Stars und Sternchen! » Schmidts drivers went 1-2 on

DENVER - The Denver Broncos are 13-3 and own the AFCs top seed, just like last year. Only this time, theyve lost to each of the three remaining teams in the bracket. The Colts won 39-33 on Oct. 20 in Peyton Mannings unhappy homecoming in Indianapolis. The Patriots won 34-31 in overtime on Nov. 24 in Wes Welkers disappointing return to New England And, San Diego handed the Broncos their only loss in Denver 27-20 on Dec. 12. The Chargers earned a return trip to the Mile High City by upsetting Cincinnati 27-10 Sunday in the wild-card round. The original AFL teams have never met in the playoffs. Some Broncos admitted last year they were overly confident after roaring into the playoffs on an 11-game winning streak only to lose 38-35 in double-overtime to Baltimore, a team it had beaten handily on the road in December. That shouldnt be a problem this time. The Chargers held the Broncos, the highest-scoring team of the Super Bowl era at 37.9 points a game, to their lowest output of the season last month. "Its fresh in our minds that if we dont do our best, we can get beat at home," wide receiver Bubba Caldwell said. "Baltimore a year ago, San Diego a month ago." Denver was without Welker (concussion) against the Chargers that night, which cost them on third down (3 for 8) and in time of possession (22 minutes for Manning, 38 for Philip Rivers). Ryan Mathews helped the Chargers gain more than 100 yards on the ground on first down, a problem the Broncos addressed with the signing of defensive end Jeremy Mincey a few days later after his release by the Jaguars. Mincey has helped seal off the edge and curtail opponents running games. And Welker is set to return for the playoffs after missing the final 3 1/2 games. But the Broncos also enter the playoffs without star linebacker Von Miller (knee) and a slew of other injured players on defence, one reason they so desperately wanted the home-field advantage and first-round bye again. San Diegos win in Denver was one of four straight that helped the Chargers (10-7) sneak into the playoffs. "SD it is! Excited! Im done with sitting around. Now we have work to do!" guard Zane Beadles tweeted Sunday night. The Broncos and Chargers will be playing at Sports Authority Field exactly one year after Denvers devastating defeat to the Ravens when Rahim Moores mistimed jump allowed Jacoby Jones 70-yard TD catch from Joe Flacco in the final minute that tied it at 35. "The main thing we really learned was as a team, we have to play 60 minutes," Denver wide receiver Demaryius Thomas said. "Nobody is going to give up, because its do-or-die." Broncos coach John Fox and his former offensive co-ordinator Mike McCoy took a lot of heat after that playoff pratfall for their conservative approach late in the game, especially when Manning was ordered to take a knee with 31 seconds and three timeouts remaining in regulation. McCoy was hired as San Diegos head coach a few days later. Under his tutelage, Rivers, who is 6-2 in Denver, enjoyed a resurgent season and the Chargers ended a three-year playoff drought. On Sunday, they won their first playoff game since 2008 — against Mannings Colts. "Im not worried about last year, to tell you the truth," Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno said on Friday. "Im ready for this year, ready for this new season. Last year is last year. Lets get it going this year." Chad Williams Jersey . - For years William Gay kept quiet. Christian Kirk Jersey . Seth Smith hit a towering drive for a tying homer leading off the eighth and Chris Denorfia singled home two runs to give the Padres a 3-1 victory against the rival Dodgers in baseballs North American opener Sunday night. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Sam-Bradford-Jersey/ .ca NHL Power Rankings, finally overtaking the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, who rank second and third this week. Chad Williams Cardinals Jersey . Rooneys latest piece of football genius lost in the furore which now stalks David Moyes, and the man who gave the Manchester United striker his start as a 16-year old at Goodison Park back in 2002. Andre Smith Cardinals Jersey . The 23-year-old Woods, Tiger Woods niece, closed with a 4-under 69 at Royal Pines to finish at 16-under 276. Lee also shot 69 in the event sanctioned by the European and Australian tours. Woods birdied the par-5 15th to open a two-stroke lead, hitting a wedge from about 120 yards to 4 feet.HOUSTON -- Not everything was bigger in Texas on a hot and humid weekend in which a pair of small IndyCar teams claimed the commemorative cowboy boots from the Grand Prix of Houston. Sam Schmidts drivers went 1-2 on Sunday for the first time in team history as Simon Pagenaud grabbed the win and led rookie teammate Mikhail Aleshin to the checkered flag. Pagenaud used the win, his second of the season, to climb back into the championship race. He came to Houston trailing Will Power by 91 points, and cut it to 59 after the two races. "Its fantastic for the race team and the entire organization," said Pagenaud, who admitted after the race to feeling "a little faint" from temperatures that soared into the 90s. "The whole team has elevated to top team level." Aleshin, the first Russian to compete in IndyCar, was a career-best second for his first podium and said a tire problem nearly prevented him from making it to the finish. "Its definitely an amazing day for the team," he said. "We are one of the fastest cars on the track and I think we did an amazing job today. The whole team did an amazing job." Third went to rookie Jack Hawksworth, his first career podium. It capped a breakthrough weekend for the British driver, who finished a career-best sixth Saturday. "Its been rough this year, weve been fast sometimes and just not quite made it happen," said Hawksworth. "Weve not quite put it together and today we did." A day earlier, Dale Coyne Racing scored its first win of the year with rookie Carlos Huertas. The rookie led a Colombian sweep of the rain-soaked podium alongside countrymen Juan Pablo Montoya and rookie Carlos Munoz. It was a race Pagenaud thought he should have won. He spent the previous week training in California for the heat and humidity, and won the pole for the first race of the doubleheader. His race was ruined, though, first by a spin and then when he was collected in Scott Dixons crash. He finished 16th in the first race. "I was so disappointed Saturday because we had such a fast car this weekend," he said. Power, the points leader, rallied from another poor qualifyying effort to put himself in position for a third-place finish.dddddddddddd But he failed to make it to the finish line when a part broke on his car two laps from the finish. Pagenaud, Aleshin and Power had peeled away from the pack, leaving Hawksworth behind for a spirited battle to hold on for fourth-place. Then Power went off course and fell to 11th. Still, he entered the weekend with a 39 point lead in the standings and that was unchanged. Hoping to close ground on Power this weekend was Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, who was ninth Saturday but started from the pole on Sunday looking for a win. Instead, he was chasing Pagenaud from second for the lead early in the race when he drove into Sebastien Bourdais. Castroneves had been setting up his pass of Pagenaud and apparently didnt see Bourdais when he suddenly tried to cut into the same lane as Bourdais. Castroneves wound up 21st. "I was attacking and trying to pass Pagenaud, and I had no idea (Bourdais) was there," Castroneves said. "When I am attacking, I cant have my eyes on the back. Its absolutely ridiculous why the guy had to put the car over there. Its the rules of traffic, when a guy hits a guy in the back, its his fault. I am upset, yes, because we had a great car and its just a shame to have drivers like that who do not use common sense." The contact broke Bourdais front wing while he was running third, caused him to fall through the field, but he rallied to finish fifth, behind Charlie Kimball, despite the damage. It marked consecutive top-five finishes for the first time this season for Bourdais. "He changed lanes and we made pretty heavy contact," Bourdais said of Castroneves move. "That busted my front wing pretty good. After that it was a tough fight. I had to be really creative to compensate for the balance of the car." Huertas, winner Saturday, and Munoz, who finished third on Saturday, both failed to finish on Sunday and were the first two cars out. It was a topsy-turvy weekend like that in which Munoz was the only driver from the big three teams -- Andretti Autosport, Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske -- to earn a podium. 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