Patriots vs Broncos Week

patsfanincleveland said:

What are the weaknesses? Not trying to be a **** but how about a little more? I personally only seen one at LB, and even them Marshall has been playing lights out. I think maybe their O line might have a kink in it but Manning is getting rid of the ball sub 3 seconds every play.[/QUO

So what?

Denver receivers are soft and show zero ability to handle press coverage.

The question you need to do is pull your head out of the donkey's rear and wonder how a lesser offense can handle this secondary.

As far as that defense, there are plenty of plays to be made.

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So lol I tried to ask an honest question politely and not be a jerk but you just had to huh. Good job.

A lesser offense, whatever.

The only thing I'm worried about is injuries. The Denver Broncos, with their chop blocks and pick plays, have quietly become the dirtiest team in football. I hope we come out and bully them. The best way to avoid injuries from teams like that is to just beat the #^%# out of them and play aggressive as hell.

This is the type of game Browner can really earn his paycheck with.

Hit hard and make them play scared.

Anyone see Denver putting Talib on Gronk? Don't think it would be anywhere near as effective as Talib on Graham was last year. Graham is soft. Gronk is not.

I am truly concerned about their dline. Knighton singlehandedly ruined our run game last year and now they have added Ware. With the way Brady has played of late, I don't think Brady is overly concerned with any secondary at the moment.

Surprisingly, I am not overly concerned with the Denver O. If Manning carves us up, I will have to just give him kudos because our secondary is as good as it gets for us. Chandler's injury isn't even a big deal to me because I doubt he would have sniffed Manning anyway. I'm just hoping our run d is up to the challenge. It is not like they have Moreno this time around.

I like our chances the more I think about it.

doesntmatter1 said:

I am truly concerned about their dline. Knighton singlehandedly ruined our run game last year and now they have added Ware. With the way Brady has played of late, I don't think Brady is overly concerned with any secondary at the moment.

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Uh...there's this small detail I think you MAY have overlooked....Stork is no daffodil like Wendy was at center last season. The one player that bothers me is Von "Roids" Miller...he's definitely whacked out on the juice again.

FourierSeries said:

Anyone see Denver putting Talib on Gronk? Don't think it would be anywhere near as effective as Talib on Graham was last year. Graham is soft. Gronk is not.

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The problem with that is Talib isn't that much of a mismatch in the running game vs Graham. Gronk will maul Talib if they wan't to try and man him up without jamming him first with a LB.

JarOfMayo51 said:

Honestly I think a big part of that is because of Denver's offense scoring so many points, most teams have to abandon the running game trying to keep pace.

Its based purely on total yards, and if the opponent is always playing from behind they're going to be passing it more than running.

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The Broncos have played the #2,#3, and #4 ranked rushing offenses and are still the #1 ranked rush defense. The patriots have the #2 ranked pass defense and the best pass offense they played was the #11 ranked bears. The chiefs have the #1 ranked pass defense and we know how that worked out against Denver.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/team

At the end of the day we have Tom Brady they don't and playing in Foxboro where Brady led patriots rarely lose.

Nflfan88 said:

The Broncos have played the #2,#3, and #4 ranked rushing offenses and are still the #1 ranked rush defense. The patriots have the #2 ranked pass defense and the best pass offense they played was the #11 ranked bears. The chiefs have the #1 ranked pass defense and we know how that worked out against Denver.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/team

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KC put 133 rush yds on your team WITHOUT Jamaal Charles. SEA put up 129 yds, just around their average. Good job on the Jets, though.
You guys were at home vs KC, and they allowed 237 pass yds, which is not their worst total, and is Peyton's 2nd lowest total this year. Against all odds, they kept that game close. This game is in NE, so chances are you won't get that lucky in a goal line stand.

Nflfan88 said:

The Broncos have played the #2,#3, and #4 ranked rushing offenses and are still the #1 ranked rush defense. The patriots have the #2 ranked pass defense and the best pass offense they played was the #11 ranked bears. The chiefs have the #1 ranked pass defense and we know how that worked out against Denver.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/team

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Teams have run the ball an average 21.3 per game vs DEN this year, the fewest in the league, as they have 42 pass att/game, 2nd most in the league. So chances are your team will allow few yds/g if they are not challenged.

On the other hand, NE pass defense is ranked #2 in the league and opp teams have attempted 33 pass/g, while the league average is 35.2 per game. So right around average.

With that said, DEN run defense is very good, just like NE pass defense.

Rob0729 said:

It is a tough schedule, but I don't think it is as brutal as people make it:

• The Broncos are one of the best teams in the NFL if not the best, but people are making them into this otherworldly, greatest of all time types of teams. So far their offense hasn't been unstoppable on the road and Manning is something like 2-7 in Foxboro.
• I think Indy has had a favorable schedule in recent weeks. They showed yesterday that they can be lit up by a good QB.
• The Lions are winning, but not playing well. Watching them play, it is shocking that they only two losses. They barely beat a bad Falcons' team. In fact, their last two games went down to the wire. Plus word is they lost Nick Fairley for the season or at least a long time.
• Green Bay is a team that may be a product of favorable schedule. Their defense doesn't scare me and I think the Pats can win a shoot out.

I think the Pats could lose 2 or three games over the next five weeks or go 5-0. But I don't think the schedule is all as tough as people think it is. The Pats face no teams with great RBs.

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Funny, originally it was the fearsome 6, but now its only the fearsome 5.

The Pats already played the team with the great RB, better than Hillman, and two very good big receivers plus a fine big TE. 51-23.

I'd even be inclined to take Marshall & Jeffrey over Thomas and the smurf we didn't sign, in favor of LaFell.

Peyton's slot man is better than his Bear equivalent, but Edelmen has surpassed the aging Welker. Now we have Gronk & Wright versus their Thomas, too.

Unlike last season, our healthy talent at the skill positions trumps theirs.

Their healthy pass rushers trump our injury racked equivalents, however. OTOH, Knighton won't be able to manhandle Stork like he did the 25 Lb lighter Wendell.

I understood that Peyton has never won a game at Foxboro. Am I wrong?

Brady_to_Moss said:

They had a much better rushing attack last year. But this year they are better running since Hillman has taken over

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My impression is that Hillman is more of a wide runner than Moreno was. The Pats D was susceptible to power runners this year, after Sealver went down, and also when Mayo went down, after Casey arrived and subbed in for Sealver.

The Pats are much more able to contain the wide runs. The Donks need Moreno but he is gone.

AzPatsFan said:

My impression is that Hillman is more of a wide runner than Moreno was. The Pats D was susceptible to power runners this year, after Sealver went down, and also when Mayo went down, after Casey arrived and subbed in for Sealver.

The Pats are much more able to contain the wide runs. The Donks need Moreno but he is gone.

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I'd be surprised if he's averaging much more than 3ypc minus big runs. Considering the Patriots have given up one run over 20 yards Hillman is low on my list of concerns.

It's impossible not to be pumped about this game. I am already losing sleep and it's barely tuesday.

As much as the Stats show their dominance against the Run, it is on the ground that the secret lies against this defense. Keep them guessing, let the 2 TEs be on the field and maul them with a Play Action. We cannot give up the running game.

I think that, on offense, this is when the two tight end sets have to become prominent. The Broncos still don't have an answer for that. Edelman may have a big game as well. Rip Tim Wright down the seam and he should be able to abuse whatever LB is covering him. Gronk should be all over the place as well since Denver has never shown the ability to slow him down.

the keys in my opinion:
1. Run D - can't give up 100 yards to Hillman
2. Oline - just solid, Brady needs a pocket

Easley will be big in this game. He made some improvements in playing on the edge against CHI. He was able to make some plays in the run game and he also sniffed out a screen on 3rd down that got them off the field. Hope he learned some more from that experience and is even better against DEN.

AzPatsFan said:

I understood that Peyton has never won a game at Foxboro. Am I wrong?

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Yes.

11/7/2005
11/5/2006

dales804 said:

Easley will be big in this game. He made some improvements in playing on the edge against CHI. He was able to make some plays in the run game and he also sniffed out a screen on 3rd down that got them off the field. Hope he learned some more from that experience and is even better against DEN.

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I like our interior DL versus the Broncos interior OL. Ramirez and Vasquez aren't playing nearly as good as they were last year.

As far as running the ball against Denver goes, our running defense always looked good in years past because a lot of teams had to flat out abandon the run against us due to being down 2-3 TDs in the first half. I do think Denver's run D is still good but part of that is because of their offense. If we play a lot of 2 TE sets I don't think Denver can roll out their preferred line of Ware-Knighton-Williams/Unrein-Wolfe/Jackson simply because we will have too much speed, so we can hope to get some runs in when the extra meat that Wolfe and Jackson provide isn't on the field.

Knighton is a handful but I thought Paea last week was a good warm up for Stork and he seemed to handle it well. Stork would 1-on-1 Paea for a couple of seconds and then one of Wendell/Connolly would give a bit of help before moving to the LBs.