sports-notebook.blogspot.com . . . FOR MORE ANALYSIS, GO TO "MILE HIGH
SPORTS RADIO," AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver
NFL---THERE’s
no such thing as too much football. Those fans complaining about the additional
televised Thursday night games don’t have to watch them, and if you didn’t see
force-Broncos not only defeat the Chargers 35-21 last night, you also missed
seeing a team that if consistent re. skills and power over its next eight games
will be Super Bowl-slotted. And, the Broncos win wasn’t by a great QB’s solo
performance, pushing a marginal offense from behind, barely overcoming a deficit
caused by a weak secondary. That was the Broncos of bygone days. Broncos QB
Peyton Manning is definitely super-gifted, and this year his gifts have been
reinforced, multiplied by a superb offensive line, by WR’s, RB’s and TE’s that
succeed often at refusing to allow their catches and runs to exist without
acquiring new territory, first downs and then points on the board. Now add a
Broncos defense that won’t allow an opposing team to offer the same value, a
defense that wants to get off the field ASAP and sip Gatorade, having handed the
ball back to QB Manning for a drive that will cause an opposing secondary to
wonder, “What in heck just
happened?” Case in
point: the Chargers offense managed to accrue 22 first downs compared with the
Broncos 27, plus 306 net passing yards vs. the Broncos 425, and Chargers QB
Philip Rivers completed 30 of 41 passes vs. Manning’s 25 of 35, this latter data
close to parity. These stats are just close enough from either side to suggest
that the Chargers are in no way unworthy goats. The big difference is that the
Broncos offense kept converting its gains into more TD’s than the Chargers could
obtain, i.e., the Broncos kept increasing the numbers while the Chargers kept
missing opportunities for that. Sure, the Broncos defense might well have been
saying, “Let Rivers complete a throw, we just
won’t let the receiver get far with it.” So, a
Broncos defense that would have decimated the Seattle Seahawks during last
season’s SB, “it has
arrived.” Is it
perfect? Well, almost, for example, across Weeks 1 through 7 of the current
season the Chargers defense has given away 126 points, across the same period
the Broncos defense gave away 146; and, the Chargers were still able to put up
21 points against the Broncos last night. Great credit for the Broncos win vs.
the Chargers has to be given to Broncos WR Emmanuel Sanders for his three
received TD’s, to RB Ronnie Hillman’s109 yards, to RB Juwan Thompson’s two TD’s,
and for WR Demaryius Thomas receiving for 105 yards. The AC West’s Broncos are
now 6-1, leading the AC West, having bumped the Chargers to second position. The
Broncos are arguably NFL-2014’s best franchise as Week 7 gives way to Week 8,
the halfway mark to the playoffs. What could stop the victory train? Next
challenge for the Broncos, November 2, vs. the AC East’s leading team, the 5-2
N.E. Patriots, our pick that the Broncos will defeat the Patriots, but not by as
many points as on Thursday vs. the Chargers.
NFL’s WEEK 7, BEST AMONG THE
BEST---NC SOUTH: Here,
second place franchise, the 3-4 New Orleans Saints, will have to defeat the NC
North’s 5-2 Green Bay Packers on Sunday, while simultaneously the NC South’s
first place team, the 3-3 Carolina Panthers, will have to lose to the NC West’s
3-3 Seattle Seahawks, this for the Saints to be tied at first position with the
Panthers before Week 8 commences. . . NC
NORTH: The
Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers are now tied at the top of the division,
each at 5-2. If the Lions defeat the NC South’s 2-5 Atlanta Falcons on Sunday,
and the Packers lose to the Saints, then the Lions will be atop the division
solo. . . NC EAST: Here,
the number one team, the 6-1 Dallas Cowboys, are leading the NC re. number of
wins over losses. They will face the division’s last place team, the 2-5
Washington Redskins on Monday and will probably maintain supremacy at 7-1,
though the NC East’s now 5-1 Philadelphia Eagles could still be at their heels
should they defeat the NC West’s division leading franchise, the 5-1 Arizona
Cardinals, also this Sunday. . . NC
WEST: To stay
atop the division, the 5-1 Arizona Cardinals need to beat the NC East’s 5-1
Eagles on Sunday, while the 4-3 S.F. 49er’s will be staying at second position
via its Bye. . . AC SOUTH: The 5-2
Indianapolis Colts will maintain first slot even if they lose to the AC North’s
3-3 Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday and even if the AC South’s second position
team, the now 3-3 Houston Texans, defeat the AC South’s 2-5 Tennessee
MLB---Royals
1 win, Giants one win, a reminder that the past isn’t always prologue in WS
baseball. After the Giants routing of the Royals during Game 1 of WS-2014,
pundits were saying, “It’s all over for the K.C. team.” Reminds of the advice,
“Never shout, ‘NEVER!’” But the
naysayers are still sticking to their guns, arguing that in most of the last
dozen WS, the team that won Game 1 won the best of seven WS. Cynics and
historians die hard but they don’t always die having been right. That aside,
clear is that a team doesn’t get to the WS with a marginal pitching staff, it
arrives from winning starters and a bull pen that maintains a winning score and
keeps an opposing team from overtaking that score. With dominating numbers on
the board early, for instance, during innings one and three, and a bull pen that
can preserve that lead via strikeouts, such seems key for a four-game WS
victory, whether the wins are in succession or with three accompanying losses.
Do hitters matter anymore? Actually, they matter more than ever. There’s no way
around the fact that runs win a baseball game, even if it’s a 1-0 win, and for
more than that number a team needs base-runners, which come from the hit, either
the single, the extra-base shot, the HR. Walks and balks, Yes, they are as good
as a hit but they are too rare to make a significant difference. Right now,
there’s sufficient parity among the Royals and Giants starters, their bull pens
and their line-ups, for a 4-3 WS, though baseball is always under the shadow of
unpredictability. That anything could happen at a WS is probably the best way to
explain the WS outcomes, e.g., hardly anyone ever thinks that Wild Card teams
could be of the WS presence.
END/ml
No comments:
Post a Comment