Danny Amendola out Sunday

Why am I feeling the 3-4 tight end sets has been in waiting for this game. How better to neutralize their strenght at corner?

They have no answer for James White.

Two reports. One he is in. One he might play after he tests his knee.

This thread belongs in the water is wet thread until further notice.

patsinthesnow said:

@STEVEBURTONWBZ: Danny Amendola is out against the Broncos. In fact, not even traveling with the team. #WBZ

Lafell
Martin
Harper

vs.

Talib
Harris
Roby

We're outgunned, putting it mildly.

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You forgot:

Gronk
White
Chandler

Gronkowski123 said:

none of them will be able to create separation against denver's press..
im not even sure gronk will be effective. last three games he only has like 9 catches. teams are starting to limit his effectiveness. not exactly his fault because he has little around him

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Crossing routes/play action and other ways. The Pats are creative. If the line holds up I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Harper is pretty quick so with a couple weeks of full practice will have a much better grasp on where and when to be.

Can the Patriots:
A) Stop the run/make Denver have to pass to move the chains?
B) Make the most of FG opportunities and start them at their own 20 on Kickoffs?
C) Get good 40+ net yard punting (good punt coverage)?
D) Rush the passer at a satisfactory or better level?
E) Turn the ball over very infrequently?

Stats and observation, though admittedly biased observation, say the Patriots can do A thru E among the best in the NFL. Now consider that the Denver offense was already on the lower side of production in the NFL and is now coupled with an almost completely inexperienced QB.
Add it all up (again assuming the Patriots do A thru E well) and it equals the Patriots will be competitive in this game even factoring in for a sluggish or worse O. And if the O is sluggish?? Just like this championship caliber team does far more often than not, they will fight and scratch out an opportunity to have a shot to win it at the end. With that said, DA or no DA, as long as the OL shows up at the beginning of the game (unlike last week), it's unlikely the Patriots' O can't find a way to score 17 or more. IMHO 17 should win a game against a weaker O with a newby at QB who is starting his first Primetime National TV game.

The worst case scenario: Denver outplays the Patriots and wins the game. It is certainly possible; we are missing a lot of keys players and Denver is a good team. This leaves us at 10-1 with our next 3 against Weak Philly, @ an improving Texans, Weak Tenn followed by two road games against Weak Miami and a middling but struggling Jets. That's a full remaining schedule of Weak, Weak, Weak, middling/struggling, really sucked but now much improved(but still a lower tier O). Further, in that time there will be the Cincy vs Denver game that will assure one of our Bye rivals has 3 losses (Denver also has Pitt and a much improved Raiders on tap). So just beating the cream puff teams remaining on the schedule will have us at 13 wins. It seems to me the worst case scenario -- barring an IR type injuries occur -- ain't so bad at all.

TommyBrady12 said:

we have to win on defense. no other way.

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And that's what we needed Collins to play for.

Welp this game just became way more difficult. All they have to do is triple Gronk and take out Lafell and White. Who else will we even have to throw it to???

Martin and Harper... I believe!

patsinthesnow said:

@STEVEBURTONWBZ: Danny Amendola is out against the Broncos. In fact, not even traveling with the team. #WBZ

Lafell
Martin
Harper

vs.

Talib
Harris
Roby

We're outgunned, putting it mildly.

Click to expand...

Is Martin even playing? I thought he wasn't even practicing this week

Weapons! Ugh god not this **** again. Let's all be scared of a Denver bronco team that recently lost to the colts, got their **** pushed in Kansas City and only beat the Bears because the opposing coach is mentally handicapped. You guys do know we are facing Gary "I never change my game plan because I don't know how to adapt to playing different teams" Kubiak who Bill absolutly owns. As good as their defense is, let's stop talking about them like their the 2000 Ravens as if they were on some historic pace. News flash guys our defense has actually been ever so slightly better as far as scoring goes. But I guess scoring defense probably doesn't matter to some people around here.

id rather he sit and let his leg rest for a week.

Bad news, but not unexpected.

I do hope he plays as that ups the Pats chances no small amount.

On a side note Ware is out which is pretty big for Denver. If our OL plays well and is able to protect Brady i think the O can score enough to win even if Amendola doesn't play. Ware being unable to play will go a long way to helping that. The rest is the OL just doing better.

Talib supposedly also out concussion.

So that maybe makes up for some loss in wr skills

If Talib is out along with Ware I will like our chances a hell of a lot more.

Gumby said:

Talib supposedly also out concussion.

So that maybe makes up for some loss in wr skills

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VectorPrime said:

If Talib is out along with Ware I will like our chances a hell of a lot more.

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Where are you guys getting this information?

Aqib Talib wasn't even listed on the injury report this week. Now suddenly he's going to be out with a concussion? I'm calling shenanigans.

Patriots - Broncos Injury Report

Gumby said:

Talib supposedly also out concussion.

So that maybe makes up for some loss in wr skills

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I think you're looking at an injury report from late November 2014. I've seen nothing whatsoever to suggest this, as nice as it would be.

Has anyone else reported DA out? Reiss and Curran don't have it yet.

rochrist said:

Has anyone else reported DA out? Reiss and Curran don't have it yet.

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Not that I've seen. This bad news now leads the front page of the website here, although I did not read the article, and it may actually reference back to Howe's initial report.

For what it's worth, Howe did correct his story with an update around 9:30--10:00, stating that "he's not officially ruled out yet, and they'll test the knee one more time before leaving for DEN on Saturday." (minor paraphrasing)

Gumby said:

Talib supposedly also out concussion.

So that maybe makes up for some loss in wr skills

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Good old Talib. He can always be counted on to miss the biggest game of the season. I hope he's okay if this is true, but when he was with the Patriots, he always had a hip pointer, hammy, or something just when the biggest test of the season rolled around.

The Broncos have a lot of dough tied up in Ware, Talib and Manning for them not to show up for the Patriots game. If I were a Broncos fan, I'd be very nervous about this one.

The Broncos just lost to the Colts, the Chiefs at home, and barely squeaked one out against the Bears. They are ripe to be had.