THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY OCTOBER 22.2007
SPORTS 11B
>> NFL
Holmes back home on field
BY GREG BEACHAM ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chiefs running back Priest Holmes played for the first time since 2005 on Sunday against the Raiders. With Holmes and Larry Johnson, Kansas City has the potential to be a lethal rushing offense.
OAKLAND, Calif. — Priest Holmes completed his improbable comeback Sunday, returning to the Kansas City Chiefs' lineup nearly two years after a serious neck injury threatened the three-time Pro Bowl running back's career.
Holmes played for the first time since Oct. 30, 2005, in the Chiefs' 12-10 road victory against the rival Oakland Raiders. Though he managed just 9 yards on four carries, his pain-free performance suggested the former star's comeback story has additional chapters.
"I'm excited," said Holmes, the Chiefs' career franchise leader in yards rushing and touchdowns.
"There wasn't really much I did, other than when I was called on, I did a couple of little things. It wasn't anything new. At
ASSOCIATED PRESS
"By the end of the year, it could be one of the best — if not the best — one-two punches in the NFL."
the end of the day, this is work."
Holmes was thrown for a 6-yard loss after catching a screen pass on his first snap. In the fourth quarter he had three carries during Kansas City's important clock-killing drive in the final minutes, including an 8-yard run for a first down.
"For a guy that hadn't played in a long time, he did a good job," coach Herm Edwards said. "He got through it, and now he'll be more involved in it."
TONY GONZALEZ Kansas City tight end
dominant 34-year-old back whose career was widely assumed to be finished. Most fans thought his next appearance at Arrowhead Stadium would be to see his name enshrined on the facade as a member of the Chiefs Hall of Fame.
Even that 6-yard loss on the first pass was a huge gain for a once-
Holmes hadn't played since a vicious hit from San Diego's Shawne Merriman caused the neck injury.
Holmes enjoyed a sublime 4½- year stretch with the Chiefs from 2001-05, rushing for 5,933 yards and 76 TDs. His 83 total TDs also are a franchise best.
offense that has relied heavily on Holmes' heir since his injury.
long ways to go."
"It's just part of my job, (and) I'll come in here and do it very humbly," Holmes said. "If I get one, two, three carries, I'll do whatever I need to do. I've still got a
Holmes entered the game on the third play of Kansas City's third drive, shortly before the first quarter ended. He caught a screen pass from Damon Huard, but was buried by cornerback Nnami Asomugha.
"I was excited just to get that first hit out of the way," Holmes said. "Then they didn't really get the opportunity to use me again until the fourth quarter. When you're the third-down back, you only get so many opportunities, because you want your first guy feeling good."
Holmes carried the ball for no gain late in the third quarter, but made two key runs for 11 yards late in the fourth. His biggest contribution was his first-down run around the left end with 3 minutes left.
He even tried to fall down before going out of bounds to keep the
clock running, but that veteran play went unrewarded when the officials ruled him out.
"It was great when we got towards the end of the game, when we were in the huddle and we were getting a little tired," tight尾 Gonzalez said. "It was good to put No. 31 in there."
The Chiefs kept Holmes out of full practices through the first six weeks of the season. Once he returned to regular workouts last Wednesday, Kansas City decided to test him after trading backup Michael Bennett to Tampa Bay.
For now, Kansas City will use
Holmes as a third-down back behind Johnson, who became one of the NFLs elite ball carriers during Holmes' absence.
"By the end of the year, it could be one of the best — if not the best
— one-two punches in the NFL," Gonzalez said.
NFL
Brady, Bironas set records; Rams, Dolphins still can't win
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TITANS 38, TEXANS 36
HOUSTON — Rob Bironas made an NFL-record eight field goals, with a 29-yarder as time expired in the Tennessee Titans' wild 38-36 victory over the Houston Texans.
The kick foiled a spirited comeback by the Texans (3-4), who scored 29 points in the fourth quarter, capped by a 53-yard touchdown pass from Sage Rosenfels to Andre' Davis to take a 36-35 lead with 57 seconds remaining.
Bironas also connected from 52, 43, 25, 21, 30, 29 and 28 yards to break the previous record of seven field goals held by four players. His 26 points also established a mark for a kicker in one game.
PATRIOTS 49, DOLPHINS 28
MIAMI — Tom Brady was flawless, even returning to the game to throw a team-record sixth touchdown pass. Brady's TD total exceeded his career high of five, set last week against Dallas.
Brady now has 27 TD passes after seven games. The NFL record is 49 set by Peyton Manning in 2004. If Brady maintains his current pace over 16 games, he would finish with 61.
Brady completed his first 11 passes for 220 yards and four scores, including throws of 35 and 50 yards to Randy Moss. His other touchdown passes covered 14 and 16 yards to Wes Welker, 30 to Donte Stallworth and 2 to Kyle Brady.
The Patriots improved to 7-0 for the first time in their 48-year history, while the drubbing was the biggest downer yet for the Dolphins, who fell to 0-7 for the first time in their 41 seasons.
GIANTS 33.49ERS 15
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.
-- Osi Umenyiora scored on a 75-yard fumble return and the New York defense helped account for 24 points as the Giants won their fifth straight.
The dynamic four-end defensive line of the Giants (5-2) had a field day against the NFLs worst offense. New York forced four turnovers by the 49ers (2-4), sacked Dilfer six times and made him play with his head on a swivel while Alex Smith rested his ailing shoulder on the sideline.
michael Strahan had his biggest
sack performance since 2003 with $ 2 \frac{1}{2} $ against his former defensive coordinator and current 49ers coach Mike Nolan.
REDSKINS 21,
CARDINALS 19
LANDOVER, Md. — In a game marred by bad penalties and bone-headed mistakes, the Redskins (4-2) had the only thing resembling a normal scoring drive. But they finished the day with only 160 total yards and survived a 55-yard field goal attempt by Neil Rackers that was barely wide left with 2 seconds remaining.
There were a combined 15 penalties for 128 yards, a blocked punt by the Cardinals and a blocked extra point by the Redskins.
Kurt Warner, who started despite a torn elbow ligament that made it awkward to hand off, wasn't behind center for the Cardinals (3-4) when they got within 21-19. Tim Rattay entered for the play and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Leonard Pope.
LIONS 23, BUCCANEERS 16
Garcia, who played in Detroit for one forgettable season two years ago, didn't have a turnover in his first six games with the Bucs. Perhaps pressing against one of his former teams,
Detroit (4-2) pulled within a game of idle Green Bay in the NFC North, while Tampa Bay (4-3) lost a chance to move past idle Carolina in the NFC South.
DETROIT — The Lions scored touchdowns after Jeff Garcia's two fumbles, including wide receiver Calvin Johnson's 32-yard run midway through the fourth quarter, to beat their former teammate.
he botched a handoff in Detroit territory in the first quarter. He also mishandled a snap on a first-and-goal when the Bucs were 1 yard from pulling within two points early in the fourth period.
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Johnson, the No. 2 pick in the draft, broke a few tackles on an end-around to give the Lions a 23-7 lead with 6:28 left.
NEW ORLEANS — Reggie Bush's power running with a short pass gave New Orleans (2-4) a 4-yard touchdown to win it. Bush spun free and overpowered three Falcons and dived across the goal line on a crucial third-and-goal screen pass.
Atlanta (1-6) lost more than a game. Its newest starting quarterback, Byron Leftwich, left with an injured right ankle after Saints defensive end Will Smith brought him down on a long incompletion early in the third quarter.
Bush threw the ball into the second deck of the Louisiana Superdome after the score. While fans chanted his name in celebration, Bush took a handoff on a 2-point conversion, raced to the sideline and dived past the pylon.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. Making good on an opportunity to secure the starting job, rookie quarterback Trent Edwards went 11-of-21 for 153 yards and engineered five scoring drives for Buffalo (2-4).
Rian Lindell hit four field goals, including a 41-yarder, and Marshawn Lynch scored on a 1-yard plunge.
BILLS 19. RAVENS 14
BEARS 19, EAGLES 16
overcoming a slow start and a booing crowd, by scoring on a 46-yard run in his first game back since the Bills traded him to Baltimore (4-3) in March.
PHILADELPHIA — Desperately needing a victory to stay in the NFC hunt, Chicago's Brian Griese connected with Muhsin Muhammad for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 9 seconds left.
Willis McGahee made his mark.
The Bears didn't even need Devin Hester to bail them out of jam with an explosive return. Instead, the final, thrilling drive was all Griese.
The Bears (3-4) were pinned on the 3-yard line with 1:57 left. Griese completed a series of short passes over the middle. And Hester, the dynamic kick returner shut down on special teams by the Eagles (2-4), had a 21-yard catch that brought Chicago to the 15. Then Muhammad made his winning catch in the back of the end zone.
Before that, Robbie Gould kicked four field goals for the Bears and David Akers made three for Philadelphia.
SEAHAWKS 33. RAMS6
SEATTLE — Nate Burleson returned the second-half kickoff 91 yards for a game-changing touchdown and the sputtering Seahawks (4-3) pulled away from winless St. Louis (0-7), sending the Rams to their worst start in their 70 years in the NFL
Seattle (4-3) led 10-3 at the half, even though St. Louis had just 41 total yards. Matt Hasselbeck, the
Minnesota (2-4) lost for the third time in four games. Rookie Adrian Peterson followed his record-setting, 224-yard performance last week with only 63 this time.
Clarke & Wilson, LLC For help with:
Watson led the way, playing like a star instead of Rudi Johnson's fill-in. The seventh-year runner with a half-dozen career starts scored on runs of 1 and 2 yards in the second half, finishing off a Jets team that couldn't hold a 13-point lead or get out of its own way.
DENVER 31,
PITTSBURGH 28
Dallas bounced back from a lopsided home loss to New England and guaranteed itself at least two more weeks atop the NFC because of an upcoming bye. During the time off, the Cowboys can savor being 6-1 for the first time since 1995 (their last Super Bowl season) and having beaten the Vikings for the first since 1996.
DENVER — The Denver Broncos beat Pittsburgh Steelers 31-28 on Jason Elam's 49-yard field goal as time expired.
COWBOYS 24, VIKINGS 14
CINCINNATI — Kenny Watson ran for 130 yards and three touchdowns in the best performance of his career, and the Bengals (2-4) turned the Jets' second-half meltdown into their first victory in five games.
IRVING, Texas (AP) — Chris Canty swatted a potential go-ahead field goal by Minnesota and Pat Watkins returned it 68 yards for a go-ahead touchdown.
BENGALS 38, JETS 31
Then Burleson took the second-half kickoff, ran through a tackle near midfield and shook off Jonathan Wade at about the 20 for his first career kickoff score. Seattle took off from there.
only constant in a skittish offense this season, was feeling the sting of a rib cage hit by Claude Wroten.
HOW MY PARENTS MET By Moira Wilson, creative writing major PART 2 OF A 5- PART SERIES
1977. Pleno, TX. Susan, an accountant for a
1977. Pleno, TX. Susan, an accountant for a telecommunications company, was known among co-workers to be smart and well-liked (for an accountant). So, when "Employee of the Year" nominations came out, it was not surprising that she was on the ballot. But, beside her name, was one she didn't recognize. Being a relatively small business, it was hard to believe she wouldn't know all the nominees. She started asking around.
"Who's this John fella?"
She was met with nothing but rave reviews.
"You haven't met John? He's the best!"
"You haven't met John? He's the best!"
"John? From sales? He amazing! So"
"John? From sales? He's amazing! So handsome!"
This was not good news. She'd never been "Employee of the Anything" before, and she didn't want to lose to some sleazy, know-it-all salesman. As she walked past the breakroom, she saw Ricky, the sales manager, standing by the ballot box.
"Vote for John" he said, handing ballots out,
"Vote for Johnhwl"
"You're campaigning for him?" she shouted.
"Sure! You gotta problem with John?"
"Nol I don't even know him!"
At the end of the week, they announced the
At the end of the week, they announced the winner: "John". She stayed at her desk, furious and defeated. She was working on a spread-sheet when someone sat down beside her desk.
"Sorry you didn't win," he said.
"That cheater! He was campaigning! Can you believe it?"
"Well, I voted for you."
She looked up. It was a man she didn't know. A hawdsome man, smiling.
"Do I...know you?" she asked
"No. I'm John."
We want to hear YOUR story for a chance at $100
In 250 words or less, tell us the story of how your parents met. Funny, tragic, or just plain weird, we want to hear it.
24 finalists will be chosen to read their entries live at the English Alternative Theatre
"PLEASE TAKE.SERIOUSLY!" By Adam Lott
"IGHTS & CURTAIN." By Whitney Powell
"LIGHTS FADE, CURTAIN" By Whitney Rowland Lawrences
November 9-11
November 9-11 Lawrence Arts Center
Entries must be submitted by Friday, October 26 to plim@ku.edu
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