NFL: BRONCOS & RAIDERS /// WORLD: FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX RACING, 2011 & 2012
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Sports Notebook posts new every Tuesday and Friday. Editor, Marvin Leibstone. Comments to: mlresources1@aol.com
NFL --- WE may know after the 2-5 Denver Broncos/4-3 Oakland Raiders game this Sunday if Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow’s performance last week versus the Detroit Lions might be recorded at the end of the NFL season as an exception to his norm, or if the two-year stream of Tebow-hype should have been about the potential that he showed as a Heisman Trophy winner and not about that potential already being realized.
Tebow hasn’t been Sunday’s hero “as predicted,” yet he hasn’t been without moments suggesting that he could be all that has been said about him. “Just not now,” according to numerous NFL analysts and media pundits, not until he’s had more starts as a QB, can improve his passing skills and find receivers a lot quicker in the pocket, otherwise he’ll be adding to the 13 sacks he’s already suffered.
Gone as starting Broncos QB is Kyle Orton and that isn’t so bad, while most unfortunate for the Broncos is loss of the Orton/wide receiver Brandon Lloyd combo that had led to more Denver touchdowns in any two games during which they coordinated, than TD’s from the two games during which Tebow and receivers connected. Obviously, Tebow needs to work more with his go-to guys, practicing with them to ad nauseum, for which there’s little time during a season that is half over. Without that Orton/Lloyd combo, the Broncos are already at a disadvantage versus the Raiders, though if Broncos injured running back Willis McGahee plays on Sunday such might be offset via the right plays and if Tebow overcomes his timing, receiver-siting and passing-accuracy issues.
It is a given that the most important position on an NFL team is the QB, but there’s a basic reason to caveat that from Football 101: No QB is good from skill-sets alone. A QB needs effective pass protection, in effect, linemen fast enough to keep a pocket open for him so that he could locate receivers and hand away the ball, pass it or find an opening and rush the ball. Too, those receivers need to be free for the hand-off or the catch, for which the offense must provide effective screening. Needed, too, are wide receivers capable of drawing the enemy’s basic defense and secondary away from the offense’s receivers that are closer to the QB, especially if the QB is best at the running game and can keep driving for first downs and reach an end-zone.
The science of football has already been blueprinted, what’s to be known about it is already known, and there isn’t a Broncos coach or player who doesn’t have football savvy, it’s mostly basic, but between what needs to be done consistently in order to win through application of what’s basic and then doing it is the gap that the Broncos offense has to overcome to be a winning element. Today, the Broncos are a relatively new team (new head coach, new QB, new backs) and so needed is what it has taken the best NFL teams to become what they are: a smart playbook and practice, practice, practice. With all of this said, a Raiders defense that can be in the QB’s space at Mach-2 speed on Sunday and be at the necks of the Bronco receivers that are shallow, at mid-range and/or deep, well, that defense will spoil any Broncos assault, it might even cause the Broncos offense to set a record for punts executed in a single game.
But if when facing the Raiders, Tebow can be free long enough in the shotgun to either pass well, hand the ball to a fast runner or run himself, the Broncos will have a chance to accumulate points. This posits that a primary Broncos tactic will be to avoid Tebow’s weaknesses and capitalize on Tebow’s strengths. Against the Raiders, then, we will likely see many QB attempts to rush the ball for short gains in yardage, in hope of the Broncos creeping toward first downs and an eventual TD. However, if Tebow doesn’t receive the pass protection that he needs to move the football, we’ll see him forced to pass without sufficient time for the accuracy needed, therefore against the clock and from wasted throws the Broncos offense won’t be adding up points.
As for the Broncos defense, it has to figure out the Raiders attack plays more quickly than in the September game that they lost to Oakland, 23-20, and with greater focus and faster reactions than the Broncos defense showed last week vs. the Lions, a defense that allowed the Lions to obtain 31 points.
FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX RACING --- WHEN the possibility of more speed in a racecar exceeds the capability of a racetrack to guarantee a wide margin of safety, the risk of car breakdowns, crashes and pileups increases proportionately, partly to blame for the recent Indy car series pile-up that resulted in the death of a famous and much-experienced driver and in injuries to others. The lesson about a speed/track ratio equaling degrees of danger was learned decades ago during Formula One Grand Prix racing when the series was deemed the world’s most dangerous sport. The series will be in its 64th year, 2012. Currently, it is the premier international motor sport.
Still filled with risk and not without accidents, F1-GP racing is among the world’s safer racing series, data reflecting that it is safer than the Indy and NASCAR events and yet is exceptionally challenging as regards driver skills, partly from races occurring on tracks that are more than ovals, tracks (not all) that combine real roads and streets with sudden turns and narrow straightaways, some dips and banks, plus special tire requirements, all of which demand high emphasis on driver maneuvering skills + auto technologies rather than mostly open-ended speed allowances. Not that the F1-GP cars drive below 120 MPH. On average, they often rise to more than 180 MPH along straightaways, now and then to 200 or more MPH within regulated conditions.
Presently, F1-GP racing is the second richest sport in the world after soccer, and the second most watched sport in Europe and Asia . The series in 2012 will include 12 teams (to date; more may be on board in coming months). These teams will compete in 20 races around the world from March through November. Races will be held successively in Australia, Malaysia, China, Bahrain, Spain, Monaco, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, India, Abu Dhabi, the U.S. after a long absence (at Austin, Texas, November 18), then Brazil (last race in the series, Nov. 25).
Of particular note is that F1 racecars are among the more aerodynamically sleek in existence, entries being from Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault, Lotus, Sauber, Red Bull, among others. In America
The 2011 winning team is Team Red Bull; constructor, Red Bull, engine: Renault. There is no U.S.-based F1 team, nor a U.S. Austin , Texas
END/ml
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