Denver Broncos Loss Hurts in More Ways Than One

It was not a great day to be a Denver Broncos fan. The injuries began to pile up as tight end Julius Thomas, running back Montee Ball and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders all exited with injuries. Oh, and the Broncos lost the game to the St. Louis Rams. Who saw this one coming? In the latest example of why football is such a bizarre sport to follow, the Broncos coughed up a golden opportunity to solidify their position atop the AFC West when they fell victim to a revitalized Rams offense led by quarterback Shaun Hill. Maybe putting Hill back in at quarterback in place of Austin Davis was the right move after all. Who knew?
Peyton Manning threw for 374 yards and a touchdown, but he was picked off two times. Typically when Manning isn’t on his game, the Broncos struggle.
But here is the bigger problem. Without Ball in the lineup, the Broncos’ running game became stagnant. The Broncos only rushed for 28 yards in this contest, which could prove problematic if Ball and Ronnie Hillman remain out of the lineup for extended periods of time.
There’s no question that this loss hurt for Denver. The Kansas City Chiefs held off the Seattle Seahawks 24-20, which elevated the Chiefs into a tie for first place in the AFC West. This makes the big Sunday night showdown on Nov. 30 huge for both teams’ chances to win the division.

Congo 0-2 Nigeria: Uche and Samuel keeps Afcon hopes alive

The pair struck to ensure the Super Eagles still have a chance of reaching the finals heading into their last qualifier Ikechukwu Uche and Aaron Samuel both scored to keep Nigeria's hopes of Africa Cup of Nations qualification alive in a morale-boosting 2-0 win over Congo on Saturday. A tight first half yielded few clear-cut chances, but the visitors made the breakthrough just before the hour mark when Emmanuel Emenike was brought down inside the box and Uche kept his cool from the spot. Thievy Bifouma missed a penalty for the hosts five minutes later and Samuel wrapped up the points with a tidy finish in the last minute, with angry home fans causing a slight delay when they threw missiles onto the pitch. The result moves Nigeria into second place, with goal difference pushing them ahead of Congo heading into the final round of games in Group A. Congo started brightly and saw Bifouma spurn two presentable chances inside the opening 10 minutes, while Fode Dore also skewed wide when well placed seven minutes before half-time.

The visitors suffered an early blow after the interval when Hope Akpan went off injured, but they broke the deadlock soon after.

Chancel Massa fouled Emenike in the box and Uche beat the goalkeeper with a low finish into the bottom-left corner from 12 yards. Congo were given a chance to level the scores with a penalty of their own after Godfrey Oboabona was adjudged to have handled a Prince Oniangue shot. Bifouma stepped up to take the kick, but Vincent Enyeama guessed correctly and pushed the striker's effort away to ensure Nigeria's lead remained intact. After Uche had wasted two chances to double Nigeria's lead, the hosts saw efforts from Francis N'Ganga and Delvin Ndinga go close, the latter denied by a great save from Enyeama

A swift counter-attack following that save saw Nigeria secure their victory, substitute Samuel curling a left-footed effort beyond Massa to give Keshi a winning return.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Saturday took opposition All Progressives Congress, APC to the cleaners after the Congo vs Nigeria football encounter. The fans of the home team went unruly after the Super Eagles found the back of the net the second time. Soon after substitute, Aaron Samuel curled a left-footed effort beyond Congo’s goalie, Chancel Massa in the final minutes of the match, the fans cursed and threw missiles onto the pitch.

EM-Quali: Fan rampage overshadowed Italy game

Riot in the European Championship qualifier: The match between Italy and Croatia has been overshadowed by fan riots and was about to crash. The 1: 1 (1: 1) in the San Siro Stadium in Milan had a quarter of an hour before the deadline will be interrupted after fireworks and smoke bombs were thrown onto the field from the Croatian block for the umpteenth time. 17 Croatian was subsequently arrested by the police. The Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers sent both teams temporarily in the cabins. After about ten minutes, the match between the four-time world champion and the leader of the European Championship qualifying Group H could be continued.

Already in the first half, the visiting fans have repeatedly thrown objects on the playfield. At this time the highlights from a sporting perspective were already set. The leadership of the host by Antonio Candreva (11 minutes) resembled Bundesliga player Ivan Perisic (15) from post. His Wolfsburg team-mate Ivica Olic denied in Milan his 100th game. Dortmund striker Ciro Immobile was in the starting line-up Italian. In the Group H table Croatia is tied with ten points ahead of second placed Italians.