BrainTrust66

This thread is intended to be a walk down memory lane to kill time during the bye week - it is by no means a predictor of anything, especially given how long ago it was.

1996

Denver Broncos (13-3) are #1 seed in the AFC
New England Patriots (11-5) are the #2 seed in the AFC

In the divisional round, the fairly recent expansion Jaguars (coached by Tom Coughlin) upset the Broncos 30-27 behind Natrone Means (186 total yards, 1 TD). Broncos are led by a future Hall of Fame QB with a reputation for not being able to win the big game.

The next day (Sunday) the Patriots kill the Steelers in the fog in Foxboro. Not a bad day for Curtis Martin - 166 yards, 19 carries, 3 TD's including one for 78yards.

The following week the Patriots earn a trip to their 2nd Super Bowl...in New Orleans...against the Packers

Maybe the Bengals will be this year's Jaguars? BJGE plays Natrone Means?
Perhaps a SuperDome rematch with the Packers...only with a better result?

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"The true competitors, though, are the ones who always play to win."
- Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr.

"It's not a lie if you believe it"
- George Costanza

Bman12

I hope the Broncos get upset this year.

chris_in_sunnyvale

I vaguely remember that game. Broncos rode Terrell Davis all year, then decide to abandon the run vs. Jax. Broncos were down 23-13 in the 4th quarter, then show some old Elway 4th quarter magic and score TDs on two consecutive possessons. Unfortunately for them, Jax sandwiched a TD of their own between Denver's (I think a long bomb to Keenan McKardell).

Pats got a bonus SB appearance out of that. No way they win in Denver back then. Denver simply owned the Pats in the Elway years and that 1995-1998 stretch was brutal (blowouts each year). Also no way warm-weather Jax was pulling out a 3rd cold-weather road playoff game (although the temps in Buffalo and Denver were no where near as cold as in Foxboro that January).

Regards,
Chris

PatsWickedPissah

I was at that fog shrouded game. Bought 4 tix from a scalper and treated brother, brother-in-law and daughter to a playoff game. The Pats fired their guns pre-game and that smoke added to the fog made the field barely visible.

Started off with a bomb from Drew Bledsoe to "her" tackled at the 4 yd line. TD followed. CM ran wild and the D absolutely destroyed the Steelers.

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RIP Vince Flynn. Condolences to family and friends.

CYA_PATS_DEN>NE_2012AFCCG

You fail to mention what happened in the two years after that.

The last time the Broncos were the #1 seed, they won the Superbowl.

Also, the last time Brady faced the Broncos in Denver in the playoffs he was sent home with the first playoff defeat of his career.

BrainTrust66

As I wrote, not meant to be a predictor of anything just a little reminiscing with my fellow fans, but if this is what makes you feel better about yourself then by all means, have at it.

__________________
"The true competitors, though, are the ones who always play to win."
- Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr.

"It's not a lie if you believe it"
- George Costanza

jcdavey

i remember that pats at denver playoff game, before denver got destroyed by the steelers

i still think the PI call on asante samuel in the endzone was BS, and i still think champ bailey was out at the 1 on the int return for a td

but denver played a hell of a game that day

signbabybrady

Well we already have had a similar scenario from our 01 run play out to help us get a bye week so why not more similar scenarios to help us get back to the Bowl.

In 01 the Jets in a meaningless game played hard and beat the Raiders allowing us to capture the bye a lot like Indy just did for us.

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CYA_PATS_DEN>NE_2012AFCCG

That's how it was called. They ran it in for a TD on the very next play.

signbabybrady

Nice way to call him out.

What I think what he meant to say is that the ball was knocked out at the one and carried into the endzone and should have been a touchback.

From my biased perspective that was how I saw it but clearly my eyes cant be trusted in this instance. What I will say is that the Refs are not to blame as this happened 100 yards away from where the play started and there was no way for them to be there. But to take it further this is a prime example of why there should be a camera always pointing straight down the goal lines and straight down the out of bounds line. These should be on both sides and ends of the field and these should be fairly high pointing down to try and avoid people in the way but apparently the NFL doesnt have enough money to afford 8 extra cameras per game.

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