NFL:  Week 14---Projections; Broncos & Raiders.

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of each week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.

NFL:     AS Week 14 of the NFL’s 16 game season approaches, three of the league’s eight division leading franchises own double-digit wins and enough in the win column for a division crown and a playoff berth---the American Conference South’s 11-1 Houston Texans, the AC West’s 10-3 Denver Broncos, and the National Conference’s 11-1 Atlanta Falcons.

The two teams closest to the three double-digit winning franchises have nine wins apiece and could claim end-of-season dominance and playoff contention, as well---these are the AC East’s leading team, the New England Patriots, ahead of the 5-7 New York Jets by four games, and the AC North’s leading franchise, the Baltimore Ravens, up by two over the 7-5 Pittsburgh Steelers, though there are enough games left for the Steelers to force the Ravens back, providing that the Ravens stop winning (doubtful that this will happen).

The NC West’s leading franchise, the San Francisco 49ers, have eight wins. The NC East’s N.Y. Giants also lead with eight, and the NC North’s 8-4 Green Bay Packers are atop with eight, too. But each of these three could slip back to second place, respectively to the 7-5 Seattle Seahawks and to the 6-6 Washington Redskins, while the Packers could fall behind the also 8-4 Chicago Bears.

Still, 14 of the 32 NFL franchises are, by the league’s standards, “losers,” that is, each of the 14 has accumulated more losses than wins since the season started and are therefore below .500, best among them, the .417/5-7 Jets (2d place, AC East), and the .417/5-6 St. Louis Rams (3d place, NC West); worst are the .167/2-10 Kansas City Chiefs (last place, AC West) and the .167/2-10 Jacksonville Jaguars (last place, AC South).

Struggling to surpass their current .500/6-6 status are the Washington Redskins, the NC East’s Dallas Cowboys, the NC North’s Minnesota Vikings and the NC South’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Broncos vs. Raiders.  A second 2012 Denver Broncos win over the Oakland Raiders, 26-13, occurred last night on Raiders turf. In September, the Raiders lost to the Broncos, 37-6, at Denver’s Sports Authority Field. But last night’s win was a different sort than the homestand victory, the Broncos having appeared more stable and steady as they put up points and showed what could be the fundamental difference between an offense led by Denver quarterback, Peyton Manning, and those commanded by other QB’s, that sense as you watch that QB Manning and his receivers keep thinking several moves ahead, like master chess players, as they drive toward end zone occupation and then surety for a touchdown or field goal, while other QB’s and their receivers seem to move forward thinking only one down at a time, hoping it will include an opportunity or two for significant yardage.

Yes, the better QB’s can make things up as they go along, taking advantage of situational factors, but only if they have to. It’s rare that QB Manning has to. When the Broncos have possession of the football, Manning and his wideouts, tight ends and running backs will definitely control the game more often than not, and that seems to be what the Raiders understood last night, using the pass rush to disrupt Manning’s offense as often as possible, which wasn't often enough. Manning completed 26 of 36 passes for a total of 310 yards and a TD-achieved pass to tight end Joel Dreessen + easaily accessed FG’s, and more than twice the number of first downs gained than Oakland could produce, 30 over 14.

Of course, Oakland’s weak secondary couldn’t always be in the way of receptions executed by Broncos receivers, Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker and TE Dreessen, nor could the Raiders defense stop completely the ground work offered by Denver running back, Knowshon Moreno, who rushed for 119 yards, gaining around 3.9 yards per rush, accruing a TD. And, the mere seven points gained by the Raiders wasn’t a limitation imposed by a limp Raiders offense, it was from stops by the Denver defense that has become more pro-active than reactive since its eight-game winning streak began vs. the San Diego Chargers, October 15. Even so, Raiders QB, Carson Palmer, passed well enough, completing 19 of 30 throws for 273 yards, with around 8.4 yards gained from each pass and 3.8 yards gained per rush, though the Raiders total rushing yards hadn’t exceeded 61, compared with the Broncos 141. As for total net yards gained by the Raiders, it was far from pathetic---327 (vs. the Broncos 428), in spite of QB Palmer being neutralized often by Denver linebacker, Von Miller, and the Denver secondary disallowing third and fourth down TD and FG attempts (the Raiders had to punt five times to avoid turnovers that the Broncos could have exploited easily for more points).

This Sunday, the Broncos will be watching the Ravens closely as the Baltimore team challenges the Redskins, and on Monday they’ll be observing the Texans vs. Patriots game. The Broncos will face the Ravens on December 16. By defeating the Ravens and then the Cleveland Browns, next the Chiefs (last game of the season), and if the Patriots and Texans lose enough prior to December 30, the Broncos could definitely obtain post-season readiness and perhaps home-court advantage. At any rate, at 10-3 and already holding second place within the AC behind the 11-1 Texans, the Broncos could be playing either of the three AC teams for the year’s AC title and a Super Bowl appearance, good reason to be studying them during NFL Week 14.

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