NFL: BRONCOS LOSE TO THE BILLS---ELEVENTH HOUR, CLOCK TICKING  // NBA: CHANGES & SOME BRIEF OBSERVATIONS

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            UNTIL AFTER THE CURRENT NFL SEASON, “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” WILL POST NEW EVERY MONDAY INSTEAD OF ON TUESDAY, continuing with a new post every Friday.  Editor, Marvin Leibstone. Comments to: mlresources1@aol.com

NFL ----    IT was a bad day before XMAS for the Denver Broncos on two counts, losing to the Buffalo Bills, 40-14, next the Kansas City Chiefs losing to the Oakland Raiders. Now Denver is 8-7 and tied with Oakland for numero uno of the AFC-West when hopes had been high for Denver being 9-6 today and Oakland, 7-8.

If Denver loses its last game of the season to the Kansas City Chiefs on January 1, and Oakland beats the San Diego Chargers next week, then chances of a Denver playoff berth will slip away (the Chiefs were able to beat the 13-0 Green Bay Packers in December, ending the Packers perfect record for the season, and, in October, Green Bay polished off the Broncos, 49-23, signaling a rough New Year’s Day for the Broncos versus the Chiefs). 

Two factors that sided with the possibility of a Broncos win over the Bills were AWOL throughout most of the second quarter and second half of the competition: Broncos starting quarterback, Tim Tebow, wasn’t primed for executing those plays that in the recent past had freed his best skills for rushing, or for his passing accurately when on the run, and a Denver defense seemed incapable of stopping Buffalo’s drives to where field goals could insure a winning game, even if only one touchdown were to occur.

Tebow became readable, and he hadn’t any new tricks. In the NFL, “quarterback redundancy” diminishes the quarterback greatly, “it’s game suicide.” Tebow had to be advertising his moves inadvertently, ditto his selected receivers. Starting in the second quarter, Buffalo’s defense kept suppressing Tebow and his go-to-guys (relentlessly!). Neither running back Willis McGahee, nor wide receivers Eric Decker and Eddie Royal, were able to break away for game-changing action (for each, there was no there, there). By endgame, Buffalo had 160 rushing yards to the Broncos 133, and 191 passing yards to the Broncos 164, but it was the four Tebow interceptions and a punt return for a Bills touchdown that pushed Denver beneath the margin of teams seeking playoff distinction.    

NBA  ---   Here are some major changes for the 2011/12 NBA 66-game season: Lamar Odom, from the L.A. Lakers to the Dallas Mavericks // Andre Miller, from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Denver Nuggets // Chris Paul, from the New Orleans Hornets to the L.A. Clippers // Chauncey Billups (formerly of the Denver Nuggets), from the New York Knicks to the Clippers // Tyson Chandler, from the Dallas Mavericks to the Knicks //  Mehmet Okur, from the Utah Jazz to the New Jersey Nets.

Where’s the drama? It’s in the questions:  How will the Lakers fare under its new coach, Phil Jackson gone? Can the Mavericks repeat? Will the Bulls be leading its division before mid-season? Will the Heat’s LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade actualize into the unbeatable tres amigos boasted of two years ago? Will the season’s surprise ascent be Michael Jordan’s Bobcats? Can the Denver Nuggets prove that teamwork provided consistently can trump star power, and win the team’s division, starting with a win over the Lakers on January 1? Will the Oklahoma City Thunder’s potential for being the West’s winning team show up early and jump ahead of the Mav’s? Will Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups change the direction and fate of the Clippers more than they had helped bring skills and wins for the Hornets and the Nuggets, respectively? Will Carmelo Anthony be this year's ppg-winning star of the East?

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