My AFC playoff projections

I could be wrong with his numbers but isnt Brady 2-4 in Denver lifetime and 3-6 vs them?

Its still a statistic that plays in your head and I'm sure the media will bring up several times if we meet.

I really wanted that bye . Now we have to hope that Denver loses at least one game and looking at their opponents , I would say that would be slim.

sevengables_2207 said:

I also do not understand this fear of the Broncos. Their schedule has been cupcake city during their win streak.

Hearkening back to our matchup in October, I seem to recall the Patriots dog-walking that defense up and down the field at will. I think that purported "comeback" by the Broncos would never have manifested without that helmet-to-the-football hit from Miller on Ridley, which prevented the Patriots from securing the blowout win as they were marching down the field at ease.

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To their cupcake schedule, on their current nine game winning streak, seven of those wins are against teams that currently have six or less wins. One was against a streaky Bengals team that was on a three game losing streak when they met Denver. The last was a free falling Ravens team that has lost three of their last four games.

Against teams that currently have 9 or more wins (assuring they will have a winning record for the season), they are 1-3. Their only win is against Baltimore. Cincy and Pittsburgh the only other team that they have beaten that have a chance for a winning season.

As I said in another thread, they are a very good team that has been beating on the hot garbage of the NFL. They have yet to prove they can beat an elite team in this league.

jsho said:

I could be wrong with his numbers but isnt Brady 2-4 in Denver lifetime and 3-6 vs them?

Its still a statistic that plays in your head and I'm sure the media will bring up several times if we meet.

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A more telling number would be the most recent matchups, which the Patriots have owned. Reason being is that the personnel is current. Stats and wins/losses from several years ago tell us nothing, IMO.

The mainstream media may very well bring that up, but it will be for histrionics per usual, with little to no substance for clout.

Rob0729 said:

To their cupcake schedule, on their current nine game winning streak, seven of those wins are against teams that currently have six or less wins. One was against a streaky Bengals team that was on a three game losing streak when they met Denver. The last was a free falling Ravens team that has lost three of their last four games.

Against teams that currently have 9 or more wins (assuring they will have a winning record for the season), they are 1-3. Their only win is against Baltimore. Cincy and Pittsburgh the only other team that they have beaten that have a chance for a winning season.

As I said in another thread, they are a very good team that has been beating on the hot garbage of the NFL. They have yet to prove they can beat an elite team in this league.

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Agree on them being a very good team. And as you pointed out above, they have yet to beat an elite team. Losses to Atlanta, Houston, and New England leave doubt as to how they will compete when they are not playing the dregs of the competition or catching a team in internal flux (Baltimore).

That game against Pittsburgh was on opening weekend, no? Tough to use that as proof Denver can beat winning teams since it was such a long time ago and both were 0-0.

One may argue that the Atlanta, Houston, and New England losses happened during the first half of the season, and that this is a different team now, but that is a spurious argument because their schedule has been so favorable for them and bereft of any of the NFL "powerhouses".

I think you can book the fact that the Pats will be in the superbowl. Probably against the 9ers or the Hawks.

They have been killing folks just about all year and have not had AH and Gronk together pretty much all year. Maybe people dont understand how good Gronk is, or maybe they just want to pretend like they can be that "objective fan" but he is that good. He does make that much of a difference. I dont think they are held to 3 in the first half with him, and I dont think SF passrush would be nearly as effective. I also think if he had 2 ankles, they would be playing for their 5th superbowl win this season instead of their 4th.

the killed the Texans without Gronk
they had a 28 point comeback with out Gronk.

Now, lets use our brains and add Gronk into the mix and see what happens.

Bring on anyone at any place.

Sivy said:

I think you can book the fact that the Pats will be in the superbowl. Probably against the 9ers or the Hawks.

They have been killing folks just about all year and have not had AH and Gronk together pretty much all year. Maybe people dont understand how good Gronk is, or maybe they just want to pretend like they can be that "objective fan" but he is that good. He does make that much of a difference. I dont think they are held to 3 in the first half with him, and I dont think SF passrush would be nearly as effective. I also think if he had 2 ankles, they would be playing for their 5th superbowl win this season instead of their 4th.

the killed the Texans without Gronk
they had a 28 point comeback with out Gronk.

Now, lets use our brains and add Gronk into the mix and see what happens.

Bring on anyone at any place.

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I like the Pats' chances, but I don't know if you can bank on anything in the playoffs.

As much as I hate to say it, the Pats will not win in Denver. It just won't happen.

sevengables_2207 said:

Agree on them being a very good team. And as you pointed out above, they have yet to beat an elite team. Losses to Atlanta, Houston, and New England leave doubt as to how they will compete when they are not playing the dregs of the competition or catching a team in internal flux (Baltimore).

That game against Pittsburgh was on opening weekend, no? Tough to use that as proof Denver can beat winning teams since it was such a long time ago and both were 0-0.

One may argue that the Atlanta, Houston, and New England losses happened during the first half of the season, and that this is a different team now, but that is a spurious argument because their schedule has been so favorable for them and bereft of any of the NFL "powerhouses".

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I agree with the whole "the Broncos are a different team now" that many people are saying. Are they a much improved team from the 2-3 team after the Patriots loss or was their schedule much easier after the first five games of the season?

mosi said:

As much as I hate to say it, the Pats will not win in Denver. It just won't happen.

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Yes they will. Some people need to stop this nonsense and stop putting so much weight on home field advantage.

We just got beat in Gillette stadium by a first year starting QB in the cold and rain(one of the most ideal conditions against a west coast team).
We lost to Arizona at Gillette stadium.
The Giants made 2 Superbowls by going on the road.


Why the hell can't we go on the road and win games? What are we the Saints or Seattle?

This is a mentally tough team and whether they play at home or on the road isn't going to make a difference to them. Just to us the fans. They're hungry, they want it, and it doesn't matter where they have to go. The Superbowl isn't played at home either.

I'm not scared at all about going on the road. We'll be fine at Reliant, we'll be fine at Mile High. We'll be fine wherever we have to go. We'll be ready.

mosi said:

As much as I hate to say it, the Pats will not win in Denver. It just won't happen.

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Well, if the Pats get the #3 seed and the Broncos get the #2 seed, the Pats should just throw the game in the Wild Card round so they can get a jump on their offseason.

I won't say the Pats will definitely win, but I don't think there is a team in the AFC that is better than the Pats and cannot beat anywhere.

Rob0729 said:

I agree with the whole "the Broncos are a different team now" that many people are saying. Are they a much improved team from the 2-3 team after the Patriots loss or was their schedule much easier after the first five games of the season?

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We shall find out soon enough in the postseason. Most likely, there will not be a Cleveland, or Oakland, or KC coming to Mile High in the divisional round...

My guess is somewhere in the middle. They have improved, like most good teams tend to do over the course of the season, but to the extent of being able to handle the Texans, Patriots, or to a lesser extent the Steelers (even though they beat them opening weekend) is something that remains to be seen.

I think people here are giving the Broncos a little too much credit. They have played a hideous schedule, and most of their wins have been by 1 or at most 2 scores. The Pats can go to Mile High and hang 35 on them and that will be enough to beat them.

sevengables_2207 said:

We shall find out soon enough in the postseason. Most likely, there will not be a Cleveland, or Oakland, or KC coming to Mile High in the divisional round...

My guess is somewhere in the middle. They have improved, like most good teams tend to do over the course of the season, but to the extent of being able to handle the Texans, Patriots, or to a lesser extent the Steelers (even though they beat them opening weekend) is something that remains to be seen.

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I agree it is some middle ground there, but the media and a lot of fans act like they had a murder's row of teams that they stomped. The AFC West other than them are the worst division in football. The NFC South outside of Atlanta aren't much better. And those are the teams they faced.

Rob0729 said:

I agree it is some middle ground there, but the media and a lot of fans act like they had a murder's row of teams that they stomped. The AFC West other than them are the worst division in football. The NFC South outside of Atlanta aren't much better. And those are the teams they faced.

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Unfortunately for the donkeys they will have the same issue we faced in years past. They played soooooooft teams here recently. Even the Ravens crumbled and didn't give them much of a fight.

They will finish out against 2 bad teams who won't test them very much and prepare them for what they will see in the playoffs. If they get a bye week, there's a good chance they will get smacked in the mouth in the playoffs.

Rob0729 said:

I agree it is some middle ground there, but the media and a lot of fans act like they had a murder's row of teams that they stomped. The AFC West other than them are the worst division in football. The NFC South outside of Atlanta aren't much better. And those are the teams they faced.

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True. And let us not forget that game against the Chargers where they came back from a huge first-half deficit in dramatic fashion. The media seemingly used this game as a jumping-on point for the "Denver is elite" bandwagon. Lost in translation is the fact that San Diego sucks at football.

AllstonPatsFan said:

I think people here are giving the Broncos a little too much credit. They have played a hideous schedule, and most of their wins have been by 1 or at most 2 scores. The Pats can go to Mile High and hang 35 on them and that will be enough to beat them.

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Yeah, I'm not really understanding this fear of Denver. The media can slobber all over them and their streak all they want, they haven't beaten anyone this season. Let's see, losses to NE, Houston and Atlanta. You can argue they were all early-season and Manning was still getting into his groove but you could also argue the Pats defense is improved from where it was in that game. Since then they've beaten two teams with winning records (Cincy and Baltimore). I'll give them the Cincy win, that's a decent squad. But Baltimore is a shell of their first half team, their offense is horrid, they fired their OC, and their defense is in tatters because of injuries. Besides that...KC, NO, Carolina, SD (twice), TB and Oakland. Those are some pretty dreadful teams and mostly awful, terrible defenses. We handled them earlier in the year when our defense was looking horrific, I think they'd do it again in the playoffs.

sevengables_2207 said:

True. And let us not forget that game against the Chargers where they came back from a huge first-half deficit in dramatic fashion. The media seemingly used this game as a jumping-on point for the "Denver is elite" bandwagon. Lost in translation is the fact that San Diego sucks at football.

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Well, you just described why I don't think nearly as highly of the Broncos as many. They really are like the Pats of 2010. They are two different teams each half. The Broncos consistently struggle in the first half to put up points. Many teams go toe to toe with them or totally blow them out in the first half. It is in the second half where they come alive and put up the points. Against bad teams like the Chargers and Chiefs, it leads to wins. Against good teams like the Pats and Texans, it leads them getting blown out but look a lot closer because of garbage time points.

Rob0729 said:

Well, you just described why I don't think nearly as highly of the Broncos as many. They really are like the Pats of 2010. They are two different teams each half. The Broncos consistently struggle in the first half to put up points. Many teams go toe to toe with them or totally blow them out in the first half. It is in the second half where they come alive and put up the points. Against bad teams like the Chargers and Chiefs, it leads to wins. Against good teams like the Pats and Texans, it leads them getting blown out but look a lot closer because of garbage time points.

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Another aspect I question is their "dominant" D. Outside of Miller and possibly Champ, I do not see a player that has to be game-planned for. That unit has been the proverbial crow feasting on the carcasses of what passes for NFL offenses during their winning streak, with the only exception being New Orleans IIRC. And even the Saints offense has seemingly been Jekyll and Hyde this season.

I would love to see how the Broncos can possibly cover both of our tight ends and Welker, even if Lloyd is neutralized by Champ.

Denver can rush from the outside with Von and Elvis, but Brady is so adept at avoiding edge rushers. It is pressure up the middle that may throw him off, and Denver does not have a dominant interior rush to my knowledge.

I also still feel the front seven can be run on by Ridley, Bolden, Woodhead and Co.

In short, nothing has changed personnel-wise or schematically from October that leads me to fear facing this "dominant" Denver defense.

sevengables_2207 said:

Another aspect I question is their "dominant" D. Outside of Miller and possibly Champ, I do not see a player that has to be game-planned for. That unit has been the proverbial crow feasting on the carcasses of what passes for NFL offenses during their winning streak, with the only exception being New Orleans IIRC. And even the Saints offense has seemingly been Jekyll and Hyde this season.

I would love to see how the Broncos can possibly cover both of our tight ends and Welker, even if Lloyd is neutralized by Champ.

Denver can rush from the outside with Von and Elvis, but Brady is so adept at avoiding edge rushers. It is pressure up the middle that may throw him off, and Denver does not have a dominant interior rush to my knowledge.

I also still feel the front seven can be run on by Ridley, Bolden, Woodhead and Co.

In short, nothing has changed personnel-wise or schematically from October that leads me to fear facing this "dominant" Denver defense.

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Well said, I'm in complete agreement. Barring a sloppy, turnover-laden game I'm very confident in a Pats win against Denver, even on the road. The next time they play a good team will be the first since their three losses in the beginning of the year...running the table for a long stretch is always impressive in the NFL, but it doesn't exactly say much about this team that they've lost three of their four games against good teams (I'm including NE, Atlanta, Houston and Cincy...Baltimore is an absolute train wreck right now).