SPORTS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2014 Manning, Broncos suddenly look vulnerable MIAMI: The Denver Broncos suddenly are looking fragile. better week in and week out. We certainly have momen- Seahawks’ only home loss on their way to the league title. They need to end their November swoon quickly or they tum.” It seems to happen every year: The weather gets The Seahawks already have more losses than in 2013. But might not make the NFL playoffs. cold and the New England Patriots get hot. They’ve won Marshawn Lynch, fined $100,000 this week for not speak- Peyton Manning and the defending AFC champions six in a row and have the AFC’s best record. They easily dis- ing with the media, has rushed for 140 and 124 yards in played their two worst games in the past three weeks, posed of two other conference contenders, Denver and the past two games. Arizona has not allowed a 100-yard falling at New England and St. Louis. Indianapolis, in recent weeks. New England’s defense has rusher in 20 straight games. On Sunday, they take on the Miami Dolphins, who are been reliable, the running game resurgent. Week 12 began with Oakland’s first victory of the sea- 6-4, winning four of their past five games, with the loss at And there’s always Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and son, a wet 24-20 decision over Kansas City. The Raiders Detroit in the final seconds. “There definitely is a sense of Julian Edelman to deal with. Into Foxborough comes the were the league’s last winless team, but they damaged urgency,” Manning says. “What we’ve talked about offen- NFL’s stingiest defense; the Detroit Lions have allowed the playoffs hopes of their archrival Chiefs on Thursday to sively this week is everybody focuses on doing their job only 156 points. “They’ve got a lot of guys up front that end a 16-game slide dating back a calendar year. On better, and you hope that results in better offensive play.” make big plays,” Patriots left guard Dan Connolly says. Sunday, there’s also Green Bay at Minnesota, Washington The Broncos were held to seven points by the Rams; “They’re definitely disruptive.” For every person who has at San Francisco, Dallas at New York Giants, Tennessee at Manning usually can produce one touchdown in his sleep. challenged the Cardinals to keep proving themselves, Philadelphia, Cleveland at Atlanta, Cincinnati at Houston, A well-rested Dolphins team is oozing conviction that it here’s the absolute best chance for Arizona to silence the Jacksonville at Indianapolis, St. Louis at San Diego, and can make a run to the playoffs. critics. A victory at the loudest and most intimidating NFL Tampa Bay at Chicago. A snowstorm has forced the “I feel like we are a good team. I feel like we have all the venue would stamp the Cardinals not only as the likely Buffalo-New York Jets game to move to Detroit on pieces,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill says. “The defense is NFC West division champion, but as the NFC’s No. 1 team. Monday. The regular Monday game is Baltimore at New playing really well right now, offense is continuing to get And remember, Arizona won in Seattle last year, the Orleans. — AP Tonga test, artifical pitch spark Scotland concerns KILMARNOCK: Scotland coach Vern Cotter has warned his play- ers that they can expect an even tougher match against Tonga in Kilmarnock today than they did when the Pacific Islanders secured a shock victory against them two years ago. That 21-15 loss at Aberdeen prompted Andy Robinson to resign as Scotland coach and Cotter believes Tonga have improved to the extent that they will provide the sternest chal- lenge of their three November internationals. The Scottish starting XV for a contest that will be played on an artificial 3G pitch at the aptly named Rugby Park, home of Scottish Premier League football team Kilmarnock FC, features four survivors from the team beaten by Tonga two years ago-cap- tain and scrum-half Greig Laidlaw, fullback Stuart Hogg, wing Tim Visser and lock Richie Gray. “The players who played two years ago know it’s going to be tough,” said Cotter, who has made four enforced changes to the Scotland team beaten 24-16 by New Zealand at Murrayfield last Saturday. “We’ve viewed what Tonga have done recently and they have improved and are going into the game very confident- ly. They play a structured game now. They’ll be a tough nut to OAKLAND: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith (11) is sacked by Oakland Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson crack,” the New Zealander added. “We knew it would be the during the third quarter of an NFL football game. — AP toughest game of the November series for us mentally-getting over the All Blacks game, performing well in front of 60,000 peo- ple and then moving from Murrayfield, coming to Kilmarnock to play on a synthetic surface. We’ll have a better idea after this Raiders stun Chiefs game of where we are at.” Scotland opened their November cam- paign with an impressive 41-31 win against Argentina at Murrayfield before registering their narrowest defeat against the KANSAS: The Oakland Raiders earned their taking the ball 90 yards,” said Raiders run- Jamaal Charles tied the score at 17-17 on All Blacks for 23 years. Tonga are on course for their first-ever first win in more than a year on Thursday as ning back Darren McFadden. “We finally a sparkling 30-yard touchdown reception came out and put the game together and with 12:20 remaining, and Cairo Santos clean sweep on a European tour, having beaten Georgia 23-9 in rookie quarterback Derek Carr rallied the finished the way we’re supposed to.” kicked a 25-yard field goal a few minutes lat- Tbilisi on November 8, before overwhelming the United States team with a late scoring drive to stun divi- sion rivals Kansas City 24-20. With the Raiders The Raiders led 14-3 at halftime and er to put the Chiefs up 20-17. Charles fin- 40-12 at Gloucester last Saturday. The Pacific Islanders have made moved ahead 17-3 in the third quarter. The ished with 80 yards rushing and 42 yards just the one change to their starting line-up, Latiume Fosita (1-10) trailing 20-17 in the fourth quarter, Carr marched the team 80 yards downfield in Chiefs began to seize the momentum when receiving for the Chiefs, who have a big divi- replacing Kurt Morath at fly-half. They have five survivors from Smith threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to sional matchup with the first-place Denver the XV that claimed Scotland’s scalp for the first time in 2012 — a drive that took seven minutes off the clock and culminated with a nine-yard touchdown Anthony Fasano late in the third. Broncos on Nov. 30. — Reuters fullback Vungakoto Lilo, wing Fetu’u Vainikolo, lock Tukula pass to James Jones. Lokutui and back rowers Nili Latu and Viliami Ma’afu. Asked Kansas City had little time to recover and whether his players had a score to settle from the 2012 shock, could only make it to their own 48 yard line NFL standings Cotter replied: “I think there is a genuine feeling among the with their last possession, which ended with group following that game.” National Football Conference Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith throwing an American Football Conference NFC East incompletion on fourth down. It was AFC East WHITE INFLUENCE W L T OTL PF PA PCT Philadelphia 7 3 0 0 299 251 .700 Oakland’s first win since beating Houston on Cotter added he was expecting “a rough, abrasive game”, but New England 8 2 0 0 323 218 .800 Dallas 7 3 0 1 261 212 .700 Nov. 17 2013 and snapped a 16-game losing Miami 6 4 0 0 249 180 .600 NY Giants 3 7 0 0 205 263 .300 suggested the influence of South Africa’s 2007 World Cup-win- streak. “I don’t even know how to explain the ning coach Jake White, as a temporary technical adviser to Tonga Buffalo 5 5 0 0 200 204 .500 Washington 3 7 0 0 204 256 .300 feeling,” Oakland linebacker Sio Moore told NY Jets 2 8 0 0 174 265 .200 NFC North boss Mana Otai, had smoothed some of the rougher edges from reporters. “I’m just happy to see that on both the tourists’ play. “I think Jake White’s had an influence on some AFC North Detroit 7 3 0 0 188 156 .700 sides of the ball, we finished it.” The defeat Cincinnati 6 3 1 0 224 221 .650 of their higher tackles and bigger hits,” said Cotter. “I think he Green Bay 7 3 0 0 330 225 .700 halted the Chiefs’ (7-4) five-game win streak Pittsburgh 7 4 0 0 288 263 .636 Chicago 4 6 0 1 215 290 .400 would like to keep 15 players on the paddock.” and saw them drop out of a tie for first place Baltimore 6 4 0 0 261 181 .600 Saturday’s match will the first major international to be staged Minnesota 4 6 0 0 181 220 .400 in the AFC West. Cleveland 6 4 0 0 216 195 .600 NFC South on a solely synthetic pitch and Cotter said he would have pre- AFC South The only sour note for the Raiders was the Atlanta 4 6 0 0 238 255 .400 ferred to have faced the Tongans on a more conventional sur- Indianapolis 6 4 0 0 310 253 .600 loss of running back Latavius Murray, who New Orleans 4 6 0 2 261 252 .400 face.