NFL: Last Chance Sunday // NBA: Those Up, Those Down!

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 each week. Ed., Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner.  

NFL---THE National Conference West’s Seattle Seahawks and the NC West’s Arizona Cardinals, the NC East’s Dallas Cowboys, also the NC North’s Detroit Lions and NC North’s Green Bay Packers---each has won 11 games, lost four and will compete on Sunday for a 12th victory and a playoff slot to their liking. It will be the NC West’s Seahawks against the NC West’s last place team, the 6-9 St. Louis Rams, the NC West’s Cardinals versus the NC West’s fourth position franchise, the 7-8  S.F. 49ers, the NC East’s Cowboys vs. the NC East’s last place team, the 4-11 Washington Redskins, while NC North supremacy will be battled for by the Lions and the Packers.

Also on Sunday, the NC South’s 5-8 Carolina Panthers will challenge the NC South’s second place team, the 5-9 Atlanta Falcons, for division leadership.

At the very bottom of the NC are the 2-13 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, scheduled to on Sunday meet the NC South’s third position team, the 5-9 N.O. Saints.

            Within the American conference, and at the very top and also best in the NFL as the end of 2014 regulation approaches, are the AC East’s leading franchise, the 12-3 N.E. Patriots, close behind them the AC West’s number one team, the 11-4 Denver Broncos, playoff-billeted in spite of the Broncos 37-28 loss last night to the AC North’s leading franchise, the now 10-4 Cincinnati Bengals.

Atop the AC South are the 10-5 Indianapolis Colts, two wins ahead of second place team, the 8-7 Houston Texans.

Sunday will see the Patriots against the AC East’s third place 8-7 Buffalo Bills, also the Broncos versus the AC West’s last place team, the 3-12 Oakland Raiders, while the Bengals will face the AC North’s second place 10-5 Pittsburgh Steelers, same day the Colts meeting the AC’s and AC South’s last position team, the 2-13 Tennessee Titans.

            The current best edge among division leading teams over a second place franchise belongs to the AC East’s Patriots, three wins atop the 8-7 Miami Dolphins. On Sunday, the Dolphins will face the AC East’s last place team, the 3-12 N.Y. Jets.

Of the remaining seven division leading teams, four have the same number of wins as the team directly behind them, the Seahawks (Cardinals), the Lions (Packers), the Panthers (Falcons) and the Bengals (Steelers), which from losses on Sunday could finish the regular season tied with number two teams re. number of season victories.

The three other division leading franchises (Cowboys, Broncos, the Colts) are two wins atop their respective second position franchises, therefore guaranteed division leading status at season’s end even if they lose their Sunday matches.

            So, for three of the eight divisions on Sunday, contention at the top will be tight, in that the AC North’s 10-4 Bengals and 10-5 Steelers will face one another for division leadership, so, too, the NC North’s 11-4 Lions versus the 11-4 Packers and the NC South 6-8 Panthers vs. the 6-9 Falcons.

            NBA---SEVEN of the 30 NBA franchises have won 20 or more of the NBA-2014/15 games that each has been scheduled to finish by mid-April 2015, when playoffs commence. That’s roughly one fourth of the 82 games that every NBA team encounters during regulation. This rate of wins over losses---and not one of the seven has lost more than seven games to date---, can surely carry each into playoff opportunities. Best among the seven are the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division’s 22-7 Toronto Raptors and their nine game edge over second place team, the 11-15 Brooklyn Nets, also the Western Conference Pacific’s 22-3 Golden State Warriors being four wins above the 19-9 L.A. Clippers, and the WC Northwest’s 22-7 Portland Trail Blazers, eight wins atop the 13-15 Oklahoma City Thunder.

            Presently, 15 of the 30 NBA franchises are below .500, 11 of which are under .400. Of the 15 below .500 teams, nine are from the EC, six from the WC, and within a single EC Division, the EC Atlantic, all but the leading team, the .759 Raptors, are below .500, and within a single WC division, the WC’s Northwest, all but the leading team, the .759 Trail Blazers, are below .500, last the 5-9/.192 Minnesota Timberwolves.

Only one division, the WC’s Southwest, can say that all five teams are above .500. Lowest team in the NBA right now, that’s the EC Atlantic’s 3-23/.115 Philadelphia 76ers.

            Struggling at or barely above .500 today are three teams, the EC Central’s 14-14/.500 Milwaukee Bucks, the WC Southwest’s 14-13/.519 Phoenix Suns, and the WC Pacific’s 15-14/.517 Phoenix Suns.

            It makes sense that of the 30 franchises, half would be at the losing end, which doesn’t mean that the wide inequality among teams within the losing side must be as it is. The league’s losing teams aren’t just losing, they are losing BIG, and they are drifting “widely apart.” Ugh, nine of the 15 below .500 teams are below .400, of that there are four that are below .200!

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NFL: Week 16’s Possible Outcomes;Broncos versus Bengals, Seahawks vs. Cardinals // NBA: Nuggets, Nets, Spurs & the Mavericks.

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 each week. Ed., Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner.  

NFL--- OF THE eight NFL-2014 teams of 32 that at Week 16 have double-digit wins, three are leading their respective divisions from 11-4 records. They are the National Conference West’s 11-4 Arizona Cardinals, American Conference East’s11-4 N.E. Patriots, the AC West’s 11-4 Denver Broncos.

The remaining five teams with double-digit wins are at 10-4 each, three of them also division leading franchises---the 10-4 NC East’s Dallas Cowboys, 10-4 NC South’s Detroit Lions, and the AC South’s 10-4 Indianapolis Colts. Two of the five 10-4’s, then, are second place teams---the NC West’s 10-4 Seattle Seahawks and the 10-4 Green Bay Packers, which could reverse position and be division number ones should the Seahawks defeat the Cardinals on Sunday and the Packers take down the now NC South’s last place team, the 2-12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (most likely), meanwhile the Lions losing to the NC North’s last place 5-8 Chicago Bears (not likely).

Another shaky division lead exists for the NC East’s 10-4 Cowboys, they’ve but a single win above the NC East’s 9-5 Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys will be facing the 10-4 Colts on Sunday, odds favoring the Colts, while the 9-5 Eagles have a better than fair shot at defeating the NC East’s last place 3-11 Washington Redskins on Saturday.

And, the season’s final week could see the NC South’s leading team, the now 5-8 Carolina Panthers, and the now 5-8 N.O. saints still tied for first should the Panthers defeat the AC North’s last place 7-7 Cleveland Browns on Sunday and the Saints take down the NC South’s now third place 5-9 Atlanta Falcons, or both of the NC South’s leading teams lose on Sunday and the Falcons jump to first place from being 6-9.

Tenuous within the AC is the lead held by the AC North’s 9-4 Cincinnati Bengals over second place team, the 9-5 Pittsburgh Steelers. On Monday night, the Bengals will meet the 11-3 Denver Broncos, which has a three game lead atop the AC West’s second place team, the 8-6 K.C. Chiefs and so can afford to lose to the Bengals re. its division number one slot “but the Broncos surely want a playoff first round Bye from a Week 16 win,” while a Bengals loss and a Steelers defeat of the Chiefs on Sunday could settle the Steelers into the AC North’s lead position.

A likely Patriots win over the N.Y. Jets could place the Patriots at the top of the AC if the Broncos lose to the Bengals, the Patriots then having a four game lead within the AC East over the Buffalo Bills should the latter lose to the AC West’s weakest team, the 2-12 Oakland Raiders that are yearning and burning for a win so as not to finish the season last among the league’s 32 franchises.

Broncos, Bengals; Seahawks, Cardinals---SEVERAL pundits and analysts could go snooty, smug, smart-alecky, if, as they predicted at the start of NFL-2014 regulation, the AC West’s 11-3 Denver Broncos and the NC West’s 10-4 Seattle Seahawks obtain conference crowns in January, 2015, and Super Bowl slots therefrom.

Some pundits are saying now that the Broncos don’t have to defeat the AC North’s 9-4 Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night for a division or conference crown to be theirs, yet doing so could mean a first round playoff Bye for the Broncos, which is the easier road toward a conference championship, although a likely Broncos match vs. the N.E. Patriots for that to be is in the brewing, which will be tough going for either team.

The Bengals, well, they want a defeat of the Broncos from desperation, in that the Bengals could lose division supremacy to the AC North’s 9-5 Pittsburgh Steelers should the Steelers defeat the AC West’s second place 8-6 K.C. Chiefs on Sunday and the Bengals lose to the Broncos.

So, Monday night’s Broncos/Bengals match has significant drama regarding order of standings, but also because it’s been touted that the game will remain close. Lots of high rollers are seeing either team capable of winning but by a mere three to six or seven points, largely because of their placing weight on comparisons falsely, for comparisons can be deceptive, for instance, while the Broncos receivers can claim 37 TD’s accrued to date compared with the Bengals 16, the latter team can claim 18 rushing TD’s alongside the Broncos 11. That said, within the Broncos last four games it was the Broncos running strategies that led them to locations from which Broncos receiver TD’s could occur. The Broncos rush tactics could be as effective as those of the Bengals today, while QB Manning’s pass completions for the season exceeds that of the Bengals QB, Andy Dalton, greatly, 346 for 4,143 yards and 313 first downs vs. Dalton’s 265 for 3,008 yards and 274 first downs.

Add that when the Bengals lose, they lose big, the least number of points allowed a winning opposing team this year being 24 to the Cleveland Browns, meanwhile giving away 43 to the Patriots, 42 to the Steelers and 37 to the Panthers. The Broncos have defeated better teams than the four that the Bengals have lost to, and during the Broncos last three games the team’s defense allowed no more than 16, 17 and 10 points respectively.

Yes, the Bengals humiliated the Brown last week, 30-zip, but in a loss to the Indianapolis Colts the Bengals were zero against 27 points, and vs. the Browns during Week 10 the Bengals lost, 24-3.

As for the Seahawks and Cardinals match on Sunday, the Seahawks hadn’t the better season start compared with that of the Cardinals, but catch-up since Week 8 has included seven Seahawks wins above only one loss, not one of the losing teams able to score more than 20 points against the Seahawks, the one loss being a giveaway of 24 to the Chiefs.

And, during Week 12 the Seahawks defeated the Cardinals, 19-3.

Too, the Seahawks are superior to the Cardinals re. running game TD’s, 16 over 6, and the Seahawks are behind the Cardinals in receiver TD’s by just a single digit, 18 vs. the Cardinals 19.

The above noted, we’re going with the Broncos defeating the Bengals by seven or more, and a Seahawks knockdown of the Cardinals by seven or more.

Of course, football is not just about the numbers, no amount of data can guarantee a future NFL outcome exactly.

NBA---FOUR NBA franchises, the Denver Nuggets, Brooklyn Nets, San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks have been middle of the rankings when having exhibited reasons to be closer to the top within their respective conferences and divisions, and while there’s no way of knowing if either will surge forward and land higher within the NBA-2014/15 rankings, should each remain as they are now, that is, if each maintains the same rate of wins over losses, it’s unlikely that any will own a playoff slot come mid-April 2015, when regulation ends.

Right now, neither of the four NBA teams cited here is higher than third position within a division. Using the Nuggets as being representative of the four, the team is now at 10 wins over 15 losses, which means the Nuggets have finished playing 25 NBA 2014/15 games, more than a fourth of the season’s 82 games.

Winning 10 of the next 25 contests puts the Nuggets at 20 over 30, and winning 10 of the next 25 places the Nuggets at 30-45, with only seven games left on the team’s schedule. Even winning the season’s final seven games keeps the Nuggets very hard put to achieve a post-season billet.

Should the same fate re. rankings infect the other NBA teams listed here, the end-of-season outcomes for them, that is, for the now 10-14 Nets, 17-9 Spurs and 19-8 Mavericks, won’t be enough for post-season appearances. If this doesn’t seem so for the Spurs and the Mavericks, note that the two teams are competing within divisions where the first and second place teams have already accumulated 21 and 19 wins over four and six losses respectively and they, too, can maintain a status-quo or progress further.

But the above is commentary, speculation. It’s quite possible that with 57 games left in the season the Nuggets, Nets, Spurs and Mavericks could leap ahead and look back on current win/loss data as prelude to better days, to numbers underscoring post-season candidacies, e.g., the Mavericks may have reinforced for the standings by acquiring guard Rondo recently from the Celtics, a formidable addition to an already effective line-up of NBA starters.

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NFL: Week 16, soon the playoffs // Broncos 22, Chargers 10; the Manziel Disapointment.

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 each week. Ed., Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner.  

NFL---NFL-2014 is about to be history and yet a few changes could occur at the top of the National Conference standings during Week 16, for instance, the 11-3 Arizona Cardinals losing to the 10-4 Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night places the two in a tie for conference and division best, while on Monday night an American Conference North’s 9-4 Cincinnati Bengals loss to the now 11-3 AC West’s Denver Broncos, and an AC North 9-5 Pittsburgh Steelers beatdown of the AC West’s 8-6 K.C. Chiefs, positions the Steelers atop the AC North.

And, should the NC East’s current number one, the 10-4 Dallas Cowboys, lose on Sunday to the AC South’s top team, the 10-4 Indianapolis Colts after a NC East’s number two 8-5 Philadelphia Eagles crushing of the NC East’s 3-11 Washington Redskins on Saturday, the Eagles will regain the NC East lead.

Too, atop the NC North today are the 10-4 Detroit Lions and the 10-4 Green Bay Packers. Respective wins or losses for the two during Week 16 won’t change that, but the Packers have a better chance at the win from Sunday’s challenge versus the NC South’s 2-10 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, than the Lions have vs. the NC North’s 5-8 Chicago Bears on Sunday.

As if a division isolated from what the rest of the NFL can accomplish in a season, there’s the NC South, not even leading teams the 5-8 Carolina Panthers and 5-8 N.O. Saints, above .500---they are .393 and .385.    

The AC is not as open as the NC for turnabouts at the top. The AC West’s 11-3 Broncos, the AC East’s 11-3 N.E. Patriots and the AC North’s 10-4 Indianapolis Colts can afford to lose their Week 16 contests, since each has a three game lead over a second place team. The Broncos will be facing the Bengals, the one AC division leading team that from a loss on Sunday could give way to a now second place franchise, the Steelers, should the latter crush the Chiefs on Sunday, meanwhile the Patriots probably defeating the now NC East last place 3-11 N.Y. Jets.

Broncos, Chargers---THE Denver Broncos 22-10 win over the S.D. Chargers was further evidence that the former has a hard-to-stop running game and a consistently crushing defense, and a QB who can make up for shortfalls in pass and red zone-to-TD opportunities by making the conservative choice, the FG attempt, and having the support of a kicker who doesn’t miss.

Some effective Broncos passing was still in the mix with those repeated RB C.J. Anderson gains in yardage, notably the one Broncos TD from a pass received by WR Demaryius Thomas, though the game’s highlight will remain QB Peyton Manning bringing his offense squad within range of the FG’s that kept insuring a Broncos victory, this as response to points put on the board by the Chargers.

But key to what could be a Broncos win over the Cincinnati Bengals this coming Monday is a Broncos defense that kept the Chargers to 10 points, and kept the Buffalo Bills to 17 during the week before, and the Chiefs to 16 week before that.

Manziel---TIM Tebow, RGIII, now Johnny Manziel, college QB’s of great promise tanking in the NFL---they have not been the only star athletes losing their mojo so quickly in the NFL, and in mists of humiliation so thick it can seem like glue that won’t go away.

Which underscores several questions, for example, Why has the divide between college stardom and even a modest form of NFL rookie success between so difficult for these athletes to cross?

Is there a bridge they missed seeing?

Have some ugly personality flaws and/or absent skill-sets been in their way?

Has some PR exec made the mistake of building expectations of the new guy that not even the best of the best could reach in any professional sport?

Has a public too eager for there to be superstars in their city caused the unreachable expectation, a set-up for failure?

And, could blame rest with NFL team management, with an HC and assistant coaches disliking the time and attention placed on rookies touted as incoming saviors, often a distraction from next-season preparation, and how about some teammates who weren’t anywhere near early picks from college now resenting the incoming star?

So, where’s the snake, or snakes, that have been living in the grass? One indication has been obvious: come into the NFL super-cocky and you’ll sooner than later be dead meat, same result from exhibitions of humility so obviously showbiz that viewers and teammates might want to vomit repeatedly.

Too, the one or two top defenders of an opposing team that a star college QB has to face on a Saturday, with the remaining defenders being marginal, well, those one or two are every defender that the QB faces in any NFL game, oops! Bengals 30, Manziel’s Browns zero, zip, Nada!

But those other factors listed here, to what degree can they hammer away and pull the air out from under a rookie of promise? This is something that the NFL should explore with great seriousness. Maybe there are ladders that the fallen star can still climb, reaching highest potential. Perhaps with imposed corrections the next top athlete transitioning from college to professional football can give more, be more, can succeed.

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NFL: Week 15; Broncos vs. Chargers // NBA: Current Standings; Nuggets & the Week Ahead

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 each week. Ed., Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner.  

NFL---NO division leading franchise will play another during NFL-2014’s Week 15, limiting likelihood of dramatic changes among the eight number ones for the approach to Week 16. The National Conference West’s number one team, the now 11-3 Arizona Cardinals, began the week last night with a win over the NC West’s last place 6-8 St. Louis Rams, and on Sunday the American Conference North’s leading team, the 8-4 Cincinnati Bengals, will probably crush the AC North’s last place 7-6 Cleveland Browns during the same afternoon, while on Sunday the NC North’s 9-3 Green Bay Packers are expected to defeat the AC East’s third place team, the 7-6 Buffalo Bills.

Still, the NC South’s 5-7 Atlanta Falcons are scheduled to go up against AC North’s 8-5 Pittsburgh Steelers, a game that can go either way. For example, if the Falcons lose to the Steelers and the NC South’s 5-6 N.O. Saints prevail over the NC North’s last place 5-8 Chicago Bears on Monday night, then the Saints will rise above the Falcons and occupy AC South’s number one slot.

And four division leading teams will be facing franchises that are directly behind them in the standings----NC East’s 9-4 Philadelphia Eagles vs. the 9-4 Dallas Cowboys; AC East’s 10-3 N.E. Patriots against the 7-6 Miami Dolphins; 10-3 Denver Broncos vs. the 8-5 San Diego Chargers; AC South’s 9-4 Indianapolis Colts vs. the 7-6 Houston Texans, but only the Eagles vs. Cowboys match can reverse which will be on top of the NC East for Week 16, in that the other has leads of two or more won games to date.           Also at the edge of reversal are the 8-4 Bengals should the 8-5 Steelers defeat the 5-7 Falcons on Sunday.

            As to the 11-3 Cardinals maintaining supremacy, much will depend on Week 15’s NC West’s 9-4 Seahawks vs. the 7-6 S.F. 49ers match. The Seahawks could win this and then face and defeat the Cardinals during Week 16, causing a NC West tie at first position.

Now let’s call it a set-up for vengeance: the Patriots lose two of its next three, and Seattle wins its next three and finishes the season atop the Cardinals, while the Broncos complete the season at 13-3. Post-season seedings then favor the Broncos and the Seahawks, the Broncos soon get their chance to defeat the Patriots for the AC crown and next take down the Seahawks at the February 2015 Super Bowl.

But success occurs when realities and rational expectations for them marry up, and right now, even at Week 15, no-one can be certain of what all of the realities are.

            Broncos, Chargers---EVEN in three of its eight wins, the S.D. Chargers defense has allowed 21 or more points to an opposing team, and during three of its five losses the Chargers defense gave away 37, 35 (to the Broncos, Week 8) and 23, while the Broncos defense has allowed no more than 26 but once during the current season, this alone signaling possibility of another Broncos victory over the Chargers.  

Moreover, the Broncos receivers have accrued 36 TD’s since Week 1, from rushing 11 TD’s, vs. the Chargers 26 and five. Also, of the Chargers eight season wins, only one of them has been against a team rated high within the standings, a 30-21 victory vs. the Seahawks, Week 2.

Other game categories favor the Broncos for Sunday, as well, but not with great significance, 3,923 passing yards over the Chargers 3,417, 295 first downs above the Chargers 257.

Likely to keep the Chargers in the game will be its QB Philip Rivers-led offense, if the Denver defense regresses from performance factors of the Broncos last two games. Rivers isn’t far behind QB Peyton Manning when it comes to achievements, his pass completion rating is slightly better than Manning’s to date, 68.5 percent over Manning’s 66.9.

            NBA---A fourth of the NBA-2014/15 season is now over, and so metaphorically a first lap of four around a track has played out, with only one of 30 NBA franchises close to the 20 games won of the 82 to be completed by each team by mid-April, 2015. The distinction belongs to the Western Conference’s leading team, the WC Pacific Division’s leading franchise, the 19-2 Golden State Warriors, now above second place team, the 16-5 L.A. Clippers. Second best in the WC and leading the WC Southwest are the 17-4 Memphis Grizzlies, atop the second place 16-5 Houston Rockets. Third best within the WC and leading the WC Northwest are the 17-5 Portland Trail Blazers, seven wins above second place team, the 10-12 Denver Nuggets.

            Within the Eastern Conference, the EC Atlantic Division’s number one team, the 16-6 Toronto Raptors, have the lead, behind them the EC Atlantic’s 8-12 Brooklyn Nets. Leading the EC Southeast, that’s the 15-6 Atlanta Hawks and 15-6 Washington Wizards, and atop the EC Central are the 13-8 Cleveland Cavaliers and 13-8 Chicago Bulls.

            Only the WC Northwest’s Trail Blazers and the EC Atlantic’s Toronto Raptors have comfortable leads, seven wins above a number two team respectively. Within the WC Southwest, the differences between first and next to last team is only one game, to wit; fourth place team, the 17-7 Dallas Mavericks, has won as many games as number one the 17-4 Grizzlies.

            Nuggets---OF the 11 of 15 Western Conference teams that have accrued double-digit wins to date, the 10-12/.455 Denver Nuggets rank 11th. It is still in second place within the WC Northwest, but by only one win above the 9-13 Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that’s improved steadily in recent days and just defeated the Eastern Conference Central’s leading team, the 13-8 Cleveland Cavaliers, 103-94. Another winning streak is essential now for the Nuggets, if this team is to have some assurance of a post-season slot.

            Given the Nuggets coaching staff and team roster, that they are below .500 surprises. The Nuggets usual starters have more than a dozen years of professional basketball experience combined, nearly each having played for more than one NBA team, and all can claim double-digit ppg. Only one of its five straight wins of last month can be said to have been won against an easy to defeat franchise---two of the five wins were versus first place teams, and on December 10th the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat, 102-82.

The next five games up for the Nuggets are vs. credible organizations but none that can force the Nuggets further down in the standings easily. Nuggets HC Brian Shaw and his playmakers need to recover that fusion of skills that made the November winning streak possible---the next five games, win or lose, could be the right set for whatever experimentation might lead to that.

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NFL: Week 14, Analysis; Broncos Defeat Bills // NBA: Standings; Nuggets, Down Again

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 each week. Ed., Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner.  

NFL---ON Sunday, the National Conference West’s Arizona Cardinals and the American Conference West’s Denver Nuggets and AC East’s N.E. Patriots became the first NFL-2014 teams to accrue double digit wins, they are 10 wins and three losses each, while three of the remaining five NFL division leading teams have now obtained nine wins as they head toward Week 15’s match-ups---the NC North’s 9-3 Green Bay Packers, NC East’s 9-4 Philadelphia Eagles and the AC South’s 9-4 Indianapolis Colts. Leading NC South still are the 5-7 Atlanta Falcons, and atop the AC North it’s the 8-4 Cincinnati Bengals.

            Yet significant edges among division leading teams has continued to be rare this year. From Week 14, the best lead belongs to the Patriots, three wins atop the AC East’s second position 7-6 Miami Dolphins. Behind four of the division leading franchises are second place teams that have won the same number of games to date, while all other division leading teams are no more than one or two wins ahead of their respective second place teams.

            Meanwhile, 13 of the 32 NFL franchises are below .500, six of these under .250 not having won more than two or three games since the season began. Nine of the 13 are within the NC, four of the nine being of the same division, the NC South. Only one division can boast of each member team being above. 500, the AC North, at its bottom the 7-6 Cleveland Browns, which has more wins and fewer losses than the NC South’s leading franchise, the 5-7 Falcons.

The gap between winners and losers is indeed wide as NFL-2014 regulation nears its end, although five NC division number two teams have the same number of wins as the team above. These five could be leading their divisions after next week’s games---the NC West’s 9-4 Seattle Seahawks, NC East’s 9-4 Dallas Cowboys, NC North’s 9-4 Detroit Lions and NC South’s 5-8 N.O. Saints. Within the AC, the AC North’s 8-5 Pittsburgh Steelers are the only team to have the same number of wins as the leading franchise, the 8-4 Bengals.

The upshot, then, is that Week 15 could comprise several reversals of fortune.

Broncos, Bills---THE Broncos 24-17 defeat of the Buffalo Bills addressed an unexpected and favorable exploitation of Broncos assets, QB Peyton Manning releasing  control frequently to those who could run the football forward as if it were practice day, he the quiet trainer handing off opportunities to RB C.J. Anderson who’d run for three TD’s, no-one of the opposition capable of stopping him.

Anyone who watched Sunday’s Broncos only to see Manning throw TD passes bought disappointment. The Broncos win was ground-dominant, Manning a silent non-flamboyant catalyst. This was by design, it wasn’t a last minute “Hey, Bro’, take a breather” from HC John Fox, let the earth-beaters do the work for a change,” it was Manning leading from behind, so to speak, controlling an offense that into the fourth Q led the Bills 24-3.

Of course, much credit has to go to the Broncos defense, though it dissipated some in the last Q. The Bills led the Broncos in nearly every game advantage category, time of possession, first downs, total yards gained, except for the Broncos 29 rushing plays that purchased 133 yards and three TD’s vs. the Bills 16 for 74 and the one Bills rushed-for TD, but until that last quarter surge for points, and an earlier field goal, the Broncos defense kept the Bills investments in a mostly passing game from yielding dividends, for the sixth time this year forcing an opposing team to stay below 20 points by endgame, in all cases the Broncos offense seven or more points ahead.

NBA---THE Eastern Conference Atlantic Division’s 16-5 Toronto Raptors are leading both conference and division but as of today are fifth within the full league, in that the Western Conference Pacific Division’s 18-2 Golden State Warriors are at the top of the full league, followed by the WC Northwest’s 16-4 Portland Trail Blazers, the WC Southwest’s 16-4 Houston Rockets and 16-4 Memphis Grizzlies. Ten other NBA teams can also claim double digit wins, all second or third place holders division-wide, and nine NBA teams are above .700, sustaining the wide gap between winning and losing NBA franchises.

But except for two leading teams, the Raptors and the Trail Blazers having seven game leads over their respective second place franchises, the leads held by first place teams within divisions is quite fragile, in some cases a tie re. number of wins, or a lead from just one game, e.g., the EC Central being led by the 12-7 Cleveland Cavaliers, the Chicago Bills directly behind them, 12-8.

Still feeding at the bottom are the EC Atlantic’s Philadelphia 76ers, 2-18 and the EC Centrals’ Detroit Pistons, 3-18.

Nuggets---GIVEN tactics that won games for the Nuggets before a recent road trip and four straight losses, one has to apply some blame for the downfall on injuries that have kept guards Randy Foye and Nate Robinson and forward Kenneth Faried from court time. The Nuggets have slid below .500, current record 9-12. This has put excess strain on guard Ty Lawson and forward Danilo Gallinari, both prone to injury. Too, the four losses weren’t to beneath-the-margin teams, the Nuggets lost to the Raptors 112-107, an OT loss, by the way. Other hard matches were vs. the Trail Blazers, the Washington Wizards and the Atlanta Hawks, first and second place division teams, all above .600 as of now. Many NBA teams lack sufficient depth for the worst case injury scenario, that is, they haven’t enough back-up for best players suddenly on a disabled list. The Nuggets are one of these teams.

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NFL: Week 14, Pivotal or Status-Quo? // Broncos Vs. Bills.

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 each week. Ed., Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner.  

NFL---IN the race for end-of-season NFL division leadership, the 9-3 Arizona Cardinals have it for Week 14 within the NFL National Conferences West, but only by one win over the NC West’s second place 8-4 Seattle Seahawks.

But---if the Cardinals lose to the American Conference West’s 7-5 K.C. Chiefs on Sunday, and the Seahawks defeat the NC East’s leading team, the 9-3 Philadelphia Eagles, during the same afternoon, the Seahawks will then tie with the Cardinals for NFL West leadership.

A similar situation exists inside the NC East, the number one team, the Eagles, being 9-3 and the NC East’s 8-4 Dallas Cowboys at number two after crushing the NC North’s Chicago Bears last night, 41-28, though an Eagles win over the Seahawks on Sunday could sustain the Eagles current division lead.

Meanwhile, the 9-4 Green Bay Packers own the NC North’s number one slot, only a win above the 8-4 Detroit Lions.

Should the Packers drop to the NC South’s number one franchise, the 5-7 Atlanta Falcons, on Monday night, and the Cowboys beat the Eagles during Week 15, the Falcons will stay atop the NC South yet tied still with the currently 5-7 N.O. Saints should the latter defeat the NC South’s 3-8 and third place Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

It’s not much different within the AC.

The AC West’s Broncos are division number one and 9-3 above the 8-4 S.D. Chargers. There could be a tie at AC West’s first position if on Sunday the Broncos lose to the AC East’s fourth place team, the 7-5 Buffalo Bills, and if the Chargers triumph over the AC East’s number one team, the 9-3 N.E. Patriots.

The Patriots now have the best AC division leading edge, two wins above AC East’s 7-5 Miami Dolphins.

AC North’s race is closer, the 8-3 Cincinnati Bengals being one win over the 7-5 Baltimore Ravens.

And, the AC South’s leading franchise, the 8-4 Indianapolis Colts, they are two wins ahead of the 6-6 Houston Texans.   

Note that the NC South is the only NFL division led by a team that has a below .500 record---417. That’s no more NFL-2014 won games than those purchased by the NC West’s last place team, the 5-7/.417 St. Louis Rams, and no more wins than accrued by the NC North’s last place team, the 5-8/.387 Chicago Bears.

But which of the above will emerge from Week 14 as division leading franchises?

Given the win/loss records of all teams competing on Sunday, a Week 14 supporting the status quo appears likely for much of the league, in that the NC’s top division leading franchise, the Cardinals, will probably defeat the Chiefs on Sunday, and the AC’s number one division leading team, the Patriots, will likely defeat the Chargers. And, yes, the Philadelphia Eagles can own a knockdown versus the Seahawks, but if it happens it probably won’t be apparent until the game’s final minutes. Also, a Packers win over the Falcons seems likely, as does a Lions defeat of the NC South’s last place 2-10 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Yet the Saints could win vs. the Panthers on Sunday, positioning the Saints as NC South’s leading team, 6-7 above the Falcons should the latter lose to the Packers on Monday.

Moreover, a Broncos win on Sunday vs. the Bills is expected, so, too, the Bengals taking down the AC North’s 7-5 Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, while analysts predict a Colts win over the AC North’s 7-5 Cleveland Browns.

So, division standings at the top won’t look very different as Week 15 approaches.

Broncos, Bills---THERE are numerous ways to back an opinion that the Denver Broncos will defeat the Buffalo Bills during Week 14. You can begin with names, Broncos QB Peyton Manning, WR”s Julius and Demaryius Thomas and Wes Welker, RB’s C.J. Anderson, Ronnie Hillman, the pass rush masters Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware.

Or, you could point to the Broncos being 9-3, the Bills 7-5 and the fact that the Broncos have this year defeated six of the teams that the Bills have defeated or lost to, to include the AC West’s third place 7-5 K.C. Chiefs twice.

In addition, eight of the Broncos nine wins ended with the offense accruing more than 30 points, four of which were 41 or higher, in all cases the opposition unable to score half of that. This has happened only twice for the Bills.

Also, the Broncos have received for 36 TD’s to date, the Bills but 18, and the Broncos have rushed the ball for eight TD’s, the Bills, five.

Too, QB Manning has completed more than 315 passes Week 1 through 13, Bills QB, Kyle Orton, 187. Manning has passed successfully for more than 3,700 yards, Orton for around 2,000.

The most points given away in a single game by the Broncos this season has been to the AC East’s 9-3 N.E. Patriots, 43, Week 9, all other games 26 and less. The most points allowed an opposing team by the Bills has been 37, also to the Patriots, Week 6, and remaining games saw a much lower Bills allotment of points to opposing teams, indicating a Bills defense that isn’t going to go limp and allow the Manning-led offense to stomp all over them continually on Sunday. A Broncos humiliating killing leaving the Bills with a huge deficit is probably not in the cards, especially if the Bills defense can keep the Broncos under, say, 27 points, as the Bills have been able to do (win or lose) in most of its games since September.

A rational pick, Broncos, 24, Bills, 16.

End/ml   

NFL: Week 13, Analysis; Broncos Defeat Chiefs, 26-16 // NBA: the Unexpected.

sports-notebook.blogspot.com . . . Dec. 2 // 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 each week. Ed., Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner.  

NFL---DURING NFL-2014’s Week 13, the National Conference South’s now 5-7 Atlanta Falcons lifted to division first place from a surprising 29-18 win over the previous week’s league-wide and NC number one franchise, the NC West’s 9-3 Arizona Cardinals, but the Falcons are but tied at NC South’s first slot with the 5-7 N.O. Saints. The NC West’s Cardinals are still atop the NFL, but now tied with the NC East’s number one franchise, the 9-3 Philadelphia Eagles and the NC North’s leading team, the 9-3 Green Bay Packers.

On Thursday, the Eagles began Week 13 by defeating the team it was tied at first place with, now second position team the NC East’s 8-4 Dallas Cowboys, and the Packers moved ahead by beating the American Conference East’s 9-3 N.E. Patriots on Sunday, 26-21.

Yet from Week 13’s results the AC is still led by the N.E. Patriots, but now sharing the position with the AC West’s leading team, the 9-3 Denver Broncos, which on Sunday crushed the AC West’s third place 7-5 K.C. Chiefs.

Within the NC, then, three of the conference’s four Week 12 division leading teams are the leading teams from Week 13, with the NC South’s Falcons move into first position being the exception. Moreover, from the AC’s Week 13 outcomes compared with those of Week 12 we could say the same re. the AC, in that the AC North is still led by the 8-3 Cincinnati Bengals and the AC South still by the 8-4 Indianapolis Colts, in addition to the AC East’s Patriots and AC West’s Broncos still leading their divisions and the AC-entire.

Suggested at first glance, then, is that during Week 13 there was little change at the top of the NFL’s eight divisions.

Not so!

It is significant change at the top that has characterized Week 13.

For instance, three teams are now holding the NC’s number one spot, and two teams are tied for the AC’s leading position, with no division leading team within either conference having a commanding lead over teams in second place. Today, the only two-game leads above second position teams belong to the Patriots above the 7-5 Buffalo Bills, and the Colts above the 6-6 Houston Texans---all other division leading franchises are but one game above the franchise directly behind.

And addressing the possibility of more change in the next two weeks and the start of NFL-2014’s playoffs are Week 13’s upsets, the Falcons having defeated the Cardinals, and the Patriots having lost to the Packers.

Too, the NC West’s now second place 8-4 Seattle Seahawks 19-3 defeat on Thursday versus the NC West’s now 7-5 S.F. 49ers reflects the possibility of a not too late surge from the Seahawks for division leadership and for that shot at another post-season billet.

Also, the Broncos now being tied with the Patriots for the top AC slot after its Sunday victory vs. the Chiefs, such speaks to the possibility of another Broncos/Patriots duel for the AC championship and, yes, for another Broncos/Seahawks SB if the Seahawks can leap ahead of, and then defeat, the Cardinals while besting the Eagles and Packers from the latter two failing to win upcoming matches.

But there’s a sudden glitch for the Broncos, that of the AC West’s San Diego Chargers having moved up to second from third position within the AC West after a Sunday 34-33 defeat of the AC North’s second place team, the 7-5 Baltimore Ravens, the Chargers now just one win behind the Broncos.

As to Week 13’s top routing, an award for such would go to the NC West’s 5-7 St. Louis Rams having crushed the AC West’s 1-11 Oakland Raiders on Sunday, 52-0.

Broncos, Chiefs--- SOMETIMES the role of a QB is not to be Sunday’s hero but to exploit field situations so that others can have that distinction, which is how it went during a Denver Broncos Sunday defeat of the K.C. Chiefs, 29-16, from Broncos QB Peyton Manning trusting Broncos RB C.J. Anderson for delivery of 168 yards and a TD, WR DeMaryius Thomas for 68 yards + TD, and Broncos kicker Connor Barth providing three field goals, this while Manning completed 17 of 34 pass attempts, compared with the better completion record of Chiefs QB Alex Smith’s 15 of 23 attempts. Still, Manning’s CP’s were for 179 yards gained and 21 first downs, while Smith’s CP’s accrued 151 yards and but 11 first downs.

And, QB Manning going for the running game more than for the pass tactic, it paid off immensely---214 rushing yards from 45 rushing plays, vs. the Chiefs 45 rushing yards gained.

Also, observers rarely notice the feat of sustaining time of possession while a game proceeds, which a superb QB can extend, e.g., the Broncos offense accrued nearly 39 minutes of ball possession compared with the Chiefs less than 22 minutes of possession.

We could say safely from the data, then, that QB Manning was the game’s fourth hero, though quietly, and there’s something heroic about making others the day’s stars.

Now appears a fifth Broncos star, a collective, the Broncos defense, which held the Chiefs to points under 22, so necessary it now seems in seven of the Broncos nine 2014 wins to date, in five of those seven to 17 points and below.   

NBA---TWELVE of NBA-2014/15’s 30 competing teams have double-digit wins after five weeks of play, the NBA Western Conference Southwest Division’s Memphis Grizzlies atop the list with 15 wins over two losses, the WC’s Pacific Division’s leading team, the Golden State Warriors, second with 14 over two, while 12 teams have less than half that number of wins, two of them less than half of seven wins, one franchise at zero, the 0-17 Philadelphia Eagles.

Reflected today is much inequality among teams above and below .500, though some surges upward from the bottom and the middle seem to be occurring, for example, the Denver Nuggets have been back from a losing streak to occupy second position within the WC Northwest at 9-8, finally above .500 and behind WC Northwest first place team, the 14-4 Portland Trail Blazers, which the Nuggets will face this evening, hoping to join the double-digit wins club.

And though 5-12 and below .500, the WC Northwest’s OKC Thunder have risen from the division’s very bottom to third position behind the Nuggets, but there’s been no forward jump for teams expected to be higher in the standings, e.g., for the Eastern Conference Central Division’s Cleveland Cavaliers. Thought in October and November to exhibit a leap-ahead start from the LeBron James return, the Cavaliers are currently 8-7 and division third.

Nor have the Miami Heat, the N.Y. Knicks and the Indiana Pacers, each of sustained leadership last season, reached double-digit wins yet, which last year’s NBA number one team, the WC’s Southwest San Antonio Spurs have reached, now 13 over four, tied at second with the Houston Rockets, two wins back of the Grizzlies.

END/ml