Broncos post game discussion

VectorPrime said:

Remember how good you felt when Brady connected on that bomb to Bolden to go up 21-7 and seemingly put the game away? I miss that feeling.

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A horrible fumble by a practice squad player and the refs deciding to keep the game close will do that to you.

If the Martin catch stands (bs holding call to negate it) the Pats probably score again and win.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

I'm convinced now that this is the best Patriots team since 2001. If it takes all of these all of these events for a very strong home team to beat them by a razor thin margin, I like our chances. The refs were almost unable to fix the outcome.

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What about the game two weeks ago? You guys almost lost to a mediocre Giants team. There is no way this team is better than the 2007 squad. With that said, if Gronk can come back the Pats are still the favorites to go all the way, no question about it.

My only concerns about that loss:

Gronk and hightower status
Wondeeing if we'll get similar ref treatment in the playoffs. This team is great but far from infallible and you cant just blow everyone out. If the refs are given a chance to decide the outcome they can easily do it the way they did last night.


Other than that, we are still in good shape as long as gronk/hightower are ok. Oline is finally healthy and playing well, just wait till edelman dola and hopefully gronk are back. Secondary looks better than anyone anticipated wiht the emergence of butler/ryan/Chung. We can afford to lose at least one more game and still get the bye.. I still think we go 14-2 at worst and willl get Hfa. Odds are against another fluke loss esp considering we dont play anyone better than 6-5.

To me this game is not as bad as the packers loss last year. They beat us straight up and i came out of that game pretty worried about facing rodgers again. Im not worried at all about facing denver again unless theyre allowed to fix that game too and our 4 best recievers are all out.

Didn't even hear about the gronk news until now. I didn't listen to or read anything after the game. Losing gronk and our undefeated opportunity in one day was just too much for me to handle. Losing gronk was the ultimate kick in the nuts tho. If he's ok going forward Ill feel alot better, obviously.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

I'm convinced now that this is the best Patriots team since 2001.

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2001? You think that team was better than 2003-2004?

Giants: Phantom PIs all across the field
Bills: Oh you may get a big TD, whistle!
Broncos: Biggest joke of a refereed game in a long time

I don't want our season to end like this in the playoffs. If we get punched in the mouth and beat fair and square (Giants SBs, Jets 2010, Ravens games) then hats off to the other team.

I refuse to lose in January because of these slimy striped morons. This ref pattern against us is concerning.

This is the type of game that erodes your faith in the NFL.

Denver has seen the last of Peyton Manning at QB. Elway and Kubiak love that bootleg offense and Manning cannot run it. Unless Orsweiller really screws up, I would say its his job to lose and Manning needs to place his house on the market.

The Pats just cannot win in Denver to save their ***. IIRC, Brady and BB are 1 - 4 and that sole victory was the deliberate NE safety game where the center snapped the ball out of the endzone on a punt. Brad Seely was ST coach and Brady won the game with a back shoulder fade TD to Givens.

Blount looks hurt. I don't see him fighting for the extra yards like he is accustomed to getting. As soon as there is contact Blount is going down. Not like him. This NE run game needs to get straightened out somehow. 39 total NEP rushing yards vs Denver.

It was hard to tell who was happier last night after the game. Dungy or Bob Costas. Costas was all smiles and Dungy had a difficult time hiding his joy.

The loss to Denver was disappointing, but helps IMHO, by letting the air out of the balloon relative to sustaining an undefeated season. I never cared about that in the least. The loss means that the last two games are meaningless if the Patriots clinch the HFA in week 14 which is entirely possible. Two home wins over Titans and Eagles seal the Division and a bye, most likely.

Obviously, the injuries to Hightower and Gronkowski are the major questions. If both can be back for the playoffs along with Collins, Amendola and Edelman, the Patriots can handle any team in the league.

The offensive line was not very good in Denver. They did not do much in run blocking, and their pass coverage was inconsistent. That has to improve, and most probably will as the unit gets more time together.

The play calling was curious to me in the second half, but who am I to criticize? When you're going with no slot receiver in an offense that depends on that position to serve as a de facto running attack, what was Josh to do? When Denver's nose tackle went down, I thought they'd hammer away at the center of the defensive line more, especially up 21-14 late in the game.

The Pats have a game lead on their competitors and need to beat the Eagles next week to clinch the Division and give themselves the time for getting guys ready for the playoffs. If they can get Collins and Amendola back for Sunday's game, they should be okay.

heavyde050 said:

A horrible fumble by a practice squad player and the refs deciding to keep the game close will do that to you.

If the Martin catch stands (bs holding call to negate it) the Pats probably score again and win.

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The questionable calls and non-calls yesterday is intriguing, and I'm just being polite, I suppose. It was disgusting. Chandler Jones, who actually could have made a play in a critical situation, something I've criticized him for not doing in the past, gets his facemask readjusted for him by a Bronco lineman in plain sight of the ref and no call. Turns out that play was a TD. Just wow. How about Ninko being held in both the running and passing game, and not a single one was called. Or how about wiping out a 51 yard gain on a questionable holding call on Jackson (see Chandler Jones sentence for consistency). Add in a phantom OPI on Gronk and a questionable PI on Chung in the end zone for flavor, and you have your screenplay for a hit TV show. I think I'll call it How To Get Away With Murder. What, that's already taken?

ausbacker said:

Harper ****ed up but I can't help but feel that's a massive mistake on behalf of the coaches. A veteran should have been in for that situation, not a rookie.

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I thought one of the reasons we brought K Martin in was for these return duties. At least he had experience doing it for Texans.

Bolden may be our best RB rushing/receiving at this point. We should start him vs. Philly and see what he can do.

patsinthesnow said:

Bolden may be our best RB rushing/receiving at this point. We should start him vs. Philly and see what he can do.

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He has great hands but Im disappointed at his rushing.

After getting a solid 3 hrs sleep and reflecting calmly on last night's fiasco I have a few thoughts:

1. Going in, I wasn't really expecting to win but to have the game well in hand and have it slip away lie that is very disappointing.

2. I was very impressed with the over-taxed defense. Ryan, Chung, Butler, Brown and Branch all played great (I'm trying not to recall the OT breakdown).

3. Crunch time clock management on the offensive side of the ball has not been what we think of as Patriots-level since Weiss left. McDaniels does not seem to even attend to it.

4. I'm hoping a big part of Gronk's in-game reaction to the injury was more emotional than medical, freaking that he wasn't going to be able to play. Fingers crossed that it was just a very painful whip of the leg.

5. Re OPI, it is clear that the whiners get the league's attention. It's obvious to all that what is called on Gronk is not called on other teams and that Blandino's Bandits are operating under 'special emphasis' orders from higher up. The Krafts' "please, sir, I'd like some more" and BB's "it is what it is" approaches to this situation won't help.

6. Trying to send slow-footed, mystery hands Chandler on Gronk's sideline routes over and over was dumb. The one time when the Donks forgot to cover him would have been a big play if Brady could have gotten Stork to SNAP THE DAMNED BALL. By the time he did, it was too late to make anything of it.

7. Nevertheless, with the team's best receivers, best runner, and the league's best LB duo out, they almost pulled it off. The best is yet to come.

patsinthesnow said:

Bolden may be our best RB rushing/receiving at this point. We should start him vs. Philly and see what he can do.

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He may not always get positive yardage, but he at least attacks the LOS with some burst. Someone in another thread mentioned that he thinks Blount is hurt. I can't confirm or deny because I've not seen or heard that anywhere else, but he definitely bunny hops to the LOS and then just throws himself into traffic. The quicker backs find the holes. The line struggles in pass blocking, but they're generally solid run blockers. Blount just takes a while to get going and faster defenses, like the one yesterday, will win against that every time.

venecol said:

The atrocious officiating aside, it was clear that after the 1st drive, the offense had trouble moving the ball. I think we had like 10 punts last night. Clearly the depleted offensive weapons had a huge impact on the result. Even so, the Pats almost pulled off the win.

I never cared about the 16-0 season so I take this loss given the circumstances as a character building experience for the team. My only concern was for Gronk and HT injuries. Hopefully they are not severe and they can return soon.

I don't expect to see the Pats facing the Broncos in the PO since they will be one and done.

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What makes you think Peyton will be under center for the Broncos in the Playoffs?

ChessToCheckers said:

What makes you think Peyton will be under center for the Broncos in the Playoffs?

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I'm having flashbacks to Bledsoe coming back and finding Brady well & truly entrenched in the starting QB position. I'll be honest: I admire Manning, but think he should have retired at the end of last year. He has nothing to prove, and has everything to lose if he gets a bad hit in the upper back or neck. He's got two handsome little boys and a lovely wife, and it'd be a shame if he ended up in a wheelchair or worse because he wanted to break a couple more records. Now, instead of riding off into the sunset at the top of his game, he'll likely limp off on a slow horse. Like Favre, he just can't see when it's time to hang 'em up and enjoy the fruits of his labors. And that's sad.

ChessToCheckers said:

What makes you think Peyton will be under center for the Broncos in the Playoffs?

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Peyton's got to be the only one sadder than us this AM.

I will take the winning streak that runs from November to November over the one that runs from September to January.

Time for another November--November streak.

Gwedd said:

I'm having flashbacks to Bledsoe coming back and finding Brady well & truly entrenched in the starting QB position. I'll be honest: I admire Manning, but think he should have retired at the end of last year. He has nothing to prove, and has everything to lose if he gets a bad hit in the upper back or neck. He's got two handsome little boys and a lovely wife, and it'd be a shame if he ended up in a wheelchair or worse because he wanted to break a couple more records. Now, instead of riding off into the sunset at the top of his game, he'll likely limp off on a slow horse. Like Favre, he just can't see when it's time to hang 'em up and enjoy the fruits of his labors. And that's sad.

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I have no sympathy for Manning, this is the price he pays for putting the record ahead of the team and his dignity. I would actually love it if he never played another down but since he is tied for most wins I have no doubt he will either embarrass himself by getting it after NB Denver wraps up their division or by putting that record above another teams best interests and returns next season. Either way the ceremony will be hilarious...........