sports-notebook.blogspot.com . . . FOR MORE ANALYSIS, GO TO "MILE HIGH
SPORTS RADIO," AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver
NFL---WITHIN the National Conference South, and from a 19-17 win over the
now 3-7 Carolina Panthers, the currently 4-6 Atlanta Falcons jumped from third
to first position, becoming the only change of position among NFL-2014’s eight
division leading teams, all headed for NFL Week 12.
And still leading the NC West, the NC and
the entire NFL are the 9-1 Arizona Cardinals, after punishing the Detroit Lions,
14-6, which allowed the now 7-3 Green Bay Packers to be tied at NC North’s first
place with the Lions, also 7-3, this after the Packers defeat of the NC East’s
7-3 Philadelphia Eagles, 53-20, leaving the Eagles tied at number one with the
NC East’s 7-3 Dallas Cowboys.
Within the American Conference, the 8-2 N.E.
Patriots are leading the conference and so the AC East above the 6-4 Miami
Dolphins, having defeated the currently 6-4 Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, 42-20,
while Miami
Meanwhile, the AC West experienced the
Denver Broncos still being at first position but tied there with the K.C.
Chiefs, 7-3 each, this after dropping a game on Sunday to the NC West’s St.
Louis Rams, 22-7, and the Chiefs beating the NC West’s third place 6-4 Seattle
Seahawks, 24-20.
Also, the AC North’s Cincinnati Bengals have
kept its lead at 6-3 over the division’s remaining three teams.
And, though taken down on Sunday by the
Patriots, the 6-4 Colts are still the AC South’s number one above the 5-5
Houston Texans.
Of the eight division leading teams, only
one has a commanding lead today above a second position team, plus likelihood of
three games being won Weeks 12 through 16. That’s the NC West’s Cardinals
already having three wins over the 6-4 S.F. 49ers. Except for a game versus the
Falcons, the Cardinals won’t be facing any other currently first place teams
through the rest of the season, but will be facing two second place teams, the
Chiefs and the 49ers. The only other team to have won 80 percent of NFL-2014
games played to date are the Patriots, and they will be facing first place team,
the Lions, during Week 12, and second place team, the Packers, during Week
13.
Unique after Week 11 is the AC North, in
that back of the division’s first place team, the 6-3 Bengals, the three
remaining teams have accrued the same win/loss records---Baltimore Oriole,
Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns, each at 6-4/.600.
Again being worst in the NFL this week,
that’s the AC West’s Oakland Raiders, 0-10 (Ugh!) after a loss on Sunday to the
AC West’s third place and 6-4 San Diego Chargers,
13-6.
Broncos, Rams---FOR the NFL team that cares about winning and being thought of as
skillful and worthy on and off the field, a fallback in spirit always
accompanies an unexpected loss. The AC West’s first place 7-3 Broncos are not
happy about their 22-7 loss to a last position team, the NC West’s 4-6 St. Louis
Rams, on Sunday.
But the shroud of shame, the cloth of
indignity, that isn’t what any professional sports team allows near. Even the
0-10 Oakland Raiders keep their heads high.
The Broncos are still an NFL-2014 leading
franchise, with games ahead that could pave the way to a conference
championship, but many questions have to be answered if that is going to happen,
surely surrounding Sunday’s Broncos performance, which was the team’s worst in
three seasons, too the Broncos loss to the N.E. Patriots during Week 9, and the
Broncos devastating loss to the Seattle Seahawks at last February’s Super Bowl.
Among questions, Is there too much
dependency on QB Manning being at his best for the team to win? Is there
sufficient pass protection for Manning to reach his high performance level?
During a Broncos drive forward, is there proper shielding for WR’s, RB’s and a
tight end to be where Manning needs them for the pass or run? Why is it that the
progress attained over past seasons by the Broncos defense is, at best, two
steps forward and one back and sometimes one forward and two back? What’s
causing Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware to be marginal in a particular week, then
amazingly powerful and accurate for the pass rush in the next
week?
The Broncos began their game against the
Rams on Sunday with the better stats in nearly every NFL game category, yet
scored the fewest number of points among all NFL teams that played on the same
day, except for the AC South’s third place 2-7 Tennessee Titans, which lost to
the Baltimore Orioles, 21-7. In addition, the Broncos rushed for less than 30
yards throughout the vs. Ram game, while the Rams rushed for 131 yards. And,
time of possession, usually that held best by the Broncos, went to the Rams,
35.5 minutes above the Broncos 24.1 minutes.
However, from looking at total number of
passing yards accrued by the Broncos, the game would seem to have deserved a
different outcome. The Broncos passed for 389 yards, the Rams for 220, and QB
Manning completed 34 passes, Rams QB Shaun Hill, 20. The Broncos also gained
more first downs than the Rams had, 21 over 16.
But football games are won from conversion
of gains into TD’s and field goals. From fewer gains, the Rams got the big
numbers.
END/ml
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