NFL--WEEK 5 RESULTS; BRONCOS DEFEAT OF COWBOYS // MLB: PLAYOFFS, TOWARD LC'S & THE WS.

SPORTS NOTEBOOK, October 8 // sports-notebook.blogspot.com FOR MORE ANALYSIS, GO TO "MILE HIGH SPORTS RADIO," AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com. SPORTS NOTEBOOK posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of each week. Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner. . . // . . . NFL---JUST a week ago, there were five NFL franchises that hadn’t taken a 2013 regular season loss; they were 4-0, thus .1000. Today, there are three without a loss and so 5-0/.1000 each---the American Conference West’s Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs, and the National Conference South’s New Orleans Saints. Close behind these perfectos today is the .800 club, that is, the three 4-1 NFL teams, including the AC East’s New England Patriots, the AC South’s Indianapolis Colts, the NC West’s Seattle Seahawks. Of these six NFL franchises, four reside within the AC. . . The 10 3-2/.600 gangs are the AC East’s Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets, the AC North’s Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, the AC South’s Tennessee Titans, NC West’s San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals, the NC North’s Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears. Do the math and we have 16 of the 32 NFL teams above .500, therefore the NFL average is above .500. Askew is that 10 of these 16 teams are within the AC, six inside the NC, and the AC has six of the 3-2 teams while the NC includes four of the 3-2 teams. All this places the AC ahead by more than a miniscule margin. . . Oddly, as the NFL approaches Week 6 of the 2013 season, there is but one .500 team, the NC North’s Green Bay Packers. The remaining NFL clubs are below .500, four without a season win since the get-go, the AC North’s 0-4 Pittsburgh Steelers and the AC South’s 0-5 Jacksonville Jaguars, the NC East’s 0-5 N.Y. Giants and the NC South’s 0-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. . . The tightest division races to date appear to be the AC West’s Broncos and Chiefs, each being 5-0, also the AC North’s Ravens and the Bengals each at 3-2, the NC East’s Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys both at 2-3, and the NC North’s Lions and Bears each at 3-2. Presently, the NC South’s Saints are the only “runaway” division-leading franchise, second in that division being the 1-3 Carolina Panthers. Except for the 4-1 Seahawks, all other NC teams are two or more games behind the Saints. And within the AC, there are three franchises close at the heels of the AC’s leading franchise, the AC West’s Broncos. . . Of note is that not one of Sunday’s games could be classified as a blowout, the widest disparity being the 49er’s 34-3 win over the Houston Texans. Of Sunday surprises, there’s the N.E. Patriots loss to the Bengals, 13-6. . . BRONCOS, COWBOYS---FOR most of Sunday’s Week 5 Broncos vs. Cowboys game, it appeared that no matter how many points the Cowboys could score the Broncos offense could match the numbers and add some, surely a positive for the Denver team coached by John Fox, the offense led by professional football’s best active quarterback, Peyton Manning, an offense including the NFL’s top receiver pack, wide receivers Eric Decker, Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Wes Welker + running back, Knowshon Moreno. BUT---taking the shine off of this was the Broncos defense (the Broncos Achilles heel, if you will), a defense that has given away more than 20 points during each 2013 regular season game, worst being the 48 points handed to the Cowboys on Sunday, made null and void by a Broncos field goal in the last seconds of a fourth quarter, final: 51-48 (Yes, a win is a win). Of course, praise must go to the Manning-led offense up against a Cowboys defense performing better than it had Weeks 1 through 4 of the season. Only in the second Q were the Broncos able to score more points than the Cowboys had. Were it not for the Broncos second Q’s 20 points over the opposition offense’s six points, the game could have gone to the Cowboys. Still, the Broncos accrued 34 first downs toward the team’s six touchdowns, 10 more than achieved by the Cowboys, and the Broncos offense obtained a total of 103 yards from rushing plays, vs. the Cowboys 52 total rushing yards. And, QB Manning completed 33 of 42 throws for a total of 414 passing yards. Denver’s RB Moreno rushed for 93 yards, 4.9 yards per rush and for a TD, while the Cowboys best RB rushing was half that, 43 yards total, 3.6 yards per rush. And, though Cowboys QB Tony Romo’s rushing for seven yards was but one yard behind Manning’s eight, Manning’s eight was for a TD. Also, Broncos WR Julius Thomas received for 122 yards and for two TD’s, WR Decker for 87 and a TD. All this data certainly highlights the Manning-led offense as being spectacular, yet such dims quickly when seen against the Cowboys offense on Sunday. The Cowboy’s offense could be said to have won a particular category labeled “Economy of force.” From less ball possession time and from 10 fewer first downs, the Cowboys offense managed to score as many points as the Broncos had, minus that Broncos late fourth Q FG. And, from Cowboys QB Romo were 505 passing yards, almost 100 more than Manning accrued, Romo’s from fewer passing attempts, 36 vs. Manning’s 42 attempts. Too, the Cowboy’s top three receivers on Sunday gained a total of 413 yards and four TD’s, while the Broncos totaled up but 266 received yards, though for three TD’s. Yet given the Cowboys performances during Week 1 through 4, and from data put up by QB Romo in those weeks, one has to also credit ironically “the Broncos defense” for much of the Cowboy’s Sunday success in a game within which the Cowboys led during three of four Q’s and which they may have taken into OT and then won. However, on the subject of “Economy of force,” no-one can say anything disparaging about the Broncos offense and be correct, for it was the Manning-managed successive first downs and third down efficiency (twice that of the Cowboys) that saved the day for Denver. This said, unless the Broncos defense can reform, reinvigorate, add more juice to the pass rush and get between enemy receivers and the football more often, the Broncos may not be able to keep on without a 2013 loss. On the plus side, of the Broncos next three games (Weeks 6 through 9) they could easily win two easily, vs. the 0-5 Jacksonville Jaguars and the 1-3 Washington Redskins. Week 8’s Broncos vs. Indianapolis Colts game won’t be as easy for the Broncos defense, nor will challenges from the Chiefs and the Patriots during Weeks 11 and 12 be easy for the Broncos defense, especially if the Broncos defense denies enhancements, one of which is linebacker Von Miller and cornerback Champ Bailey afield and in top form. . . //. . . MLB---WITHIN the 2013 playoffs, it’s still the division series dominating, in the National league the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates being two games apiece for best of five, plus the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. the Atlanta Braves, L.A. now with two wins, Atlanta with one win, also for best of five. In the American League, the Boston Red Sox are leading the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-1 (best of 5), and the Oakland Athletics are 2-1 vs. the Detroit Tigers (best of 5). Noteworthy, and suggesting lots of parity, is the absence of no-hit and shutout wins within 13 post-season games that have been played as of today, and only two of these 13 have been won with double-digit scores, the Dodgers 13-6 win over the Braves on Sunday, and the Red Sox win over the Rays, 12-2. The tag of most runs put up by a team to date among the MLB contenders for an LC and possibly the World Series, such belongs to, in the NL, the Dodgers---23. Within the AL, it’s the Red Sox---21. This is the only hint that there could be a Dodgers/Red Sox WS, yet it’s a vague hint, for a WS berth is still attainable by the Cardinals, Pirates, Braves, Athletics and the Rays. So, again we say, “the 2013 MLB LC and WS outcomes are anyone’s guess.” END/ml.