NFL: Final Weeks---Assessments; Broncos Over the Ravens, 34-17

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Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner.

NFL   ---    SOMETIMES it’s from one wrong move, other times from a series of mistakes. In either case, and from a contest lasting only a few hours, an NFL franchise can slip onto a down escalator from the possibility of post-season life, landing at gone, baby, Gone! And that is what happened to the 8-6 Chicago Bears on Sunday, a team tied not long ago with the now 10-4 Green Bay Packers for National Conference North leadership and playoff candidacy. It may have happened to the 8-6 New York Giants on Sunday, which led the NC East now dominated by the Washington Redskins, a team that appeared a few weeks ago to be headed below .500, although the Redskins are ahead only by a slim margin of points, tied at 8-6 with the Giants and the Dallas Cowboys.

Last night, the 6-8 N.Y. Jets (AC East) exited the 2012 NFL playoff race, having lost to the 5-9 Tennessee Titans (AC South), 14-10, partly from lackluster performances by quarterbacks Mark Sanchez (sacked four X) and Tim Tebow, who had an off-night, appearing as if a marginal athlete taken from the stands as a half-time entertainment gimmick (Jacksonville, make the call!).

So, too, are the 9-5 Indianapolis Colts (American Conference South) unable to gain a division leading finish, though still in the playoff chase.

            Of course, upturns in the ratings occur for a team every Sunday, Monday or Thursday during the NFL season, e.g., the Packers became a double-digit winning team (10-4) on Sunday, one of only six. The 11-3 Denver Broncos (1^st place, AC West) and the 12-2 Atlanta Falcons (1^st pl., NC South) are now the only leading franchises ahead of their next division best by six games, all other division leading teams up by four or less.

And for leading franchises, a single game can reinforce what has already been earned. No AC division leading team was troubled by Sunday’s outcomes. Locked in for playoff slots are the Denver Broncos, having defeated the Baltimore Ravens, 34-17, on Sunday, though the 9-5 Ravens still lead the AC North. Add, the 10-4 New England Patriots (AC East), and the 12-2 Houston Texans (AC South).

The likelihood of the above-cited division leading/playoff-headed teams experiencing losses during final weeks of the NFL regular season remains doubtful, as each will be facing lesser clubs, some currently below .500. Respectively during these weeks the Broncos will challenge the 5-9 Cleveland Browns (AC North) and then the 2-12 Kansas City Chiefs (AC West), the Patriots will face the 2-12 Jacksonville Jaguars (AC South) and then the 6-8 Miami Dolphins (AC East), and the Texans will go against the 8-6 Minnesota Vikings and then the Colts.

The Eastern Conference leading franchises certain to be in the 2012/13 NFL playoffs are the 10-3 San Francisco 49ers (NC West), the Packers and the Atlanta Falcons.

Sixteen franchises are now below .500, which is half of the league, the worst among them being the .143 Kansas City Chiefs (AC West), the .143 Jacksonville Jaguars (AC South), the .286 Philadelphia Eagles (NC East) and the .286 Detroit Lions (NC North). 

 Broncos and the Ravens.    From the second quarter on during Sunday’s Broncos/Ravens face-off, the Broncos showed the Ravens what economy of force and precision of movement in football looks like, the Ravens playing as if they hadn’t any idea what all that is. Well, it has several names: quarterback Peyton Manning, wide receiver Eric Decker, running back Knowshon Moreno, cornerback Chris Harris, the latter performing a pick + 98 yard run for a TD just before a possible Ravens touchdown.

Words like “destruction,” “breaking apart,” “pummeling,” “shellacking” and so on reek of frenzy and heat, of chaos---the Broncos win over the Ravens was smooth, cool, the Manning-led drives to the end-zone usually lacking wasted moments or lost space. And, the Denver defense maintained consistency of impenetrability until the fourth period, when a Ravens attempt to close on its deficit began to kick in.

The Broncos led the Ravens in number of achieved first downs, 21-12, possessing the ball for 38 minutes vs. the Ravens 21 minutes. That Ravens QB, Joe Flacco, completed 20 of 40 attempted passes, and QB Manning 17 of 28 attempted passes while the Manning-led offense accrued three TD’s in the first three periods and the Ravens none, was evidence of the difference between the two teams relative to making every action count toward points. The same can be said for Broncos WR Decker catching eight of 11 throws for a total of 133 yards, and RB Moreno taking 22 handoffs for a total of 118 rushing yards. Both Decker and Moreno scored a TD each.

The Broncos, now number two within the AC behind the Texans, will probably be a number two seeded team as the post-season moves ahead, along with a first round Bye, which could go one of two ways, allowing rest and rehearsal time for the team’s initial competition, or it could weaken some of the momentum that has enabled the team to win nine games in a row, week after week.   

Given that the Broncos will be facing two far below .500 teams between now and when the regular season ends, the Denver franchise will likely finish the year at 13-3, increasing on momentum that head coach John Fox and QB Manning will then strengthen with practice and other means of playoff preparation.

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