Broncos-Giants preview!

Happenings in the three major sports this weekend: Game One of The 2005 WhoCares.Com Bowl, also known as the World Series, is tomorrow. (Seriously, it's time for baseball to swipe that BCS from college football. Yes, it's backwards, but a) it guarantees a recognizable matchup and b) so is baseball.)

The Sports Illustrated NBA season preview hits mailboxes and newsstands. The issue is notable only for its props to the Earl of Boykins, whose team it predicts to finish No. 2 (!) in the West.

And finally, a full slate of NFL games, which brings us to Broncos-Giants.

Now's a good time to point out that I missed something kind of big in the AFC West forecast earlier this week; namely, the Broncos' winning streak is even less impressive than my man Marvelous made it out to be. Why? Because in the last five weeks, the Broncos have already played half of their home games. That's right, four of the five wins came at Mile High II, meaning only four home dates the rest of the season.

Even worse, though our road schedule isn't quite brutal, it is loaded with quality teams-the Cowboys, Chargers and Bills joining Sunday's Giants. I know, that looks odd, but the Cowboys and Bills lead or are tied for the lead in their divisions.

But Sunday's game will tell us a lot more about the Broncos.

Anyway, the matchups:

Broncos Offense vs. Giants Defense: This should be a high-scoring game. The Broncos have been fantastic running the ball and only okay passing it this year, but the Giants' D is 31st in the league. Unless Jake Plummer pulls a Brett Favre and starts giving the Giants sacks on purpose-and you never know with that guy-the Broncos have a great chance to build on last week's breakout passing performance.

And the way the Broncos backfield has been performing, expect them to pile up big gains on the ground as well.

Edge: Broncos

Giants Offense vs. Broncos Defense: The Giants' 29.8 points per game leads the whole league right now, proving that the ability to produce gee-whiz regular season offensive statistics is passed on genetically. In all seriousness, neither the Giants' running or passing game has been spectacular enough on its own to really merit that kind of scoring, but a good return game has been helpful (and we're getting to that).

The Broncos' defense, despite it's also-low ranking, gives up eighty fewer yards per game than New York's, but is weak against the pass, New York's strong suit. If the Broncos can make the Giants one-dimensional-and that's sort of been Denver's M.O. all year-they might be able to slow New York. But playing on the road, that's a lot to ask.

Edge: Giants

Special Teams: Both teams have pretty solid kicking games. Denver has an edge on everyone in punting, though New York isn't far behind. New York's kicker, Jay Feely, has not missed a field goal or PAT this year. Jason Elam has five misses already but can still be dangerous in crunch time.

But the Giants' return game vastly outranks Denver's, with a kick and a punt returned for touchdowns already this season. The Broncos, of course, have none, though they can break that streak if they can remember to only keep eleven players on the field at a time.

Edge: Giants

Outlook: The Broncos fly in to New York on a five-game winning streak, but are looking at their toughest test so far (Miami notwithstanding). While I of course don't believe in Eli Manning, the Broncos will need a big game from Plummer to negate the likely home-field and field-position advantages. And he hasn't carried the team on his shoulders in a while.

It hurts to guess, but: Giants 27, Broncos 24.