- Joined
- Jul 11, 2005
- Messages
- 15,523
- Reaction score
- 27,524
Well this is the game I wanted, so I guess its incumbent upon me to talk about it for a bit. I have to admit that while I was watching it late in the 4th, I was waffling back and forth as I'm sure most of you did. But it end the way I hoped, so lets break it down to the things we like about the match up and things we don't.
Disclaimer - all opinions are based on the assumption that Collins, Jones, and Hightower will be available to play at a high level next Sunday.
Things we don't like about the Match up.
1. Playing in Denver. You can't get around it. Forget the history, I don't believe that means a thing. What makes playing in Denver tough is the altitude. You could see it in November the D get tired in the 4th, just as you could see the Steeler D slow down just a bit at the end. It is a fact of life. I'm hoping the Pats will pack some kind of oxygen equipment and they make their players use it. No question this IS an advantage for Denver.
2. Playing on the road. - There is not question in an.yone's mind that the Pats will attack the Bronco's D through the air, and will likely use a controlled hurry up offense, much like we saw yesterday. This offense is MUCH easier to run when you are at home. On the road you have to simplify your communication and it makes mistakes more likely to happen. It's a fact of life. Home field really is a big advantage and that's part of the reason why.
BTW- its also a fact of life in the NFL that the home team is more likely to "get the calls". We all hate it, and as paranoid as we are, we'd better expect it and prepare for it, because its gonna happen. We can only hope the bias is just slight and something we can overcome.
3. The Denver run game - I thought the Steelers did a real nice job controlling the Denver run game, but they still managed to get over 100 yds rushing and CJ Anderson averaged almost 5ypc. I'd take a similar game by the Pats right now. If we have our full line up, I think we can duplicate if not better what Pittsburgh did. We will have to . But lets not pretend that Denver isn't running the ball well now.
4. Thomas, Sanders, and Daniels are a tough group. I will always fear D Thomas as a deep threat because he doesn't need to be open to be dangerous. I fully expect Manning to test the Pats deep several times in the game if only to try and get a flag. Manning also used his entire receiving corps with 9 different guys catching balls.
5. At home Manning is more effective - In this game he got the Broncos into the right play, read blitzes well, and was pretty accurate in those short area throws.
Why I like this match up.
1. I LOVE the coaching match up. Over the long history of this match up, BB has successfully gotten into Manning's head most of the time....forcing at least one major mistake. The Pats will be a MUCH more difficult puzzle for Peyton to solve that the one the Steeler's offered.
The Pats have been beating Wade Phillip's defenses for years. Based on what we saw from Pittsburgh, I don't see Denver being able to completely stop the Pats passing offense. None of the other really good defenses have been able to do it. No one was playing better D than KC was prior to this game. They really didn't stop it back in November.
2. Denver has 2 really top flight CB's, but this offense is a nightmare for them. Guys like Edelman, DA and Martin are kryponite to Talib. We saw that when he was here. And they have yet to stop Gronk. In the November game, playing without DA and Edelman, Brady had 280 yds passing in a game where Brandon Bolden was the 2nd leading receiver after Gronk.
3. The fact is that in a game of quick passing attacks, the Pats not only have the better QB, they have the better assets at receiver. Our guys were brought in to do this kind of attack. Their guys were brought in to be the receiving corp of the 2013 Peyton Manning passing attack.
4. The Steeler special teams gave the Broncos at LEAST 6 points with bad punts and punt coverage. Don't see the Pats ST's making such donations. They gave enough in November.
5. In the end the Pats will be preparing for a shoot out, and the Broncos will be praying they don't get into one. That is why the Pats will ultimately win this game
General observations.
1. The Denver rush is real, so how best mitigate it. Here is one thought. Empty back field - 2 TE's (Gronk and Williams) and 3 WRs - Determine the biggest threat and put Williams on that side. By going 7 wide along the LOS you widen the outside rushers by alignment. You immediately improve the protection. In the meantime you still present the issue of 5 immediate potential receivers, even if Williams isn't much of a threat. It is from a formation like this that we can get a bit more time and take some shots down field in this game.
2. I think our D is better than the Steelers and I thought the Steeler played good defense today. But that is going to depend on who plays. I've decided NOT to agonize over this for a change. We will never know for sure anyway since they all will be "questionable" with "limited participation" all week. Why waste the energy listening to rumors and " knowledgeable sources".
3. Almost every time the Broncos broke a good run today, a LB took a bad angle or overran the ball. Since stopping the run is going to be the top threat to stop, this would be my main point of interest for the D this week. Good tackling is going to be a must. KC got most of it's rushing yardage when DBs and LB's whiffed on tackles. Denver is going to run a lot of bubble screens and RB check offs. Not letting them get yards after contact is huge.
4. Saturday the CBS announcers were rooting so hard for KC it was embarrassing. Today CBS was sucking on Manning's **** so much it was amazing we could understand what they were saying. No mention of the HGH. No mention of the sub .500 playoff record. No mention of the 9 one and done's.
Someone asked why do we hate Manning. I don't think we do. What we HATE is the media's overt effort to try and put Brady and Manning on an equal footing, when that ship left the dock almost a decade ago and the gap is getting wider every year.
The fact was that Manning was one 4th quarter fumble away from a TENTH 1 and done, and was very lucky to get out of there with a win, his teammates did most of the heavy lifting to garner.
5. I hope the media over hypes this game. I hope we just lie low and do our best Rodney Harrison, heading into the bunker mentality. They have won 2 of our superbowls going on the road for the AFCCG. They know how to do this.
6. BTW- I added this before I went to sleep. Was I alone in feeling that if you watched the pregame shows (which I did on a sporadic basis) you got the feeling that the Pats didn't play this weekend. All the stories were on the Az/Packer game and Seahawk comeback. Did CBS talk about the game at all or did I just miss the 10 seconds that they did.
Disclaimer - all opinions are based on the assumption that Collins, Jones, and Hightower will be available to play at a high level next Sunday.
Things we don't like about the Match up.
1. Playing in Denver. You can't get around it. Forget the history, I don't believe that means a thing. What makes playing in Denver tough is the altitude. You could see it in November the D get tired in the 4th, just as you could see the Steeler D slow down just a bit at the end. It is a fact of life. I'm hoping the Pats will pack some kind of oxygen equipment and they make their players use it. No question this IS an advantage for Denver.
2. Playing on the road. - There is not question in an.yone's mind that the Pats will attack the Bronco's D through the air, and will likely use a controlled hurry up offense, much like we saw yesterday. This offense is MUCH easier to run when you are at home. On the road you have to simplify your communication and it makes mistakes more likely to happen. It's a fact of life. Home field really is a big advantage and that's part of the reason why.
BTW- its also a fact of life in the NFL that the home team is more likely to "get the calls". We all hate it, and as paranoid as we are, we'd better expect it and prepare for it, because its gonna happen. We can only hope the bias is just slight and something we can overcome.
3. The Denver run game - I thought the Steelers did a real nice job controlling the Denver run game, but they still managed to get over 100 yds rushing and CJ Anderson averaged almost 5ypc. I'd take a similar game by the Pats right now. If we have our full line up, I think we can duplicate if not better what Pittsburgh did. We will have to . But lets not pretend that Denver isn't running the ball well now.
4. Thomas, Sanders, and Daniels are a tough group. I will always fear D Thomas as a deep threat because he doesn't need to be open to be dangerous. I fully expect Manning to test the Pats deep several times in the game if only to try and get a flag. Manning also used his entire receiving corps with 9 different guys catching balls.
5. At home Manning is more effective - In this game he got the Broncos into the right play, read blitzes well, and was pretty accurate in those short area throws.
Why I like this match up.
1. I LOVE the coaching match up. Over the long history of this match up, BB has successfully gotten into Manning's head most of the time....forcing at least one major mistake. The Pats will be a MUCH more difficult puzzle for Peyton to solve that the one the Steeler's offered.
The Pats have been beating Wade Phillip's defenses for years. Based on what we saw from Pittsburgh, I don't see Denver being able to completely stop the Pats passing offense. None of the other really good defenses have been able to do it. No one was playing better D than KC was prior to this game. They really didn't stop it back in November.
2. Denver has 2 really top flight CB's, but this offense is a nightmare for them. Guys like Edelman, DA and Martin are kryponite to Talib. We saw that when he was here. And they have yet to stop Gronk. In the November game, playing without DA and Edelman, Brady had 280 yds passing in a game where Brandon Bolden was the 2nd leading receiver after Gronk.
3. The fact is that in a game of quick passing attacks, the Pats not only have the better QB, they have the better assets at receiver. Our guys were brought in to do this kind of attack. Their guys were brought in to be the receiving corp of the 2013 Peyton Manning passing attack.
4. The Steeler special teams gave the Broncos at LEAST 6 points with bad punts and punt coverage. Don't see the Pats ST's making such donations. They gave enough in November.
5. In the end the Pats will be preparing for a shoot out, and the Broncos will be praying they don't get into one. That is why the Pats will ultimately win this game
General observations.
1. The Denver rush is real, so how best mitigate it. Here is one thought. Empty back field - 2 TE's (Gronk and Williams) and 3 WRs - Determine the biggest threat and put Williams on that side. By going 7 wide along the LOS you widen the outside rushers by alignment. You immediately improve the protection. In the meantime you still present the issue of 5 immediate potential receivers, even if Williams isn't much of a threat. It is from a formation like this that we can get a bit more time and take some shots down field in this game.
2. I think our D is better than the Steelers and I thought the Steeler played good defense today. But that is going to depend on who plays. I've decided NOT to agonize over this for a change. We will never know for sure anyway since they all will be "questionable" with "limited participation" all week. Why waste the energy listening to rumors and " knowledgeable sources".
3. Almost every time the Broncos broke a good run today, a LB took a bad angle or overran the ball. Since stopping the run is going to be the top threat to stop, this would be my main point of interest for the D this week. Good tackling is going to be a must. KC got most of it's rushing yardage when DBs and LB's whiffed on tackles. Denver is going to run a lot of bubble screens and RB check offs. Not letting them get yards after contact is huge.
4. Saturday the CBS announcers were rooting so hard for KC it was embarrassing. Today CBS was sucking on Manning's **** so much it was amazing we could understand what they were saying. No mention of the HGH. No mention of the sub .500 playoff record. No mention of the 9 one and done's.
Someone asked why do we hate Manning. I don't think we do. What we HATE is the media's overt effort to try and put Brady and Manning on an equal footing, when that ship left the dock almost a decade ago and the gap is getting wider every year.
The fact was that Manning was one 4th quarter fumble away from a TENTH 1 and done, and was very lucky to get out of there with a win, his teammates did most of the heavy lifting to garner.
5. I hope the media over hypes this game. I hope we just lie low and do our best Rodney Harrison, heading into the bunker mentality. They have won 2 of our superbowls going on the road for the AFCCG. They know how to do this.
6. BTW- I added this before I went to sleep. Was I alone in feeling that if you watched the pregame shows (which I did on a sporadic basis) you got the feeling that the Pats didn't play this weekend. All the stories were on the Az/Packer game and Seahawk comeback. Did CBS talk about the game at all or did I just miss the 10 seconds that they did.
Last edited:
