NFL: PLAYOFFS, FIRST ROUND--ANALYSIS // NBA: STANDINGS, AS OF NOW

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, FIRST ROUND---ANALYSIS// NBA: STANDINGS, AS OF NOW. . . // NFL---THE AFC’s Colts and Chargers, the NFC’s Saints and 49ers---they’re “in,” having defeated respectively the Chiefs, the Bengals, the Eagles and the Packers. This weekend, the Colts will face the Patriots, and the Chargers will challenge the Broncos, and it will be the Saints against the Seahawks, the 49ers versus the Panthers. During NFL 2013's Post-season Round One of Saturday/Sunday past, the four winners combined for 121 points over 98 points allowed, which would suggest wide disparity between winning and losing top-of-the-pile NFL teams, were it not that three of the four games played were won by one, two and three points respectively. Only the Chargers/Packers contest reflected a wide win-over-loser gap, 27-10, Chargers. Two of the weekend’s playoffs were nearly a nose-to-nose finish, the Colts 45-44 win against the Chiefs, also the Saints 26-24 field goal win against the Eagles within seconds of endgame, same re. a last-minute 49ers FG nailing a 23-20 win vs. the Packers. Noted, too, if you watched all eight franchises (four games), was that no two teams met their challenges exactly in the same way. Strategies, degrees of strength, application of skills varied, implying that there is much diversity within the NFL’s best of the best, and that the eight teams have had a clear picture of their own vulnerabilities and strengths, as well as that of teams that they will oppose. From examination of some of these differences, we might be able to determine that which can cause one or the other team to prevail during a next playoff encounter, for instance, SF quarterback Colin Kaepernick can rush for a next first down as if a running back of greater merit than many, while he can pass long or short with precision and accuracy; and, Colts QB Andrew Luck and his receivers are exceptionally adept at transitioning from a previously ordered play to a barely rehearsed, thus essentially new "audible." Also, there’s no denying that the Chargers defense has mastered how and where to thrust power in least number of seconds vs. any style offense, as if they’ve learned to read and exploit what any opposing team’s read-option version could produce. Also, the Colts/Chiefs game demonstrated the value of an offense mixing it up, in that attackers of both teams enacted “extreme surprise” from execution of unexpected tactics, i.e., not always doing what a situation seemed to have called for, each accruing more than 40 points vs. their defense squads being caught off guard. Too, and probably as guided by head coaches, there were from all eight teams fast switches from risk to no-risk, in effect, teams taking chances during drives to the red zone, then going super-conservative---less passing, taking advantage of FG range rather than going for that fourth down rush, unless there existed something like six, maybe eight yards to goal. . . The AFC’s Patriots and Broncos, and the NFC’s Panthers and Seahawks are up next for their contenders in the playoffs, i.e., in games facing the past weekend’s four winners. The Patriots and Broncos will be challenged by teams that they have met before, teams that have learned to maximize capabilities and reduce the effects of limitations. Many a bet this coming weekend could be the proverbial “fool’s errand.”. . . // NBA---WITHIN the Eastern Conference only the EC Central’s Indiana Pacers and the EC Southeast’s Miami Heat hold commanding leads over second place franchises, the Pacers with 27 wins atop second place Chicago Bulls having 14, and the Heat’s 26 wins above second place Atlanta Hawks having 18. Meanwhile, inside the Western Conference no division leading team has a commanding lead, best belonging to the WC Southwest’s San Antonio Spurs 26 wins above second place Houston Rockets---22. The Pacers 27 wins is matched with 27 by WC Northwest’s Oklahoma City Thunder’s 27, both being the best NBA records as of today, though the Thunder is but one win above WC second place team, the 26-8 Portland Trail Blazers. Among teams rising, the 13-21 Brooklyn Nets are holding to second place within the EC Atlantic, behind leading team, the 16-16 Toronto Raptors, and the WC Northwest’s Denver Nuggets have risen suddenly from the ashes of a long losing streak, reflected in a recent thrashing of the WC Pacific’s Los Angeles Lakers, 137-115. Still struggling "unexpectedly" at the bottom of their divisions are the EC Atlantic’s 11-22 New York Knicks and the WC Southwest’s 15-18 Memphis Grizzlies. Regarding the remaining NBA franchises, nearly all have been in the land of getting nowhere, though the 13-21 Boston Celtics could move into second place of the EC Atlantic by defeating the Denver Nuggets tonight and if the Nets lose their next game. If the Nuggets defeat the Celtics tonight, the Denver team will return to .500 and could soon retake the WC Northwest’s third position, replacing the now 17-17/.500 Minnesota Timberwolves. . . END/ml.