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NEW YORK -- No Manning. No Brady, for the first four games. No clear-cut favorite in the AFC.With the regular season about to kick off, its anybodys guess wholl be the conferences representative at the Super Bowl in Houston in February.The defending champion Denver Broncos will try to become the first team to repeat since New England in 2004-05. But they wont have the retired Peyton Manning leading the way. Or even Brock Osweiler, who bolted from the Broncos and headed to Houston.Instead, Gary Kubiak and the Broncos have been trying to sort out a quarterback mix that includes veteran Mark Sanchez, 2015 seventh-rounder Trevor Siemian and rookie Paxton Lynch, the teams first-rounder this year.You want to see the other guy succeed, you want to see the team succeed, Sanchez said. So, whatever it takes to win, thats what well try to do.While their quarterback situation might be a big question mark, the Broncos know theyve got one of the leagues best defenses back, especially with the return of Super Bowl MVP Von Miller.If were like last year, our team didnt worry about the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said. They worried about how well they played. Thats what we want to do. We have to outplay the other teams defense. If they hold our team to not much, then we hold them to less. Thats the way we play the game.New England knows who its quarterback will be at the start of the season. Jimmy Garoppolo steps in for the suspended Tom Brady, wholl have to sit four games as a result of his role in the Deflategate scandal.That might make the Patriots stranglehold on the AFC East appear looser after winning the division the last seven years. Well, not so fast on writing off Bill Belichicks bunch.Belichick is Belichick, Buffalo safety Corey Graham said. Hes one of the best, so when its all said and done, you know hes going to get those guys prepared and make sure theyre ready to go.Pittsburgh might have as good a chance to win the AFC crown as anyone, especially if Ben Roethlisberger remains healthy. The Steelers went 10-6 and won a playoff game last season despite a down year for their playmaking quarterback because of injuries.Wide receiver Antonio Brown, among the most dynamic offensive player in the league, broke his own franchise records by catching 136 passes for 1,834 yards. Running back LeVeon Bell is back from torn knee ligaments and should provide a boost, but will be suspended the first three games of the regular season for missing multiple drug tests.The Steelers will also have to contend with AFC North rivals Cincinnati, which has made the postseason five straight years.Quarterback Andy Dalton is recovered from a broken thumb that kept him out of the Bengals first-round playoff loss to the Steelers. He was having a breakout season when he got hurt last December, setting a team record with a passer rating of 106.3. But Marvin Lewis offense will have a different look this season with coordinator Hue Jackson leaving to become Clevelands head coach and wide receivers Marvin Jones (Lions) and Mohamed Sanu (Falcons) signing elsewhere as free agents.The AFC South could be a toss-up, with Andrew Luck back from an inconsistent and injury-plagued season for Indianapolis. Houston has a new quarterback in Osweiler and running back in Lamar Miller, but star defensive end J.J. Watt is still recovering from back surgery. Jacksonville is coming off a 5-11 year, but showed promise with quarterback Blake Bortles breakthrough season with receivers Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns, who combined for 24 touchdown catches.Any stumbles by Denver might create an opening in the AFC West for Kansas City, which was a win away from the AFC title game despite not having running back Jamaal Charles for most of the season because of a torn knee ligament.Oakland also appears to be a team on the rise, led by quarterback Derek Carr. The Raiders could get off to a good start because they face just one playoff team from last season (Kansas City) in their first eight games.I believe we have a chance to be better, Broncos general manager John Elway said. Theres no question that the Raiders are better, the Chargers and Kansas City are going to be better, so that what makes it tough. Our division is one of the top divisions in the league now. Its going to be a battle within and thats why every game is going to count.(Corrects to Jacksonville going 5-11 last season)---AP Sports Writer John Wawrow contributed.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFLDeMarcus Cousins Jersey . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. Wholesale Warriors Jerseys China . -- Whether Jeremy Hill deserves a prominent role in LSUs offence this early in the season is a matter for debate. http://www.cheapwarriorsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=cheap-jacob-evans-jersey . All of the scoring came in the final 20:04. Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead. Golden State Warriors Jerseys . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Cheap Warriors Jerseys . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged.RIO DE JANEIRO -- The blowouts are over. The Olympics are underway.After nothing but pushovers this summer, the U.S. mens basketball team faced someone who pushed back.This is the real world now and thats good for us, coach Mike Krzyzewski said.Finally tested, Carmelo Anthony and Kyrie Irving had the answers.Anthony scored 31 points on the night he became the U.S. mens Olympic career scoring leader, combining with Irving for all the Americans baskets in the fourth quarter of a 98-88 victory over Australia on Wednesday night.Irving -- born in Australia -- added 19 points, including a 3-pointer with 1:35 left after Australia had closed within four.A team that won its first two games by a combined 101 points could never get a comfortable lead -- and for a while couldnt get one at all. The Australians, with big bodies inside, quality point guards to counter the American pressure and a wealth of NBA championship experience, stood toe to toe with the team that had blown them out of the last two Olympics in the quarterfinals.But Anthony, the first male to play in four Olympics, steadied the Americans in the first competitive game most of this new team had ever experienced.We kind of expected a game like this, a physical game, a grind-out game from playing against Australia over the past couple years, Anthony said, and going into tonight we knew it was going to come down to the end of the game where we were really going to have to buckle down and focus in and make plays down the stretch.Kevin Durant capped off the scoring with two free throws, making him the only other player than Irving or Anthony to score in the period.The Americans, who had barely broken a sweat in Brazil, trailed early in the fourth quarter before Anthony hit a flurry of 3-pointers to put the Americans on top.Patty Mills, the tournament scoring leader, had 30 points for Australia.After five easy exhibitions preceding routs of China and Venezuela to open the tournament, the Americans trailed 72-70 with about 9 minutes left. Anthony scored to tie it, hit a 3-pointer to give the Americans the lead for good, and then hit a couple more 3s that pushed it to 83-76.The team staying on a luxury cruise ship could never relax until scoring the final five points in the last 27 seconds on free throws, with Irving hitting the first three.The Americans, so carefree in their opener that rreserves DeMar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler played rock, paper, scissors to determine who would shoot a free throw, realized they were in a fight in this one.ddddddddddddIt got real, Paul George said. It definitely got real.An enraged Krzyzewski screamed at an official after Andrew Boguts hard foul on Irving just in front of the U.S. bench in the third quarter, his face looking as red as the shirts the coaching staff wore.Bogut finished with 15 points for the Australians, who have never won a medal but four of their players own NBA rings. They nearly became the first team to knock off the Americans in the Olympics since Krzyzewski took over in 2005.We have a pretty gritty group thats pretty tough and we battled all night, Bogut said.Australia had opened the Olympics with impressive victories over France and Serbia, both ranked among the top six in the world. Then the Aussies gave the team ranked No. 1 all it could handle.The Americans clinched a spot in the medal round, though that was never going to be in doubt.This game, though, was.It was the second straight game the Americans were tied after one quarter. They quickly blew away Venezuela after it was 18-all, but the only second-quarter surge in this one was made by Australians.They used a 15-3 burst to make it 46-39, and Krzyzewski actually needed a timeout to calm his team that by then can usually make its postgame plans.Anthony moved past LeBron James as the U.S. career leader in Olympic scoring and did it quickly, using a hot start to make up the 11-point advantage James had entering the game.Irving once considered playing for Australia, where he was born while his father was playing there professionally. He exchanged a pregame hug with Matthew Dellavedova, his former backup in Cleveland, but things didnt stay nice for long.The Aussies hit hard and the Americans hit back, with George getting a technical foul for a shot at Dellavedova.It was a welcome test for the Americans, who have been so dominant under Krzyzewski that it sometimes seems the U.S. players are the only ones who dont make a gold medal sound assured.Theyve said it wont come easily.Now theyve finally had a game that wasnt.---Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney ' ' '