenacity of this baseball team," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire
Alex Gordon homered for the Royals, who fell behind 8-1 but rallied to bring the tying run to the plate.
Minnesota was seven games down to the Tigers on Sept. 6 and appeared all but gone after falling four back with a loss at Detroit on Wednesday.
said before the game. "They keep playing until the end. The fans want a full 162-game schedule and they're
RON GARDENHIRE Twins manager
But the Twins rebounded to beat the Tigers on Thursday, swept Kansas City and got some help from the White Sox, who took two of three in Detroit.
getting it. And then some.
And then some The Twins have been here before.
Last season they went to a one-game tiebreaker for the AL Central against the White Sox, losing a 1-0 heartbreaker in Chicago to miss out on postseason. That
game was played in the Windy City because the White Sox won a coin flip, something that infuriated the Twins after they won the season series.
Major League Baseball changed the tiebreaker rule this season, giving home field to the team that won the head-to-head season series. The Twins went 11-7 against the Tigers this season, including 7-2 at the Metrodome.
well celebration of 28 weird, wacky and sometimes wonderful seasons under the roof.
Players from Dome lore such as Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti and Frank Viola were in attendance for a fare
It turns out they came one game too early.
Homer Hankies that first made the national scene with the Twins' run to the World Series title in 1987 were back on display, and 51,155 fans — the largest crowd since opening day of 1993 — got an early reason to use them.
Luke Hochevar (7-13) walked Denard Span, who stole second, to start the game. Then, with chants of "MVP! MVP!" raining down, he pitched around Joe Mauer with one out and first base open. Kubel followed with an upper deck homer to right field and, two batters later.
"I guess it just says a little bit about the tenacity of this baseball team."
RON GARDENHIRE Twins manager
Mauer went 0 for
3 and is hitting .364
for the season, all but
assuring him of his
second straight AL
batting title and third
in his career.
Kubel's second homer of the game landed just over leap.
Young hit a solo shot to make it 4-0.
ing left fielder Willie Bloomquist's glove for a 7-0 lead. From then on, the crowd turned its eyes to the scoreboard, hoping the same White Sox that spoiled their season last year would help turn the day into a coronation.
Chants of "Let's go, White Sox!" filled the Dome, and one of the loudest roars of the day came when the scoreboard showed Chicago cutting Detroit's lead to 5-3. But the Tigers held on.
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