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NFL---ALL of the remaining NFL-2014 regulation weeks can be pivotal for the
league’s eight division leading franchises and their runner-ups. For Week 11,
which began on Thursday, not one of the eight has an edge that’s commanding
enough for being at first place when Week 16 arrives and conference championship
title games + the SB are near.
The best leading edge for this Sunday’s
round of games belongs to the National Conference West’s 8-1 Arizona Cardinals
over the NC West’s 6-3 Seattle Seahawks, plus the American Conference East’s 7-5
N.E Patriots above the AC East’s 5-4 Buffalo Bills, and the AC South’s
Indianapolis Colts 6-3 atop the AC South’s 4-5 Houston Texans. That leaves five
division leading teams that have only one win more than their respective second
place teams, the AC West’s 7-2 Broncos ahead of the 6-3 K.C. Chiefs, the AC
North’s Cleveland Browns atop the 5-3 Cincinnati Bengals, the NC East’s 7-2
Philadelphia Eagles over the 7-3 Dallas Cowboys, the NC North’s 7-2 Detroit
Lions ahead of the 6-3 Green Bay Packers and the NC South’s 4-5 N.O. Orleans
over the 3-6 Carolina Panthers.
Unique about Week 11 is that of the 16 first
and second place NFL-2014 teams, 11 are playing one another as if a separate
league from the rest of the NFL, for instance, the Patriots are playing the
Colts on Sunday---either could slip to a one game lead over second position
within their respective divisions, same with regard to a Cardinals and Lions
match, in that at stake is the Cardinals falling to a one game division lead.
Another turnabout example is the Lions
possibly losing to the Cardinals on Sunday and being replaced at first position
should the Packers defeat the Eagles on the same day.
Meanwhile, other Week 11 match-ups involving
first and second position franchises are the Browns vs. the Texans, Bengals vs.
the Saints, and the Seahawks vs. the Chiefs, their outcomes sure to affect what
the top half of NFL-2014 will look like as regulation ends and playoffs
begin.
Not that a status quo can’t prevail for most
of the eight divisions. However, when first and second place teams meet during a
Week 11 of an NFL season, there’s greater likelihood of changes within the
league’s upper level standings than when top teams are matched against third and
lower position teams.
Broncos, Rams---GIVEN that since NFL-2014 began the AC West’s now 7-2 Denver Broncos
(a) scored 36 touchdowns and the NC West’s currently 3-6 St. Louis Rams obtained
17, and that (b) during its 2014 losses the Broncos gave away 69 points and the
Rams during their losses allowed 198 points, well, it’s hard to believe that (c)
the Rams could walk away on Sunday as perpetrators of a Broncos third 2014 loss.
Also, each but one of the Broncos seven wins
of Weeks 1 through 10 have been by 10 or more points, while the Rams three wins
of the season have been by only two and three points.
Moreover, the Broncos QB, Peyton Manning,
has completed more passes this season than the Rams QB, Austin Davis, has
attempted. That’s 239 Manning completions vs. 284 attempts by Davis
Too, the Broncos have purchased 820 more
passing yards since Week 1, than the Rams now own.
And, while the Rams have completed a few
more rushing yards than the Broncos have this year, 877 over the Broncos 871,
the Rams defense has allowed opposing teams to accrue 1,118 rushing yards, the
Broncos but 603.
In addition, the Rams have achieved 169
first downs this year, the Broncos above that with 209 first downs plus a better
than 30 percent likelihood of the Broncos first downs becoming TD’s and/or field
goals.
Yet the three 2014 wins by the Rams include
a victory over the NC West’s now 6-3 Seattle Seahawks, which defeated the
Broncos 26-20 during Week 3, and the Rams win over the S.F. 49ers during Week 9
kept the 49ers to 10 points, while a Broncos win vs. the 49ers during Week 7
yielded 17 points to the 49ers.
So, there’s a chance that the Rams may not
lose to the Broncos as devastatingly as had the AC West’s last place 0-9 Oakland
Raiders last week, 41-17.
NBA---THE Denver Nuggets are at 2-6 and at last place within the NBA Western
Conference’s Northwest Division, the San Antonio Spurs last within the WC’s
Southwest Division, the L.A. Lakers at the very bottom of the WC’s Pacific
Division, while within the Eastern Conference the currently 3-7 EC Central
Indiana Pacers are a last position team.
None of the above was expected to have come
about, even this early during the NBA 2014/15 season.
Yet the six division-first place teams of
the two NBA conferences are close to where
expected to be off of the now eight or nine games that ach has played of
the 82 scheduled to exist for each prior to an April into June playoff scene, in
that leading the WC Northwest today are the 6-3 Portland Trail Blazers, while
atop the WC Southwest are the 8-1 Memphis Grizzlies, and leading the WC Pacific
are the 6-2 Golden State Warriors. Add that the EC Atlantic are being led today
by the 7-2 Toronto raptors, the EC Central by the 7-2 Chicago Bulls, with a
surprise within the EC being the 6-2 Washington Wizards atop the EC Southeast,
the EC Southeast’s 5-4 Miami Heat in third position behind second place team,
the 5-3 Atlanta Hawks.
But turnabouts are near, an example being
that a few days ago the WC Northwest’s Oklahoma City Thunder were at 1-3 and a
last place franchise, today they are 3-7 and third place division-wide, and last
night the WC Northwest’s Nuggets dumped a six game losing streak with a 108-87
win over the EC’s Pacers, a game in which seven Nuggets players scored in double
digits, guard Arron Afflalo scoring 17 points during 23 minutes of play, rookie
Gary Harris 13 within 18 minutes of play.
And though the Nuggets sixth straight loss
on Wednesday night, 130-113 to the now 6-3 Trail Blazers had analysts and fans
thinking that the Nuggets could extend its losing streak into double-digits,
glimmers of a Nuggets upturn were present, e.g., guard Ty Lawson scoring 32
points along with six assists and J.J. Hickson 14 points within half the number
of minutes that Lawson was afield.
MLB---SUMMARY
of top MLB-2014 awards: Managers of the
Year, American
League and Orioles Mgr., Buck Showalter, and National League and Washington
Nationals Mgr., Matt Williams, each having led his team to the season’s playoffs
from 96-66 win/loss records. . . MVP’s, AL’s OF
Mike Trout (L.A. Angels) from a .287 BA, 36 HR’s and 111 RBI’s, and NL’s
starting hurler/LH Clayton Kershaw (L.A. Dodgers) of 21 wins and three losses
for the year. . . CY Young
awards went to
AL
the NOTEBOOK--- HAS LeBron James returned to his higher basketball self? Last night,
James scored 41 points against the EC Atlantic’s third place 3-5 Boston Celtics,
lifting the EC Central’s second place Cleveland Cavaliers to 4-3 behind the 7-2
Chicago Bulls. The Cavaliers defeated the Celtics barely, however, 122-121. . .
Best in the NHL today, that’s the NHL Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division
leading team, the Montreal Canadiens, at 12-4. Next best, the EC’s Metropolitan
Division’s leading team, the 11-3 Pittsburgh Penguins, tied with the Western
Conference’s Pacific Division number one team, the 11-3 Anaheim Ducks. Worst
record in the NHL to date belongs to the EC Atlantic’s 3-13 Buffalo Sabers,
second worst being the WC Central’s 5-8 Colorado Avalanche. .
. The Klitschko/Pulev heavyweight
boxing championship title bout will be aired on Saturday/HBO, 2:45 pm. Wladimir
Kitschko’s record includes 62 wins, three losses, 52 knockouts, Kubret Pulev’s
comprises 20 wins, no losses, 11 KO’s.
END/ml
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