NFL: WEEK 14, ANALYSIS; BRONCOS DEFEAT OF THE TITANS // SUPER READS, 2013 SPORTS BOOKS, FINE AS XMAS GIFTS

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: WEEK 14, ANALYSIS; BRONCOS DEFEAT OF THE TITANS // SUPER READS, 2013 SPORTS BOOKS, FINE AS XMAS GIFTS. . . // NFL---ON Sunday, the now 11-2 American Conference West Denver Broncos defeated the AC South’s currently second place team, the Tennessee Titans, 51-28, and the National Conference West’s 10-2 Seattle Seahawks lost to the NC West’s 9-4 San Francisco 49ers, 19-17, which frames the Broncos in super-hero format, as the only NFL-2013 franchise that will enter Week 15 leading a division, a conference and the league itself, while also holding lock and key for a playoff billet, a position that the Seahawks might have obtained had they defeated the 49ers. . . Other division leading franchises that won Week 14 games were the AC East’s now 10-3 New England Patriots over the AC South’s last place team, the 2-10 Houston Texans, 34-31, and the NC South’s 10-3 New Orleans Saints prevailing against the NC South’s second place franchise, the 9-4 Carolina Panthers. . . Of the remaining division leading teams, three lost during Week 14 but kept their first place positions, while the NC East’s 7-5 Dallas Cowboys reversed to second place after the NC East’s now 8-5 Philadelphia Eagles beat the Arizona Cardinals, 24-21, grabbing first place. . . Of the division first place franchises that lost on Sunday, only one projects a guaranteed Week 16 division title, the AC South’s 8-5 Indianapolis Colts, now three games ahead of second place team, the Titans. On Sunday, the Colts lost to the AC North’s 8-4 Cincinnati Bengals, 42-28. . . But it is too late for 13 NFL teams to reach past .500 by Week 16, given scheduled opponents that are likely to defeat them, and due to the limited number of games left in the season for them to leap forward re. number of wins. The unlucky 13 are the now 4-9/.338 Oakland Raiders, 4.9/.308 Buffalo Bills, 5-8/.385 Pittsburgh Steelers, 4.9/.308 Cleveland Browns, the 5-8/385 Titans, the 4-9/.308 Jacksonville Jaguars, 2-11/.154 Texans (Ugh!), 5.8/.385 St. Louis Rams, 5.8/.385 New York Giants, 3-10/.231 Washington Redskins, 3.9/.269 Minnesota Vikings, the 4-9/.308 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the 3-10/.231 Atlanta Falcons. Surely of much study and crunching in the off-season will be of that which has caused the “unholy unpredictable” to happen, i.e., “How could the Texans, Falcons, Redskins and N.Y. Giants land at the back end of the NFL-2013 grid?” . . . // BRONCOS, TITANS---THE NFL game isn’t always a pass venture, but if you are Broncos quarterback and NFL legend, Peyton Manning, you prefer it that way. Against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Manning threw for almost 400 yards and four touchdowns, including his 45th TD of the season, five short of Patriots QB Tom Brady’s 50, with enough games ahead for Manning to go one or more better; final score against the Titans, 51-28, the third NFL-2013 contest during which the Broncos scored more than 50 points. Noteworthy is that the Broncos win against the Titans happened as comeback stuff, with the Broncos behind as the first quarter closed, 14-10, then back of the Titans at half time, 21-20. The magic kicked in during the third Q, which ended with the Broncos ahead, 34-28, and it formed completely with 17 additional Broncos points in the fourth Q, while the Broncos defense finally purchased 15 minutes without giving up a penny, as if having allowed more than 20 points to the Titans was a stirring wake-up call, reminding the Broncos defenders that the danger of points given away increases as fourth Q minutes fly by. Meanwhile, it’s what exists back of points-earned that addresses the superb offense. By endgame, the Broncos offense had advantaged the Titans in just about every major game category---39 first downs vs. the Titans 15, plus a gain of 551 net yards, the Titans with but 254. The Broncos attained 39 minutes of ball possession, the Titans bought 20 minutes. There were 32 Broncos rushing plays vs. the Titans 22, and the Broncos rushed for more than 150 yards vs. the Titans 99. Manning’s 397 passing yards was met by Titans QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 172. Manning completed 39 passes of 59 attempts, Fitzpatrick 13 of 24. . . OUTSTANDING: Broncos kicker Matt Prater’s amazing field goal from the Titans 46 yard line. . . Next up for the Broncos, the AC West’s third place and 6-7/.462 San Diego Chargers, defeated by the Broncos during Week 10, 28-20. . . // BOOKS---TELLING it like it is makes for good reading, and telling it like it is with some humor thrown in along with the realism, well, that’s even better, and that is what former NFL WR and TE, Nate Jackson, has delivered in SLOW GETTING UP, an unveiling of what it’s like to be in the NFL wars from energetic and hopeful rookie year to seasons when cynicism could settle in as one’s philosophy regarding professional sports. Jackson’s prose is strong and yet cool, covering what’s relevant for a thorough understanding of today’s NFL game and of what is in the hearts of those players who “dare to dare,” who struggle to find and hold to civility among the violence and busine$$ nuance$ that can destroy that (240 pages, Harper-Collins). . . NO PLAN B---This is a lively and full accounting of the transformation “and transport” of an athlete misperceived, of talent thought mistakenly to be in decline and of its travel upward from that perception. NO PLAN B is also the story of an unnecessary team loss becoming another team’s big win, told through the actions of players, head coach and a front office exec (former QB great, John Elway). Another title for this book by Denver Post sportswriter, Mark Kiszla, could have been, “The Peyton Manning Saga, Part Two.” It is mainly about Peyton Manning being let go by the Indianapolis Colts, his joining the Denver Broncos and leading an offense that in two years has made franchise history and pulled the Broncos back to elite NFL status. Warning: this book isn’t anywhere near to being about what it’s like to be any quarterback in the NFL, it’s about the exception, of a QB that is the outstanding QB, the ideal QB, the QB of whom there are only one or two around in any season. The author has delivered this with great thoroughness, so that a reader can know Peyton Manning “the unusual better and extremely well-liked and respected man,” and why Manning is the superb athlete that he has become and can still be. Humanizing what appears super-human isn’t easy---Kiszla has managed to do this, his accounting of the Manning transition from Indianapolis to Denver is a Manning-like spiral (182 pages, Taylor Trade Publishing). . . SPORTS & THE HEROIC---Want a book emphasizing why sports matter, how its best performers have reflected what’s best about all of us, and what could stand correction, as well? By author Marvin Leibstone (Ed., Publ., Sports Notebook), this book gets the job done, recounting key events in baseball, football, basketball, other major sports, that give pause, that can cause us to think about the strategies and tactics that can deliver success in nearly all endeavors. Covered in detail are actual events and the athletes participating within them, teh latter demonstrating great courage, integrity and persistence against the odds (153 pages, XLIBRIS). . . These books are available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and through most other book outlets. END/ml