everlong
Veteran Starter w/Big Long Term Deal
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2007
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I'd like to try to keep this as how to best defend the Broncos offense and attack their defense and really not argue about result or glass half empty\full crap.
Talib, Dennard, Arrington, Ryan, McCourty, Gregory and Collins, yes Collins.
I think the Pats are going to play nearly exclusively in nickle and dime and I think Collins is going to play almost all of the game and get the task of matching up with Julius Thomas.
I'm torn as to if the Pats will play a cover two or drop down Gregory and play just McCourty over the top. I think Bill will likely mix and match. For all the talk over the years about dink and dunk that's essentially what Manning has become. He will go deep and hit some but his percentage deep isn't what it was once upon a time with Harrison and Wayne.
Talib gets Demaryius Thomas again and Dennard will get Decker. Welker and Caldwell will fall to Ryan and Arrington. While I really like Arrington's physicality against the slot and his willingness to be just as physical against the run Ryan's instincts and ability to look for the ball make me want him in their more. I think he could be that player who gets the important pick that changes the game.
Hightower's role for this game is interesting. He drew a lot of criticism this year and some of it warranted and some of it was because the positional change and not having Mayo around. I really thought the last three games of the regular season he turned the corner and he was great against the Colts. That said I think they're going to concede yards to Moreno again and I still think he's a liability in coverage. They obviously aren't benching him but I think they have to find a creative way to make him effective.
The D-Line has a tough matchup. Credit the Broncos for dealing with all the injuries on the O-Line and having a great unit. They got knocked around in the regular season matchup and hopefully they can control their gaps a little better. Jones, Nink and Carter are going to have to find some consistent pressure. I'll be really interested in who the ref is for this game because Jones was held a lot with no flags in the first matchup. If it's called like that again and Manning has all day it's a major advantage to the Broncos.
On offense I'm hoping for balance and a lot of play action. I'm praying Josh doesn't decide to go empty backfield. I have no idea about Thomkins or Dobson's status but right now it's 3 slot receivers, Vereen and Hoo-man. I think Edelman and Amendola will both have to sneak downfield some but as we've seen it's harder to get those balls in to the shorter receivers. Brady has historically picked apart Del Rio defenses and I doubt he comes up with any wrinkles.
The O-Line is the key and is going to have to continue playing the way they have. If they can do that and stay penalty free to keep the Pats out of long distance situations they should be able to control the game and clock and frustrate Manning.
If Denver wants to play man coverage I hope the Pats use the conventional running back screen to slow down the Denver rush and make them pay for their aggression. I wonder if Vereen loses the ball in the lights easily. He seems to not see it on those wheel routes. I'd like to see some Kevin Faulk type calls.
Talib, Dennard, Arrington, Ryan, McCourty, Gregory and Collins, yes Collins.
I think the Pats are going to play nearly exclusively in nickle and dime and I think Collins is going to play almost all of the game and get the task of matching up with Julius Thomas.
I'm torn as to if the Pats will play a cover two or drop down Gregory and play just McCourty over the top. I think Bill will likely mix and match. For all the talk over the years about dink and dunk that's essentially what Manning has become. He will go deep and hit some but his percentage deep isn't what it was once upon a time with Harrison and Wayne.
Talib gets Demaryius Thomas again and Dennard will get Decker. Welker and Caldwell will fall to Ryan and Arrington. While I really like Arrington's physicality against the slot and his willingness to be just as physical against the run Ryan's instincts and ability to look for the ball make me want him in their more. I think he could be that player who gets the important pick that changes the game.
Hightower's role for this game is interesting. He drew a lot of criticism this year and some of it warranted and some of it was because the positional change and not having Mayo around. I really thought the last three games of the regular season he turned the corner and he was great against the Colts. That said I think they're going to concede yards to Moreno again and I still think he's a liability in coverage. They obviously aren't benching him but I think they have to find a creative way to make him effective.
The D-Line has a tough matchup. Credit the Broncos for dealing with all the injuries on the O-Line and having a great unit. They got knocked around in the regular season matchup and hopefully they can control their gaps a little better. Jones, Nink and Carter are going to have to find some consistent pressure. I'll be really interested in who the ref is for this game because Jones was held a lot with no flags in the first matchup. If it's called like that again and Manning has all day it's a major advantage to the Broncos.
On offense I'm hoping for balance and a lot of play action. I'm praying Josh doesn't decide to go empty backfield. I have no idea about Thomkins or Dobson's status but right now it's 3 slot receivers, Vereen and Hoo-man. I think Edelman and Amendola will both have to sneak downfield some but as we've seen it's harder to get those balls in to the shorter receivers. Brady has historically picked apart Del Rio defenses and I doubt he comes up with any wrinkles.
The O-Line is the key and is going to have to continue playing the way they have. If they can do that and stay penalty free to keep the Pats out of long distance situations they should be able to control the game and clock and frustrate Manning.
If Denver wants to play man coverage I hope the Pats use the conventional running back screen to slow down the Denver rush and make them pay for their aggression. I wonder if Vereen loses the ball in the lights easily. He seems to not see it on those wheel routes. I'd like to see some Kevin Faulk type calls.
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