NFL: WEEK 15 "OUTLOOK;" BRONCOS LOSS TO THE CHARGERS

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 15 “OUTLOOK;” BRONCOS LOSS TO THE CHARGERS. . . //. . . NFL--IF drama, if story, if suspense happens to be your thing, then NFL-2013 at Week 15 is for you. Example, the American Conference West’s 11-3 Denver Broncos are no longer a cinch for division and league leadership, this from a Thursday night 27-20 loss to AC West’s third place 7-7 San Diego Chargers, opening a window for the AC East’s 10-3 New England Patriots to fill that position providing that they prevail against the AC East’s 7-6 Miami Dolphins on Sunday and then the AC North’s 7-6 Baltimore Ravens during the following Sunday, and, of course, that the Broncos lose during Week 16 to the AC South’s now 2-11 Houston Texans. Not from any vantage point are these impossible happenings, in spite of the odds favoring the Broncos over the Texans by a wide margin. . . MEANWHILE, the AC West’s 10-3 Kansas City Chiefs are at the heels of the Broncos, in that a Chiefs win over the AC West’s 4-9 Oakland Raiders on Sunday, and then a Chiefs win versus the 8-5 Indianapolis Colts during the following Sunday, plus the possible Broncos Week 16 loss to the Texans, such could make the Chiefs division numero uno as NFL-2013 regulation closes. . . AND, except for the AC East’s Patriots 3-game lead above second place team, the Dolphins, all other division leading franchises are today owners of but a one or two game lead atop second position teams. These other division leading franchises could finish the season at second or third position if teams behind them ascend. . . WEEK 15, then, is a period of much uncertainty. Further evidence of this is that within the AC North, the 7-6 Baltimore Ravens can push back today’s first place team, the 9-4 Cincinnati Bengals, by defeating the NC North’s 7-6 Detroit Lions on Monday night after the possibility of a Bengals loss on Sunday to the AC North’s 5-8 Pittsburgh Steelers. Also, should the AC South’s 8-5 Colts lose to the Texans on Sunday (unlikely, though it could happen) and to the Chiefs during Week 16, and the now AC South’s 5-8 Tennessee Titans defeat the NC West’s 8-5 Arizona Cardinals on Sunday and takes down the AC South’s 4-9 Jacksonville Jaguars during Week 16, the Titans could then own the AC South. . . MOREOVER, inside the NC the NC West’s 11-2 Seattle Seahawks can drop from first to second place if they lose to the NC East’s 5-8 New York Giants on Sunday and to the NC West’s 8-5 Cardinals in the following week, if simultaneously the 9-4 San Francisco 49ers unravel the 4-9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, next the NC South’s 3-10 Atlanta Falcons during Week 16. . . FURTHERMORE, within the NC East the 8-5 Philadelphia Eagles are today only one game over second place team, the 7-5 Dallas Cowboys, while inside the NC North the 7-6 Detroit Lions are just one win ahead of the 6-6 Chicago Bears, while within the NC South the 10-3 New Orleans Saints are only one game ahead of the 9-4 Carolina Panthers. The Lions would have to lose to the Ravens this Monday, and the Bears would need to defeat the AC North’s 4-9 Cleveland Browns on Sunday, for the two to reverse positions; and, for that to happen within the NC South the Saints must lose to the NC West’s 5-8 St Louis Rams during Week 15 and the Panthers have to undo the AC East’s 6-7 N.Y. Jets on Sunday. Yes, current win/loss records, and other data, suggest that for most of the above-listed NFL teams their Week 15 and Week 16 outcomes will reflect a status quo, i.e., win/loss records and other stats say that that today’s division-leading NFL teams will keep their current slots. . . STILL, if the Chargers could “surprisingly” overtake the Broncos the way that they did on Thursday night, well, anything could happen. For teams at the top directly after Week 15, NFL could truly be the acronym that players like to use when discussing career or status longevity---“NFL---Not For Long.” . . . //. . . BRONCOS, CHARGERS---WHEN a season is over and players look back, before them will be seen the proverbial good, bad and ugly, among the worst a game such as the AC West’s now 11-3 Denver Broncos 27-20 loss to the AC West’s 7-7 third place San Diego Chargers on Thursday night, this largely from a Broncos defense that throughout NFL-2013 has had only short periods of effectiveness equaling the power and skills of the Broncos offense, the latter being at its worst versus the Chargers on Thursday, Week 15. Obvious here is that a loss for the Broncos is practically guaranteed when the Broncos offense retreats to mediocrity, in that the Broncos defense, as now constructed and as it has performed almost game-by-game since September, is likely to give up 19 or more points no matter which team that the Broncos are facing. One way to describe this is that the Broncos offense has been in the butt-saving business during 11 games so far this season, and attached to this is a truth about Broncos QB Peyton Manning, this: while being the NFL’s best QB afield today, Manning still has, like all above-the-margin QB’s since football was invented, “Vulnerabilities.” Super-heroes are for the comic books. No great athlete has a career without some ditches in the road. Like all superb athletes, Manning will still have off-game moments, just less frequently than arrival of the downturns that afflict other NFL QB’s, but when it happens at a crucial moment it can devastate, like that fourth Q interception that turned Sunday around for the Chargers, with the 27 of 41 passes that Manning completed and that resulted in two touchdowns diminishing as possible game-savers. . . SADLY, the Broncos defense hadn’t helped the Manning-led offense to more than 21 minutes of ball possession while they helped the opposing Chargers offense to accrue 38 minutes, enough for Chargers QB Phillip Rivers to drive his offense for three TD’s off of 337 total yards, within which were 177 yards from rushing. The most yards gained rushing by a Broncos RB on Sunday stunned---just 19, all by one RB, Knowshon Moreno. And, Broncos QB/receiver “completion connectivity” was absent way too often---not one of Manning’s “preferred” WR’s caught to score, it took a largely unknown Broncos reserve-WR to set up 12 points, Andre Caldwell. Was Chargers QB Rivers out-manning Manning, was he the outstanding QB? He didn’t have to struggle to be this, and he wasn’ta version of Manning at Manning's best, though Rivers was certainly above mediocrity. On Thursday, the Broncos defense was Rivers partner, an opportunity for Rivers to shine. Though Rivers accrued fewer than 170 yards for the Chargers, it led to 24 first downs vs. the Broncos 19 first downs. Via weak Broncos defenses, Rivers managed to lead the Broncos from second Q onward. . . THE Broncos remaining two challenges appear to be easy wins, first against the AC South’s 2-11 Texans on December 22, with last game of the season vs. the AC West’s last place team, the 4-9 Oakland Raiders, December 29. However, we cannot discount the fact that 19 or more points given away to either challenger by the Broncos defense could set the Broncos up for weak playoff capacity, for an 11-5 season finish if indeed the Broncos Manning-led offense has peaked and repeats the performance exhibited Thursday night vs. the Chargers. This is an unlikely happening, according to just about every NFL analyst, what stat guys label, “Low probability.” END/ml.