The Official Patriots/Broncos Post Game Thread

[DaBruinz]

Statistically, this Denver team is good, but I think the Indy 05 and 06 teams had better weapons.

No, I've wanted to love Chandler Jones, but it's hard to get excited about him as our future on the edge. He's not clutch, and he doesn't dominate. He had one sack in the last five games IIRC.

Chandler Jones has been double and triple teamed all year and he still put up 11+ sacks. Many without the help of DTs to draw double teams.

Many people seem to not understand that Jones was only a Sophmore this year and that he's still getting better. And that with guys lone Collins stepping up and, hopefully a healthy Wilfork back on the D-line, things will get better.

 

[PatsSox363804]

The first 2 Patriots drives were awful, especially that deep ball to Slater, I mean what the hell are they thinking there? I hate when they try to get cute on 3rd and short and throw deep, that's NEVER been your game so stop forcing it.

Other than that they didn't execute on key plays all day long and Denver did, period. I wouldn't say Brady had a bad game, he missed that deep ball to Edelman early and that sideline pass to Collie, which in a normal game probably doesn't hurt as much, but the defense could not stop Manning from running up 8 minute drives. It was very similar to Superbowl 46 where you look at the points allowed and say the defense didn't play badly but it doesn't tell the whole story. Sucks that 2 years in a row Talib goes down and changes the entire defense in the most important game of the year.

All that said, this team went further than most teams would have with their injuries. Good season.

 

[Guts]

This loss is on Brady. The better QB won, and Manning > Brady. Saying that makes me want to puke, but it's true. Brady can only miss so many deep throws before we're forced to acknowledge that his deep ball sucks, and you can't be an elite QB in today's NFL with a garbage deep ball.

I also hope we let Talib walk in FA. As important as it is to have a guy with his skills, he isn't the kind of guy you want to pay. Only shows up in contract years and doesn't play through pain. They should've had to carry him off the field today.

Hahahahahaha have Manning throw to Mulligan, Edelman, Collie, a rookie Dobson, and Amendola. Tom kept fighting even almost made it a game. Defense couldn't stop a third down to save their lives and the Broncos offense just had to much talent. Go Seattle again

 

[sb1]

Oddly enough, as much as this kills, at the end of the day, this wouldn't make my top 5 worst playoff losses.

1. 2007 SB
2. 2011 SB
3. 2006 AFCG
4. 2011 AFCG
5. 2010 Jets loss (2010 Pats team was so ****ing good, inexcusable)

You know, this team actually reminds me a lot of the 2011 Celtics.

Greats late in their career (Brady/Belichick) vastly overachieving in a weak conference before meeting up with the undisputed top dog, who just proved to be too much.

You're happy they even made it this far, but there's no way not to be depressed about coming so close and falling short. Especially when you Brady will be 37 next year.

I think the 2010 Jets loss annoyed me a lot more than losing SB 46. I mean it was Mark Sanchez beating a 14-2 team at home. And Rex and a bunch of other goofs in green running their mouths before and after the game, and knowing a player I can't stand (Lady Ann Tomlinson) got one over on the Pats...

This loss also isn't in my top 5.

 

[Shed83]

This was lost today about 5 weeks ago and thousands of miles away in Miami.

That loss to the dolphins cost is a good shot at winning the conference!

Depressing!!

 

[letekro]

I think a lot of folks are being way to critical of the patriots in general. Some of this is just bad luck, any team that loses the number of quality players they did would have difficulty.

Brady had his opportunities and didn't use them. It happens, the guy isn't perfect and manning has done the same thing. Folks there are no shutdown corners anymore and there never will be again, the NFL wants scoring, so do the fans, you can't give any QB 5 seconds because the rules play to the receivers. Don't blame chandler either I watched that guy get double and TRIPLE teamed today.

I find it very unfortunate that so many folks think this team can't win or is terrible, they have good players, there is no rookie playing now that is a factor for any team, that's how it works. This team will be better for the experience they had.

This is not doom and gloom, we have a team that has been in it for 12 years, think about how special that is. And they will be in it next year again., maybe we can sign decker or Thurmond .

Sheeple following the media hype. All they hear all week is "Brady vs. Manning" so they think that's what football is about.

It's about matchups, and they were certainly not in our favor today. Knighton owned the middle, their two decent DB's were more than enough for our two decent WR's and once Talib went out, we had to compensate for D. Thomas, which opened up everything.

 

[Marqui]

I wish they had another good pass rusher to get some attention off Jones.

 

[RayClay]

We didn't have much margin for error against a high scoring team but we could have won, it wasn't a blowout.

Agree with what people said about the relative O and D Lines. I know they aren't that much better physically, so I hav to say the game plans and Brady's performance were not great.

Peyton threw some risky passes and got away with them, but you have to respect their play calling and performance in the trenches. They outplayed us more than the score would indicate.

I hate to waste any opportunity, because you never know which team will have it when the big game comes but...we are generally a young team and we don't need 5 first rounders at WR, just health and additions at the positions we got hit by injuries IMO. Ch Jones and Cunningham will be much better when we have a dominant interior line again. Knighton's a far cry from wilfork, but he still destroyed the pocket a number of times. if you never collapse the pocket, outside rushers won't get a lot done.

 

[PATSNUTme]

The Patriots got beat at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball today. You don't win football games when you lose those battles.

In all, I had a lot of fun watching this team this year. They showed a lot of grit during the last half of the season. I don't know how people can expect more from a team that had so many injuries and 14 rookies on the roster.

 

[SoCal Pmen]

When playing on the road in Denver, NY and Miami throw the stats and trends out the window

 

[obgod3]

I would like to see every other elite QB throw deep balls to slot WRs or S/T guys.
Dobson could be a good NFL player, but with his injury he has been a non factor last two months

I would bet we find out Dobson has surgery in the next couple weeks to fix that foot...he will be good I am certain, he has massive potential, so does Tompkins, but they hit the normal rookie wall this year. But I agree with you 100%.

 

[DaBruinz]

Did you miss all the times that our RBs including superstar Blount got stuffed? Knighton owned Wendell, we couldn't run inside at all.

They need to grab three offensive linemen, one of which is a quality center, get a stud tight end, and find a decent CB and hope that gronk and Talib and the WRs stay healthy. We will be a complete team if we can manage it.

I didn't miss anything. Maybe YOU missed the fact that they only ran the ball like 14 times all game (not including Brady's impromptu romp for the TD). Maybe you missed the fact that they only ran 5 times in the 1st half. If you think that is having problem with the running game, then it's your understanding that is the problem. As I pointed out, the Pats didn't come out RUNNING the ball and they let Denver dictate what the Pats were going to do.

Maybe you should read other posts where I pointed out that Wendell was an issue all game (and most of the season). You should also read that most people here don't have a clue what constituted a good CB.

 

[nabwong]

The patriots saved me in a lot of money after this loss. I guess that's a positive.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Hahahahahaha have Manning throw to Mulligan, Edelman, Collie, a rookie Dobson, and Amendola. Tom kept fighting even almost made it a game. Defense couldn't stop a third down to save their lives and the Broncos offense just had to much talent. Go Seattle again

You would almost have a point if Brady hadn't been missing open receivers downfield all day. You would have had a point in 2010, when the issue was that the receivers just didn't get open and the line didn't block.

That wasn't the story today. Today, the receivers did their jobs, no matter what their names and salaries are. They got open and Brady consistently failed to hit them.

 

[TomPatriot]

If one block from Wes Welker can render you unable to play, then maybe you're not physically cut out to play in the NFL. Part of the job is playing through loads of pain. There are other guys who I'm confident would have been shot up and played through it. Talib, unfortunately, isn't that guy, and we have two seasons of him being knocked out of games to back that up. This isn't gronk, where it takes broken bones and torn ligaments to get him off the field.

I agree. You came out of the locker room. Get on the damn field. Even if you can't go, lift your team by trying to play. If you can't go, you can't go, but at least get on the field and try.

In many ways it was like last year's AFCG against the Ravens. They got beaten up and that's a problem. It's not just Talib.

 

[chasa]

we need to upgrade the talent on this team. BB and Brady can get us this far. Personnel on defense is putrid, need better weapons for brady.

no we need the talent that we have to be healthy we have the second youngest team in the league and we were missing 4-5 all pro players due to injury

 

[zimmy]

I hope we don't overreact. This team only needs minor tweaks for next year. We have one of the youngest rosters in the NFL and a lot of our players have shown some good development, while we will get some of our big guys back. We were outplayed today and Brady was off. We just couldn't get any pressure on Manning and with Talib out the young DBs couldn't hold up. But we're not too far off.

As far as off season needs we need some size on the outside, if thats Dobson then great but we need someone. We just cant keep asking Brady to thread the needle every play. It was unfair watching what he and Manning had to work with.

We also need some depth behind Jones/Nink and another DB if Talib leaves. Finally we really need some cover for Gronk.

 

[SeymourTrophies]

Chandler Jones has been double and triple teamed all year and he still put up 11+ sacks. Many without the help of DTs to draw double teams.

Many people seem to not understand that Jones was only a Sophmore this year and that he's still getting better. And that with guys lone Collins stepping up and, hopefully a healthy Wilfork back on the D-line, things will get better.

I only watch line play during games (until the camera doesn't allow it) and I only pay attention to DL in the draft. I know what an impact pass rusher looks like, and Chandler Jones isn't one.

There goes Aldon Smith strip-sacking Wilson with a fifth of whiskey in one hand.

 

[SoCal Pmen]

In the end both sides of the ball sucked. Moving forward Pats need to shore up their D

 

[manxman2601]

I only watch line play during games (until the camera doesn't allow it) and I only pay attention to DL in the draft. I know what an impact pass rusher looks like, and Chandler Jones isn't one.

There goes Aldon Smith strip-sacking Wilson with a fifth of whiskey in one hand.

So when was the last time we had the #7 pick in the draft?