NFL: WEEK 4, OUTCOMES; PACKERS VS. VIKINGS, THURSDAY // "the NOTEBOOK"

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: WEEK 4, OUTCOMES; PACKERS VS. VIKINGS ON THURSDAY // “the NOTEBOOK” . . . NFL, WEEK 4---SIX of the 32 NFL franchises have won three of four NFL-2014 games, the NC East’s Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys, the NC Central’s Detroit Lions, the AC West’s S.D. Chargers, AC North’s Baltimore Ravens and the AC South’s Houston Texans. Two other franchises are at 3-0, the NC West’s Arizona Cardinals, and the AC North’s Cincinnati Bengals. Of these eight franchises, six are division leaders; the two that aren’t and holding second place within their respective divisions are the Cowboys and the Ravens. At the other end of the spectrum today are the AC West’s 0-4 Oakland Raiders and the 0-4 Jacksonville Jaguars. Also, 10 franchises are at 2-2, an odd outcome being that the 2-2 Buffalo Bills are atop the AC East and the 2-2 Atlanta Falcons are leading the NC South while the NC North’s 2-2 Chicago Bears are at last place. Remaining teams at the bottom of their divisions have won but a single game across Week 4, the NC West’s St. Louis Rams, NC East’s Washington Redskins, the NC South’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. . . As NFL-2014 Week 5 stares from a close distance, as NFL executives attempt to recapture dignity off the field post-Ray Rice/Adrian Peterson, the league afield is dignified enough, 22 teams now at or above .500. Puzzling is that many of the big market teams have reflected dull season starts, N.E. Patriots, S.F. 49ers, Redskins, the Bears. . . PACKERS, VIKINGS---HERE we have two teams belonging to the same division, NC North, and they are 2-2 each. On Thursday, the two will commence Week 5, the winner becoming leader NC North number one, well, probably for only until late afternoon on Sunday. . . During Week 4, the now 2-2 Bears defeated the Packers, and the Vikings defeated NC South’s leading franchise, the Atlanta Falcons. Still, a win could go to the Packers QB Aaron Rodgers-led offense being better set for the assault than his Vikings counterpart, providing that he can have the protection needed for what he does best---passing deep and accurately. Much will depend on which team has the better pass rush and which can disrupt improvisational offense switches to a running game when the pass seems suicidal. Yet the Vikings win vs. the Falcons was largely due to stopgaps preventing a usually better QB, Matt Ryan, from penetrating a nearly seamless defense enough times for the win. An upset on Thursday is unlikely, our pick the Packers by as many as seven.   .  .  “the NOTEBOOK” --- MLB-2014 LC’s: National League: S.F. Giants vs. Washington Nationals, best of five, winner vs. Pittsburgh Pirates; and, L.A. Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals, best of 5. . . American League: L.A. Angels vs. Oakland A’s, best of 5, winner vs. K.C. Royals; and, Baltimore Orioles vs. Detroit Tigers, best of 5.  .  .   THE NBA’s Denver Nuggets will be advancing from the gate for NBA regulation 2014/15 with rational expectations for as many as 50 wins and a post-season slot, this as presented yesterday by the team’s GM, Tim Connelly, and head coach, Brian Shaw. Here’s what they believe are the team’s current attributes for fulfillment of expectations by February 2015’s All Star break, if not much sooner. One, the Nuggets are back from being injury driven. Last season, guard and top shooter Ty Lawson and powerful defender and shooter, Wilson Chandler, were out for more than 20 games, and guard and top shooter, Danilo Gallinari, was out for the entire season. The three have been cleared for court time as determined by HC Shaw. Two, forward Kenneth Faried is more experienced than ever for the NBA game, having returned from successful performances as a member of Team USA during the off-season. Three, HC Shaw is no longer the rookie HC, he’ll be operating from lessons learned during the past season, especially for fusion of skills with values from height and from speed of transition from offense to defense, then back to offense with earnest attempts for netting more baskets from the inside. Four, the Nuggets will capitalize on what may seem contradictory, (a) much emphasized teamwork together with (b) strong and insightful individual leadership, the former evolving as that which a team without a superstar of a 25 or better ppg average must become, that is, five or more players capable of double-digits most nights, anywhere from 12 to 20, also of players capable of a sufficient number of rebounds, blocks and steals for keeping opposing teams from scoring high-end, say, with triple-digits by endgame. As to leadership, the latter has been explained by HC Shaw as each player’s ability to “direct traffic” when he has hands on the basketball, thus be able to improvise correctly and speedily under tight situations. Shaw highlights the fact that good leaders know when to follow others if they have a better idea for the successful tactic, for the proper shot. So, given existing attributes and barring injuries, the NBA 2014/15 Nuggets will be formidable opponents headed for post-season rounds. END/ml