NFL:  PATRIOTS & GIANTS TO THE SUPER BOWL  //  NBA: NUGGETS DEFEAT KNICKS IN SECOND OT

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            “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” HAS RETURNED TO POSTING ITS COLUMNS TUESDAY AND FRIDAY OF EVERY WEEK.  Editor/Publisher, Marvin Leibstone. Comments welcome---

NFL:   THERE’s no way of really telling, but Billy Cundiff not making that field goal in the last half of Sunday’s AFC championship game could be what cost the Baltimore Ravens a trip to the Super Bowl. Then again, Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, has had it in him to respond lethally in overtime, it might have been a 26-23 Patriots win, or maybe a Patriots victory by more than that, not the 23-20 that placed the New England team with the New York Giants for Super Bowl XLVI, scheduled for Sunday, February 5.

Though the Ravens were a much tougher team for the Patriots to beat than were the Denver Broncos in the previous week’s post-season battle, the Brady-led offense deserves credit having led Sunday’s AFC contest by driving holes through one of the better NFL defenses for 25 first downs, two touchdowns and three field goals.

But keeping the Patriots near a loss were several errors committed by its defense, which allowed the Ravens time and space for end-zone occupancy and a blitz for 10 points in the second and third quarters respectively. Yet keeping the Patriots close to a win were timely Brady/receiver reactions to “situational factors.” It’s a fair guess that the Patriots decided against sticking to a particular assault strategy over another, that a Patriots rushing or pass offense would be determined by existing conditions; further, that the Patriots defense wouldn’t deliberately weaken its pass rush so as to double-team the opposition’s better receivers unless conditions called for that to happen. It seemed that the Patriots applied, on both sides of the football, what was best needed for readings of the moment, instead of forcing up pre-planned plays irrespective of existing conditions, while the Ravens seemed to be more conventional in their tactical approaches and so less innovative, sticking to playbook calls.

Not that the Ravens attack-style hadn’t penetrated the Patriots defense, it just didn’t happen often enough to surpass the Brady-led scoring by a safe margin. Ironically, the Ravens gained more yards than the Patriots, 398 vs. 330, and maintained possession of the football for more minutes than the Patriots had. Given the large number of first downs and red zone grabs that the Patriots accrued, the Ravens defense tightened and sealed often enough to prevent a blowout loss; however, during Sunday’s game QB Brady and his receivers were incredibly fast and also accurate at looking ahead and along its flanks for what could work to advantage, which dominated and could be at the forefront of enablers for a Patriots Super Bowl win.

Meanwhile the New York Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers, 20-17, on Saturday, guaranteeing the team’s fourth Super Bowl appearance since 1991, QB Eli Manning completing 32 of 58 passes for 316 yards and two TD’s.

The Giants beat the Patriots to win the Super Bowl in 2008, score 17-14. That Patriots visit to the Super bowl was the team’s fifth since 1991. That both teams won their 2011/12 conference championships also by three points could be an indicator of how close February’s Super Bowl match will be---the Giants approach to the NFL game is similar to that employed by the Baltimore Ravens against the Patriots: the pounce and grab pass rush, a relentlessly fast secondary suppressing wide receiver capacity, a QB passing short, mid-range and long to receivers that can evade and catch expertly.

(More Super Bowl coverage here on Friday, January 27)

NBA:   IT wasn’t vengeance, because that’s not what the Nuggets had in mind as they struggled to beat the New York Knicks on Saturday and did, final score: 119-114---but there had to be a pleasant sense of closure as players traded last year to Denver from New York performed enviably, as did star forward Carmelo Anthony, who left Denver’s Pepsi Center for Manhattan in that trade, each man now comfortable with his current role and new organization. Perhaps not even Nuggets head coach George Karl knew as the 2011 trade evolved, that the Nuggets needed to transition from a team dominated by star power to a collective of players at their best when supportive, in effect, “teamwork vs. reliance upon one or two star athletes.”

And Anthony wanted the large market environment that is New York, plus the opportunity to expand as a floor leader and superior scorer. He got to be that on Saturday, scoring 25 points and 10 assists, tying the game with less than two seconds to go in the fourth period. Yet the Nuggets Al Harrington dulled that Knicks edge with a three pointer that catalyzed the Denver win during OT-2. Nuggets forward and former Knicks player, Danilo Gallinari, had the night’s most points per game—37. Harrington followed with 24, next Timofey Mozgov, 16.

But not to make too much of the Nuggets/Knicks game. Though every win matters, a New York knockdown isn’t the huge uplift for Denver, in that the Knicks are an Eastern Conference franchise. More important challenges for the Nuggets are up ahead, starting February 2 vs. the Los Angeles Clippers (8-5), now leading the Western Conference’s Pacific Division, then on February 3 vs. second place-Pacific Division team, the L.A.Lakers (10-5).

Presently, the Nuggets are in second place of the WC’s Northwest Division at 12-5, one game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder and the Nuggets are also holding first and second positions within the WC, and third and fourth within the NBA. Before the two franchises meet on February 19, the Nuggets will be matched against eight teams that are below the Denver franchise in organizational rankings, surely an opportunity for Denver to pull far ahead of the Thunder.

END/ml

NHL: AVALANCHE, RISING // NBA: NUGGETS “PLAYOFF-BOUND” //

NFL: AFC & NFC FINALS // WORLD TENNIS: AUSTRALIAN OPEN 

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           "SPORTS NOTEBOOK” will continue to post columns on Tuesday and Friday of each week, covering Colardo, national and world sports.  Editor/Publisher, Marvin Leibstone. Comments to: mlresources1@aol.com

NHL:   WAVES of determination and then delight swept across the ice at Denver’s Pepsi Center on Wednesday, January 18, as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 (OT) from a blistering Ryan O’Reilly killshot, bringing the AV’s to 25 wins over 21 losses.

Now above .500, and in second place of the NHL-Western Conference’s Northwest Division (three wins ahead of third place Minnesota, three behind first place Vancouver), the AV’s potential as “playoff contender” has proof-of-life: the AV’s won 10 of 15 games in December, totaling 32 points, and since the start of the 2011/12 season they’ve managed four streaks (five wins straight, four straight x 2, and three in a row), plus six wins of five points each and five of four each.

Too, the AV’s completed eight games this season during which opponents were held to zip or only one point. Also, only three of the AV’s 21 losses were by more than three points. Of the 25 AV games played as of Wednesday, only five were scoreless, and only two of the AV’s 21 losses were by more than four points. Also, three AV players have scored more than 10 goals each since October 8, delivering a total of 47 points, and nine have provided double digit assists each, totaling more than 130 assists.

Next up in January for the AV’s are the L.A. Kings, Anaheim Ducks, the Minnesota Wild and the Edmonton Oilers, neither with as many wins as the AV’s have. Yesterday, the Kings recorded 23 wins, the Ducks 16 (last place of the NHL-WC’s Pacific Division), the Wild, 22, the Oilers, 17 (last place, the WC’s NW Division). It won’t be until Saturday, February 4, when the AV’s face a first place franchise, the now 28-15 Vancouver Canucks, at Pepsi Center.

*  *  *

NBA:   HERE are reasons why the Denver Nuggets are likely to enter the 2011/12 NBA post-season with 30 or more wins by mid-April:

• Scored 100 or more points in seven of 12 games by mid-January, and no fewer than 83, the franchise now at 10-5, just two games behind the NBA Western Conference’s first place team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, one game behind second place team, the Utah Jazz, and two ahead of third place team, the Portland Trail Blazers .  .  . and the Nuggets are now tied for second place in the WC with the L.A. Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs.
• In each of the 12 games cited, the Nuggets scored a roughly equal number of points per quarter, indicating above-the-margin scoring consistency and full-out endurance, thus strong capacity for “game control.”
• Six Nuggets players have points-per-game averages in double digits re. all games played since the start of the NBA 2011/12 season.
• The total number of points scored by the Nuggets to date is more than 50 greater than yesterday’s recorded mean average re. points earned by opposing WC teams.
• As of today, the Nuggets have averaged 10 steals per game.
• The Nuggets have accrued more than 270 assists since the current NBA season began.
• Guards Arron Afflalo, Ty Lawson and Andre Miller and Timofey Mozgov, forwards Danillo Gallinari and Nene, Al Harrington, Rudy Fernandez, others and head coach George Karl’s emphasis re. teamwork over star power .  .  .   Starting tonight, this line of players + coach will play only two of their next 10 games against teams in their own division, and only half have the Nuggets facing WC division teams. More importantly for the Nuggets, several of the 10 events will be against teams below .500, among them, the Washington Wizards, the Sacramento Kings, the Toronto Raptors (each of these three are now in last place of their respective divisions), and the New York Knicks (yes, former Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony & Company, the Knicks now at 6-8).   Only one of the next 10 Nuggets games is against a major threat and first place team, the WC-Pacific Division’s L.A. Lakers, now 10-5. The point being made here is that the Nuggets have a nine game opportunity to pull ahead of all competition before meeting a key division threat, the Thunder, mid-February.   

NFL:   OF course, this Sunday’s winners of the AFC and NFC championship games will be the franchises that manage to pulverize the strengths and exploit the vulnerabilities of their opponents. If, therefore, the Baltimore Ravens can keep the New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s arm and receivers from connecting, with its Joe Flacco-led offense outsmarting the Patriots weak-by-comparison secondary, surely the Ravens will have a good shot at being at the Super Bowl. This being so, the Ravens could begin its mission with passing tactics, switching to a running game should the Patriots shield as effectively as it had against the Denver Broncos offense last week.

Yet Tom Brady’s efficient pass protection and fast and tricky short- and mid-range receivers have reflected escape and evasion expertise throughout the NFL season, slipping into openings for successful pass-catch connectivity, for example, the Brady/Ron Gronkowski match-up. Assuming that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and QB Brady have watched enough film and have sufficient intel for dealing effectively with the Ravens defense and the Ravens ability to improvise, the Brady/receiver pass attack game will be the lock-in for an early ascension of NE points, forcing Baltimore into behind-the-eight-ball mode until endgame and a NE win.

It’s likely that the NFC San Francisco 49ers/New York Giants competition will be more of a "clash of the Titans event" than the AFC challenge, in that the defense squads of each are nearly equal in focus, speed and strength. Victory could be by only a few points, perhaps by a field goal, unless it’s possible for New York’s QB Eli Manning to have moved up a notch from his already efficient ability to avoid a pass rush and throw the football, for instance, passing to Hakeem Nicks in the manner that the two connected for yardage in the Giants last playoff game.

The year’s playoff data advises that against a series of Manning/receiver assaults, the 49ers QB, Alex Smith, will remain behind the power curve, for compared with Manning’s 44 completed playoff passes of 65 attempts, Smith has recorded 24 of 45, which suggests that Smith could pass well as long as the opportunities to do so aren’t squelched, and many opportunities for it have been squelched throughout the post season. Also, Manning has passed for 607 yards in the year’s playoffs, Smith for only 290. To beat the Giants, the 49ers defense will need increased speed and power for the pass rush and for covering receivers, especially for beating down the Manning/Nicks teaming.

WORLD TENNIS:  IT may never happen again: two sisters with more than 500 professional tennis wins behind them. This week, Serena caught up with Venus by prevailing during the Australian Open to achieve her 500^th. Seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus has won more than 590 games in her career, and Serena is hoping to match that. . .  Another U.S. player for dominance during the Australian Open has been Andy Roddick, to face last year’s winner and U.S. Open winner, Novak Djokovic, but Roddick has receded. Still contending are Djokovic, Federer, Nadal.

END/ml    

NFL:  NO TEARS FOR THE DENVER BRONCOS    

For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com

            STARTING FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” WILL AGAIN POST COLUMNS RE. OTHER NATIONAL AND WORLD SPORTS, E.G., SOCCER, HOCKEY, BOXING, TENNIS, THE LONDON OLYMPICS AND SPECIAL OLYMPICS. “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” WILL ALSO RETURN TO POSTING COLUMNS ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY, EVERY WEEK. Editor/Publisher, Marvin Leibstone. Comments to: mlresources1@aol.com

NFL  ---   IT was just one of 18 games played since September, 2011, a bad January evening for the Denver Broncos at Foxborough, Massachusetts, a humiliation and the fifth competition during 2011/12 when 40 or more points were given away by a Broncos defense to an opposing team. It should not have happened---it did and it marred, though not drastically, the best season that the Denver franchise has experienced in several years. Finishing 8-8 in regulation and 1-1 in the post-season isn’t sizzling hot and high end, but it’s a record that swelled from a mid-season 2-5 record.

Make no mistake, the Broncos are a comeback organization with room to stretch and do better during 2012/13.

On positive noting, the Broncos have a quarterback potentially one of the better QB’s of the NFL, though no way a savior, not a super-hero, not the hype and hope that fans bought into during 2011/12. As shown in two games this year against the NE Patriots and from a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in December, Tebow, when compared with New Orleans QB Drew Brees, Green Bay’s Aaron Rogers and the Patriots Tom Brady, is still “the emerging threat,” more like the proverbial diamond in the rough---yet from what he’s accomplished since October, 2011, any giving up on Tebow would be a grevious error, which Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, VP John Elway, and head coach, John Fox, are quite aware of.

Final scores and other stats are history, they belong to the past; they shouldn’t be taken as definite forecast. The Broncos have done better, we’ve seen it happen. And, a particular stat of Saturday night proves that the Broncos offense is far from pathetic in spite of the 10 points it gained behind the Patriots (ugh!) 45. The Broncos were roughly equal with the Patriots regarding one of the more important achievements and reflections of NFL team competence---the Broncos offense rushed for 144 yards gained versus the Patriots 146, neither a great accomplishment but competitive nonetheless, the key difference being that the Tebow-led offense couldn’t convert the Broncos yardage into more than one TD and a field goal, while the Tom Brady-led Patriots offense converted territory won into six TD’s and a FG, three of those TD’s from completed passes to a receiver on the run.

It was the Patriots passing game that outplayed the Broncos by large measure---363 yards gained versus the Broncos purchase of 108, signaling defects within the Broncos defense as well as the Broncos offense. Against the Broncos defense and offense, the Patriots were tricksters and exceptionally fast and forceful. Surprise tactics joined by speed and strength caused the Broncos to experience temporary disorientation and a need to recover quickly via improvisations, which rarely occurred for the Broncos---Tebow and his intended receivers weren’t quick enough moving into positions for the football to go forward for first downs and then points.

And---the Broncos defense met that same pressure: surprise + speed/strength = severe butt-kicking, Denver's defenders left behind or to the sides---the Brady/receiver “pass, run & lunge thing” repeated for points atop points.

Okay, what’s to be learned by the Broncos and applied? Foremost, that all the errors committed on Saturday and in previous season losses are correctable, and that it isn’t a broad string of complex strategic changes that must apply, it’s that some Football 101 skills need leap-ahead enhancements, for example, “defense response,” which needs to be infused with keener and faster alertness to the opposition’s offense maneuvers, and probably with twice the speed so that any receiver of an opposing team can be tracked and covered, Too, needed is faster Broncos jailing of opposition QB’s, keeping them from rushing out of the pocket except to locations where they’ll be stopped before gaining significant yardage, or kept from passing well.

Moreover, Tebow has to do better from behind center, getting rid of the football faster from instant sightings of receivers and for finding openings for his own amazing rush power. A QB can’t be tricked into thinking he has an opening so as to run the ball by himself, only to be forced to the ground by a swarm of defenders turning back around after having deliberately created the openings---it’s football entrapment, and it loses games. In other words, Tebow needs better radar for what can happen to him, otherwise he won’t have enough moments in 2012/13 spotting targets immediately for a handoff or a completed throw, and not enough time to implement escape tactics with speed and alacrity. He, of course, needs the targets to be there for him and open, and that demands a crop of receivers he can look for instantly, trusting that they will be open for the killshot.

Also, teh Broncos seemed to play Saturday’s game without sufficient attention to what the Patriots could do vs. the Broncos worst vulnerabilities. Probably with less confidence in what the Patriots defense could do for covering the Broncos receivers, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick may have emphasized attacking Tebow’s weaknesses above all else, sacking him (it happened to Tebow five times), detouring or stopping his rushing attempts, forcing him to pass late and inaccurately---his passing on Saturday was a meager 9-26 (Tom Brady got to 26-34).

Also, offense and defense tactics employed should evolve greatly from what’s known about an opposition, so if a team like the Patriots can easily hide its intentions, the widest possible number of response actions ought to be available and brought as close to perfection as possible, the right choice implemented; therefore, when plans A., B and C fail to work, a team will have plans D, maybe then E and next F, always emphasizing assaults on the enemy’s vulnerabilities. If a team’s defense can’t be outpaced, then it has to be out-tricked, BS’d into making the wrong moves, which wasn’t a course that the Broncos were able to follow effectively vs. the Patriots. Surely if an opposing QB isn’t as good at the running game as he is at passing, he should be forced to run, which was tried by the Broncos vs. Brady but remained too slow in the process, outsmarted by a Patriots back charging with the football mid-range and center of the field inside Broncos defenders that had spread out though vaguely.

We’ve said it on this page before: improved pass and rush protection for a more alert and radar-enhanced Tebow, plus near-perfect QB/receiver connectivity (short- and long-range completed passes), also faster, stronger and trickier coverage and neutralization of the opposing offense---to our thinking, these are the tickets for another and better Broncos playoff-slotted season.

END/ml  

NFL:  BELICHICK'S PATRIOTS & THE BRONCOS CHALLENGE

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            UNTIL AFTER THE CURRENT NFL SEASON, “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” WILL POST NEW EVERY MONDAY INSTEAD OF ON TUESDAY, continuing with a new post every Friday.  Editor, Marvin Leibstone. Comments to: mlresources1@aol.com

NFL  ---   FREQUENT observations of Bill Belichick, and of what he’s done for the New England Patriots as head coach, signals, to this writer anyway, a prevailing wisdom regarding the NFL game, in that Belichick seems to believe, along with most other NFL coaches, that professional football is untamable without unexpected and whipcracking actions annulling an opposing team’s well-rehearsed playbook---it’s that Belichick is exceptionally good at making such happen.

Winning, for Belichick, has much to do with reacting to factors of the moment, with doing all that can be done to stay ahead of an opposition’s choices, limiting an opponent's ability to achieve anything of significance. This is what makes Belichick the coach with an ace up his sleeve, no! many aces up both sleeves of that hoodie, in order to keep events from moving in directions that are more difficult to control than others.

As with many coaches obsessing mastery, Belichick favors the high speed and deep attack, plus an aggressively mobile defense, hoping to keep his team’s vulnerabilities from being viewed and exploited, always looking for new ways to undo an opposition’s maneuvering. Belichick’s therefore a believer in “surprise” as a strategy, which is probably behind his intense search for information about any opposing team and his extraordinary ability to comprehend an adversary’s tactics in the early minutes of a game, after which he orders corrections needed to oppose that enemy offense or defense. The Patriots are not a very readable franchise because of this---during a game, Belichick can change plans on the spot, altering what the opposing team thinks it knows about the Patriots offense and defense.    

Against the Denver Broncos on Saturday, Belichick could have more ideas for more strikes and counterstrikes than any opposition could expect, some of it based on info from film and informants, in addition, of course, to Belichick’s field assessments. It shouldn’t surprise if former Broncos coach, Josh McDaniels, briefed Belichick on Broncos weaknesses and strengths long before the Patriots re-hired McDaniels. So---against the Patriots, the Broncos pass protection for its quarterback, Tim Tebow, will need, along with the Broncos defense squad, the quick snap and pounce of an endangered but brave wolfpack. 

Surely any new tactics ordered by Belichick on Saturday, or innovated by Patriots QB, Tom Brady, will need to be shot down by the Broncos defense "at take-off," otherwise the Patriots might achieve what its defense usually hopes to establish---“shock and disorientation" creating turnovers favoring Brady and his receivers. Here’s when Denver’s sackmeisters, Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller, will have to operate in demolition mode. Surely “pre-emption” will be a key attribute for both teams seeking to win on Saturday.

In addition to the Broncos needing a defense with enough radar and fast responsiveness for spotting and spoiling Brady’s moves, an imperative for them will be to provide enough freedom for Tebow to pass accurately, to hand off the football and to leap over or charge through the Patriots defensive line, which is possible against a Patriots defense that’s been ranked low in the NFL, which reflects that there’s a gap between Belichick’s intentions and what the Patriots defense can actually do. And it shouldn’t be forgotten that when the Broncos lost to the Patriots in December, it was due primarily to three Broncos fumbles, not to the Broncos offense always being pinned back.

Always obvious, then, for Broncos head coach, John Fox, and also for Belichick, is that a team that has an effective offense enhanced by superb quarterbacking can win a game if it’s given the most turnovers achieved by an alert, fast and strong defense. The other way of saying this is that the offense with the greater number of possessions can have the better chance of winning a football game. Coach Fox will aim to have the Broncos defense return the football to Tebow as quickly as possible, primary objectives being to get the Patriots to punt, or seek the turnover from an interception. Consequently, tomorrow, and as was the case last week against the Steelers, much will be riding on the skills of Broncos cornerbacks Champ Bailey and Andre Goodman for tackling, pass interference, and for that interception placing the ball back into Tebow’s hands.

Achieving the largest possible number of possessions may be a necessity for Tebow, since he is at his best under a limited set of circumstances---the more possessions that the Broncos can have will mean the greater chance for those circumstances to appear. As fast and as powerful as Tebow is, he’s often incapable of creating his own openings for those short rushes that bring on a series of first downs and then the TD or a field goal---he needs a protection unit and fast backs creating those spaces for him, Willis McGahee to hand, flip or pass the football to, and space while on the run for passing deep to wide receivers Eddie Royal, Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas---fortunately for the Broncos, Tebow’s pass accuracy has improved immensely since his first shot as a starting QB.

Surely the Broncos will concentrate on more than ways to execute aggressive plays. They will be paying attention to prevention of those errors that have contributed to their worst losses---fumbles, penalties, Tebow sacked, Tebow’s passes intercepted, and a reactive rather than pro-active defense. Without any doubt, of great importance to the Broncos on Saturday will be maintaining the pro-active defense, for it’s the aggressive, thus mobile and seamless defending that forces an enemy offense to be where it could only fail, keeping the opposition’s points low.

In light of the above comments, the Patriots will attempt to close spaces and limit time available for Tebow to rush and throw the football early enough for successful completions, and to keep the Broncos defense from controlling and spoiling the Brady-led assaults. With this said, the Broncos have proven that in sports the past is for records to be surpassed, events meant to be overcome, pushed aside. Crushed by the Broncos is the belief that no team finishing a season with eight wins and eight losses, thus at the margin when compared with other NFL franchises, could win a division playoff round, and they’ve done this from a poor mid-season showing, a 2-5 record.

Given the Broncos wins of the regular season, and last week’s unexpected playoff victory against the Steelers, all bets now favoring the Patriots could turn out to be “jokers in the deck” from a Tebow freed for rushes and pass completions, and by an impenetrable defense keeping Denver alive for its first Super Bowl appearance since 1999.

END/ml      

NFL:  BRONCOS DEFEAT THE STEELERS

For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com

            UNTIL AFTER THE CURRENT NFL SEASON, “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” WILL POST NEW EVERY MONDAY INSTEAD OF ON TUESDAY, continuing with a new post every Friday.  Editor, Marvin Leibstone. Comments to: mlresources1@aol.com

NFL  ---  “Luck,” “Skill & Return of the Tim Tebow Magic,” “Answered Prayers,”  call it as you wish: the Denver Broncos, having upset the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Mile High Stadium, 29-23, are headed east to face the New England Patriots for an ascension game, the team’s not-so-distant goals an AFC championship and Super Bowl XLVI dominance.

After a slow start against the Steelers, the Broncos Tebow-led offense racked up 20 points by halftime, the Steelers, six. However, the Steelers came back and scored repeatedly, regulation play ending at 23-23, thus overtime and an alignment of happenings that favored the Broncos, starting with a luck of the toss: the Broncos won the OT call. Next, a Steelers kick set up a Broncos possession that ended with receiver Demaryius Thomas running 80 yards for a touchdown that put Denver ahead, Hey Steelers, see ya next year.

Hard to say if intended but what worked efficiently for the Broncos was Tebow being a lot less readable than during the team’s eight losses. The Steelers wanted to force Tebow to pass the ball, figuring that he’d pass late and suffer numerous incompletes. But throughout much of the game, it seemed that Tebow was fulfilling the Steelers wish “on purpose,” surprising them with accurate throws: ten of Tebow’s completions resulted in a gain of more than 310 yards, and his short-range passes resulted in a 30 yard TD catch by Eddie Royal (wide receiver), plus a 40-yard TD catch by Daniel Fells (tight end).

Too, the Tebow-led offense included three successful Matt Prater FG’s, and Thomas receiving for more than 100 yards during regulation play.

And, while a penetrable Denver defense allowed openings in the second half, it held the Steelers back when it counted most, example: Elvis Dumervil keeping Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger from achieving enough yards for a game-winning FG during final seconds of the game.

The Broncos and Patriots will face off come Saturday night. This page will carry pre-game analysis, Friday, January 13.  

ON Saturday, the Houston Texans beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 31-10, and the New Orleans Saints defeated the Detroit Lions, 45-28. On Sunday, the New York Giants demolished the Atlanta Falcons, 24-2. The Denver 29-23 takedown of the Steelers was the only weekend post-season competition won by less than 14 points---though it’s uphill now for the Broncos, there’s “Luck,” “Skill & Return of the Tim Tebow Magic,”  and “Answered Prayers.” 

END/ml

NFL: BRONCOS & THE STEELERS // NBA: THE GOOD START 

For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com

            UNTIL AFTER THE CURRENT NFL SEASON, “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” WILL POST NEW EVERY MONDAY INSTEAD OF ON TUESDAY, continuing with a new post every Friday.  Editor, Marvin Leibstone. Comments to: mlresources1@aol.com

NFL  ---  “WE’ve got to play it hard and full out, for there’s no coasting for a football team that wants to be an AFC champion, Super Bowl-bound.” Surely this phrase approximates what’s on the mind of each Denver Broncos player manning up to face a Pittsburgh Steelers counterpart this weekend, hoping to be as combat ready as a Navy SEAL or Army Ranger given a difficult mission, determined to avoid any error that contributed to the Denver franchise losing eight games during the regular NFL season, giving away more than 250 points to opponents.

But if the Broncos are anything like the team that faced the Kansas City Chiefs last week and lost, the Steelers will own the day more easily than the Chiefs had. If the Broncos quarterback, Tim Tebow, is, for whatever reason, as limited in the pocket/shotgun as he was versus the Chiefs, he’ll be too late locating receivers, therefore unable to rack up a sufficient number of handoffs or passes for territory enabling field goal and touchdown attempts.

There’s hope for the Tebow-led offense, however, from a Steelers defense putting speed ahead of smarts, leaving openings for either Tebow or backs like Willis McGahee to rush the football for a streak of first downs, and if the Steelers secondary fails to cover Denver’s wide receivers completely and Tebow manages to throw accurately to a WR, as he had for some of the Broncos mid-season wins.

Yet if a resurrection of the Tebow magic occurs versus the Steelers, with an early Denver lead accrued the Broncos defense will have to rev up its attempts to keep Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger from the short angular and deep pass completions that he’s capable of, those deep passing stops depending greatly on speed and skills employed by Denver cornerbacks, Champ Bailey and Andre Miller.

The Steelers finished the NFL regular season at 12-4, the Broncos, 8-8. Also suggesting superiority over the Broncos is that the Steelers beat teams that during the regular season hadn’t just beat the Broncos but had taken the Denver team down by more than 14 points, among them, the New England Patriots. And, a comparison of wins shows that the Steelers prevailed against teams that the Broncos had beaten, among them, the Tennessee Titans, Cincinnati Bengals, San Diego Chargers and the Chiefs.

Too, in any win or loss during the season, the Steelers defense never once gave away more than 20 points to an adversary, while the Broncos gave away more than 40 points in each of four lost games---vs. Green Bay, New England, Buffalo and Detroit. Also, the Steelers lost games only to teams high in the rankings, each a post-season contender, while most of the Broncos wins were against marginal franchises.

Though the heavy hitters among betters are with the Steelers beating the Broncos by more than a TD, it’s unwise to discount a Broncos team that won six games straight this year. No-one should mistakenly think that a Tebow-led offense can’t re-establish as a winning unit in the manner that it had for its successive wins, primarily from Tebow’s surprisingly fierce rushing.

So, if the Steelers could lose four games since September, they could lose a fifth providing that the Tebow magic of past games aligns with third and fourth down opportunities at, say, goal and five or 10, this because Tebow had the necessary pocket/shotgun protection and receivers helping him get there. Of course, the Broncos defense will need to emphasize fundamentals, neutralizing enough of the Steelers opportunities to score by being sufficiently mobile, tackling and blocking speedily. Also, there can’t be Broncos fumbles or interceptions of Tebow’s passes, either for the FG or TD, and there will need to be minimum Broncos penalties and very few Tebow sacks---all an extremely tall order, a set of outcomes difficult for any NFL post-season team to make happen,  yet still  possible.

NBA ---  IT’s probably too early to pick up on which exactly are the positive effects of a shorter NBA season, but less than a month into the 2011/12 foray a few signs could make the cut for convincing the NBA commissioner that there’s merit to a shorter than 82 game year, for instance, teams seem to be playing full out, as if already in a post-season---good for the teams, good for the fans. The slow start that can occur in the longer season while some teams work out kinks and experiment with a whacky idea or two is now unthinkable. More precisely, the current first NBA month has been a heightened race compared with the first 30 days of previous seasons.

Also, because a 2011 lockout denied early preparation for an upcoming season, the NBA teams entered recent competition raw. This going to war minus the usual readiness has resulted in an unexpected necessity, players depending on each other more than in the past, cooperation among players becoming more key to winning, for even the league’s superstars went back a notch in skill-sets from the lockout.

In other words, the notion of superstar dominance could take a back seat to the concept of five-guy + reserves teamwork and the cooperation that exists as its core element. When I asked Denver Nuggets head coach, George Karl, a few seasons ago what he’d change in the NBA if he were king of the sport, his first response was that he’d enact a shorter season. Presently, the Nuggets are the likely NBA poster-guys for the concept of teamwork, beating last year’s championship team, the Dallas Mavericks, and runner-up, the L.A. Lakers, from “cooperative fires,” no Nuggets player forgetting to leave ego in the locker room, at the hard wood lots of passing, rebounding, blocking, plenty of assists, no wasted shots because a single player wants to impress via his three-pointer style.

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NFL: BRONCOS LOSE TO THE CHIEFS // WORLD SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS, 2012

For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com

            UNTIL AFTER THE CURRENT NFL SEASON, “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” WILL POST NEW EVERY MONDAY INSTEAD OF ON TUESDAY, continuing with a new post every Friday.  Editor, Marvin Leibstone. Comments to: mlresources1@aol.com

NFL  --- JUST as the Denver Broncos were leaving a football field after losing a final game of the NFL season on New Years day, the Oakland Raiders struggled to escape a loss to the San Diego Chargers with six minutes and around 30 seconds left to play, but no turnabout occurred: the Chargers became a Broncos partner by stomping Oakland, 38-26, a loss keeping Denver atop the AFC-West at 8-8, post-season billeted. Up ahead, then, for the Broncos, will be challenges for the AFC title possibly against the New England Patriots, the Baltimore Ravens, the Houston Texans.

Even if unintended, it’s good to have a partnering franchise, though to the more valorous and also cautious side of sports it’s always best to cross a season’s finish line without the help---beating Kansas City would have guaranteed the AFC-West’s top slot for the Broncos without the team relying on Oakland tapping out.

While the Broncos did not lose to the Chiefs embarrassingly, the Tim Tebow-led offense hadn’t converted its more than 200 rushing yards into other than a field goal: final score, Chiefs 7, Broncos, 3. Tebow was readable enough for the Kansas City defense to be able to thwart most of his rushes and handoffs when it came to end zone opportunities, and not enough of Tebow’s passes were thrown accurately and caught, his receivers zigging often when they should have zagged, allowing an intercept when a pass completion mattered most, that is, when Tebow was leading a drive for a TD with less than a minute of play left in the fourth quarter.

When a defense squad can hold an opposing team to seven points, it’s up to the offense to overcome that, but such just didn’t happen for the Broncos offense that had contributed to seven wins since the team’s Bye week in October. No doubt, the Broncos are the year’s best comeback NFL franchise, and they are led by a quarterback better than most, yet the Broncos are now at .500, respectable but clearly at the game’s middle ground, which, though the Broncos are currently the AFC-West’s winning team, is low when compared with other NFL teams capping their divisions, for instance, the New England Patriots, the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans are leading the AFC-East, North and South respectively with more than 10 wins each. Also, only three of the Broncos eight wins for the year were won by six or more points, the other five by only two or three points, while five of Denver’s eight losses have been by more than two touchdowns, and four of the Broncos eight losses saw more than 40 points given away.

Anyway, as the cliché goes, “A win is a win,” and the Broncos have what it takes to conquer the AFC and get to the Super Bowl, “if.”  

What, then, are the “if’s,” and what’s the likelihood of the “if’s” actually happening? The simple answer is to comment that what has to happen is what hasn’t happened in the last three games that the Broncos played, and that what happened in the team’s wins against Oakland, Kansas City and Minnesota in November and December has to happen again. More precisely, a very readable Tebow isn’t going to cut it against the Patriots, the Ravens and the Texans. Too, Tebow will need zero-defect pass protection, with improved defending after he leaves the pocket for passing on the run.

In addition, Tebow’s percentage of pass completions will require further continuance, nearly perfect throw accuracy as well as more instantaneous adjustments to the limitations imposed by an opposing defense upon receivers gone shallow and deep. And, many of this year’s New England, Baltimore and Houston wins were offense-dominant, which puts added pressure on the Broncos defense, especially the Broncos secondary, in that the AFC competition will be against teams preferring a passing game strategy.        

* * * * *

HIGHLIGHTS, 2012 ---  MAYBE before the ancient Olympics, or possibly around the same time that the Mayans  invented a roundish thing that they liked kicking across dirt fields, there was, “Camel Wrestling.” Well, it’s still happening and it will be one of 2012’s off beat sports events. This month, at Selcuk, Turkey, camels (yes, real camels, not the name of a team) will compete to see which are the world’s best at wrestling. With luck, this sport won’t expand into any of the martial arts conducted by humans, for what camel could stand a chance against champion fighter, Manny Pacquiao, though a camel may be the only fighter willing to face Pacquiao in 2012 now that a certain contender is in jail.

Other “odd” sports events of 2012 will be some parachuting competition at a centenary event in March, celebrating the world’s first parachute jump, and not against enemy fire in Afghanistan but at peaceful St. Louis, Missouri (assumption: the STL Cardinals winning the WS has brought calm and stability to the mid-western city, in spite of the STL Rams’ dismal NFL season). Less weird (maybe) will be September’s “World Farm Plough-Driving Competition,” held at Croatia. And somewhere in America, before December 31, 2012, pie and hot dog consumption athletes will compete (we probably won’t be reporting on this).  

On a serious note, come February there will be the 46^th Super Bowl, our wish: Broncos vs. the San Francisco Giants. Our pick: New England vs. the Green Bay Packers.

In March, there will, of course, be “March madness,” then the start of the Formula One Grand Prix auto racing season, and, in April, sanity will return to the planet with the start of Major League Baseball and golf’s, “the Masters,” held again at Augusta, Georgia, plus the start of the NBA's post-season for finals to be held in June. In this time-period, there will be the Indy 500 and there will be hockey and “the Stanley Cup.”

In June, expect soccer’s “Euro-2012,” which will determine Europe’s best soccer franchise, and, for tennis fans, the French Open. In July, it will be time to set all else aside for the London Olympics, and if you’re a tennis fan it’ll be grass-court Wimbledon, next, “the U.S. Open.” Come August, the Paralympics, a follow-up to the London Olympiad. In September, golf’s “Ryder Cup,” and the professional baseball season heading for October’s race for the World Series championship, and the start of the NFL season and "college football," then in October the start of the 2012/13 NBA season.----

--- probably we’ve failed to include some major events. Still, enough is shown to indicate that for athletes and fans a year is never like that classic Bill Murray movie, Ground Hog Day.

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