NFL: PLAYOFFS, Conference Title Games // NBA: Nuggets, Warriors; League Standings

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: PLAYOFFS, Conference Title Games // NBA: Nuggets, Warriors; League Standings---NFL: FOUR will be two after Sunday’s NFL conference championship match-ups. From the American Football Conference, it will be the Denver Broncos against the New England Patriots, and from the National Football Conference the San Francisco 49ers versus the Seattle Seahawks. It couldn’t be better scripted, it being what the best moviemakers of thrillers would conjure up if they were sportswriters. No match-up out of the AFC could offer more in the realm of suspense and excitement than a Broncos/Patriots battle, surely a Peyton Manning/Tom Brady “Who is the best” face-off, and the NFC is sending into the ring its top western teams for a likely slugfest, the 49ers and the Seahawks, with 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, and the Seahawk’s QB, Russell Wilson, as potential heirs to the QB throne, which either of the two will prove to be, or won’t, when up against Manning or Brady at Super Bowl XLVIII. . . // BRONCOS (13-3), PATRIOTS (12-4)---WHEN an NFL team’s vulnerabilities convert to strengths, other teams might cower if their own vulnerabilities haven’t transformed. But the Patriots loss of receivers that had been of the QB Tom Brady/receiver connectivity empowering the team for several playoff appearances over the years, such hasn’t forced up a rushing game-only strategy in order for Brady to help guarantee a shot at the AFC championship and a trip to the Super Bowl. Not having WR’s Wes Welker and Ron Gronkowski aboard during the year’s playoffs was thought to be the Patriots holdback, a ticket to elimination. Not so! Brady has been able to mix it up, relying on passes and rushes as dictated by situational factors instead of his needing to press on mostly from rushing the football. Yet the Broncos defense, which throughout much of the NFL-2013 season, had performed barely at the margin, it has shown vast improvement across the Broncos recent games, as has the pass protection that Manning must rely on for his superb reading of deep receiver and ball runner assets, the Broncos WR and RB units surely the year’s best at E&E (Escape & Evasion) for first down completions and the TD. Still, the Patriots defense hadn’t allowed less than double-digit points to opposing teams most of the team’s NFL-2013 regular season games, in 10 of those games 20 and more, and, surprisingly, 31 points were given to the marginal Houston Texans, 23 to the Atlanta Falcons, 27 to the New York Jets. And, 31 points went to the Denver Broncos, though the Patriots won that game in overtime, 34-31. But the Broncos defense has been wrapped in similar cloth, that of high double-digit points given away in most games played, making it harder for Manning’s offense to engage in catch-up and win a game. The Broncos defense allowed 20 and more points in 12 of regular season games, worst the 48 points handed to the Dallas Cowboys during Week 5. Toward season’s end, however, the Broncos defense lowered its giveaway of points, allowing less than 20 to the opposition. The Patriots allowed 20 in its final season game, to lackluster team the Buffalo Bills, though in the week before then only seven points went to powerhouse franchise, the Baltimore Ravens, a Patriots offense overtaking the Ravens, 41-7. The Broncos gave 27 points to the Ravens in a 2013 game, won anyway by the Broncos, 49-27. Some Broncos/Patriots similarity is therefore evident here, along with the Broncos vs. Texans 37-13 win and the Patriots vs. Texans 34-31 win.. . . One comparison that suggests a Broncos offense edge is that of the total number of points that each team accumulated during the regular season, Broncos 605, Patriots much less, 444. If the Broncos defense can keep the points drawn by the Patriots well below 20, it will be a surprise on Sunday if the Patriots prevail against the Broncos, while a Broncos defense like that of Broncos games during Weeks one through 14 could produce a Patriots win that could be from anywhere between seven and 13 points ahead. . . // FORTY-NINERS(13-4), SEAHAWKS (13-3)--- THE 49ers defense allowed 20 or more points to opposing teams in seven games during NFL-2013, and the Seahawks defense let that happen in four games. Implied by this is that the two defense units are not evenly matched yet they are close enough in skills and application to reach gridlock. Shrinking this possibility, however, is that the 49ers and Seahawks offense squads are led by QB’s with great ability for responding to the various nuances of any defense and so could prevent a tie game depending upon which QB has the ball for the most minutes. Therefore, the 49ers/Seahawks match-up could easily be more about the contributions from QB’s that can be canny in ways preventing their offenses from being completely at the effect of that which opposing defenses want them to be. The 49ers QB, Colin Kaepernick, and the Seahawk’s QB, Russell Wilson, are adept enough at reading any about-to-be defense maneuver, and so key for the win could be the QB that is better protected and faster at responding in the pocket with a breakthrough throw or hand-off that within just enough ball possession minutes could defeat the opposition by seven, three, maybe by a two-point conversion, and both QB’s are gifted with a receiver corps capable of helping this to occur. Of course, this isn’t all that has made the 49ers/Seahawks match-up for this Sunday a heated rivalry. The 49ers want to show that they have been “Best of the west” and best within the NFC-entire consistently (Sunday will be the 49ers third-in-a-row appearance for the NFC title), and the Seahawks want to prove that the crown now belongs to them (They haven’t had an NFC title opportunity since 2005, but they held a division lead long and true throughout NFL-2013). . . // NBA---THE Indiana Pacers 30-7 record and its 12 game lead over second place team within the NBA East’s Central Division team, the 18-19 Chicago Bulls, such has made the Pacers the league’s number one 2013/14 franchise. But the Pacers haven’t won 12 of their last 13 games as have the NBA West’s Pacific Division second place franchise, the 25-15 Golden State Warriors, and they haven’t diminished that as have the Denver Nuggets, defeating the Warriors last night, 123-116. The Nuggets are in third place within the West’s Northwest Division, nine games behind number one, the 25-9 Portland Trail Blazers, also eight behind second place team, the 28-10 Oklahoma City Thunder. Still, the Nuggets have experienced eight-, five- and two four-game winning streaks this season. Were the Nuggets transferred to the East’s Atlantic Division today, they’d be the division’s number one team, to the East’s Southwest they’d be tied at second place with the 20-18 Atlanta Hawks, and to the East’s Central Division they’d be in second place ahead of the Bulls. But getting personal, the Nuggets found glee and a greater sense of NBA wellness last night, having beaten the team that shoved them out of the 2012/13 playoffs. . . As to the rest of the NBA, after the Pacers the Miami Heat remains the only division leading team with a substantial edge ahead of its division’s franchises, seven above second place team, the Hawks. How many NBA teams are still below .500? More than half---18, the Milwaukee Bucks still the lowest, .184 from a 7-31 record. END/ml.