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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
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