New England at Denver AFCCG pre game thread.

supafly said:

Butler needs to do a better job at limiting Sanders, as another 113 yard game isn't going to cut it. Brian Howell/Herald notes that Sanders definitely won his matchup over Butler in November, and it would be hard to disagree. I don't think that's necessarily indicative of Butler coming out on the wrong end of a rematch, but it's certainly worth noting.

With Thomas having 115+ yds in 2/3 recent games against NE, Logan Ryan will once again, have his hands full as well. He fared well last time through extensive film study, although one may think there's reason to believe that Ryan will have a hard time containing him to only 36 yards for the second time in a row.

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Logan Ryan on anyone is a 8 for 120 just waiting to creep out...my God did he suck vs KC

I fully expect Man to Man with lots of coverage. We're a man to man team now except when we face running QB, which HGH obviously is not. While HGH has a QB rating of 67.9 on the year, it's 77.9 vs. the blitz. Still not good, but better. The Patriots lead the league in sacks when rushing just 4. Clearly there will be a blitz by Collins or Hightower here and there but I expect much more 4 man rushes with 7 in coverage. With Manning's need to throw short over the middle, Collins could cause serious problems (for HGH) in coverage.

FCB02062 said:

Logan Ryan on anyone is a 8 for 120 just waiting to creep out...my God did he suck vs KC

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Last game against the Broncos, Ryan was covering DT and he was thrown to 13 times. He only caught one pass for 36 yards.

A reminder from earlier in the season:

IcyPatriot said:

A reminder from earlier in the season:

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If the Patriots and Panthers win, that picture will be 0-7.

Deus Irae said:

Pittsburgh doesn't have the CBs to cover the likes of Sanders. The defense they used allowed only 23 points in regulation, and it was only that many because the team's RB (offense, not defense) fumbled the damned ball and gave the Broncos momentum, and the ball in pretty good field position, rather than allowing the Pittsburgh offense to keep the ball and continue killing clock.

So, I submit that you're out of your mind.

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You may be right about that. I've been on edge all season. Deflategate pooped in my superbowl punchbowl. The officiating screw job in Denver didn't help matters coupled with the fact that just about everything fell Denver way from that game to now.

I fear for my mental heath if we lose on Sunday.

Gotta love how far Belichick gets in peoples heads.
http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/a..._ty_law_as_honorary_captain/s1_12680_20225314

SVN said:

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That's appropriate, having the whole team run over Manning with the plane, much like they're gonna do on the field. What's not to like?

Another pretty big (IMO) factor not really being mentioned is Pats finally playing a game with more rest than the opponent. Seems like forever since we've had a rest advantage with this year's schedule and all our past playoff games. (Excepting those Divisional vs. Wild Card Round teams of course). It's usually been the reverse situation for NE in the AFC Championships for as long as I can remember.

Breakdown:

Pats played 3pm ET Sat, playing 3pm ET Sun for a full 7.0 days rest (an extra day, 6 + 1, more than usual Sun to Sun season games).

DEN on the other hand played 5pm Sunday and is playing a bit earlier at 3pm ET for 5.8 days rest, normal sleep recovery, but a bit less a than a Sun to Sun week.

NE goes in with a full day rest and preparation advantage. Manning only gets a normal week but minus a few hours to recover . But let's face it, this year and end of last, he looks best (physically) when he gets 2+ weeks off to recuperate. Not sure if you have noticed how bad he plays with a week or less to rest. So, if last week showed his old ass cranky body rested best, I can only image what he'll look like Sunday... hopefully.

pdangle said:

Another pretty big (IMO) factor not really being mentioned is Pats finally playing a game with more rest than the opponent. Seems like forever since we've had a rest advantage with this year's schedule and all our past playoff games. (Excepting those Divisional vs. Wild Card Round teams of course). It's usually been the reverse situation for NE in the AFC Championships for as long as I can remember.

Breakdown:

Pats played 3pm ET Sat, playing 3pm ET Sun for a full 7.0 days rest (an extra day, 6 + 1, more than usual Sun to Sun season games).

DEN on the other hand played 5pm Sunday and is playing a bit earlier at 3pm ET for 5.8 days rest, normal sleep recovery, but a bit less a than a Sun to Sun week.

NE goes in with a full day rest and preparation advantage. Manning only gets a normal week but minus a few hours to recover . But let's face it, this year and end of last, he looks best (physically) when he gets 2+ weeks off to recuperate. Not sure if you have noticed how bad he plays with a week or less to rest. So, if last week showed his old ass cranky body rested best, I can only image what he'll look like Sunday... hopefully.

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they played last week with more rest than KC.

Does anyone else (besides me) think Manning will be on a short leash considering Osweiler's performance against the Pats earlier this year?

It's 60 degrees here in Denver, I don't like it.

The Boston Patriot said:

Does anyone else (besides me) think Manning will be on a short leash considering Osweiler's performance against the Pats earlier this year?

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if it's close they'll keep him in but if it gets put of hand they'll put osweiller in.

SVN said:

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I'm guessing that landing strip is supposed to be a metaphorical representation of Manning's forehead

Talk about the Broncos and their fans polking the bear

TommyBrady12 said:

if it's close they'll keep him in but if it gets put of hand they'll put osweiller in.

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Theres no going back at this point. They hitched their bandwagon to manning for better or worse

pdangle said:

Another pretty big (IMO) factor not really being mentioned is Pats finally playing a game with more rest than the opponent. Seems like forever since we've had a rest advantage with this year's schedule and all our past playoff games. (Excepting those Divisional vs. Wild Card Round teams of course). It's usually been the reverse situation for NE in the AFC Championships for as long as I can remember.

Breakdown:

Pats played 3pm ET Sat, playing 3pm ET Sun for a full 7.0 days rest (an extra day, 6 + 1, more than usual Sun to Sun season games).

DEN on the other hand played 5pm Sunday and is playing a bit earlier at 3pm ET for 5.8 days rest, normal sleep recovery, but a bit less a than a Sun to Sun week.

NE goes in with a full day rest and preparation advantage. Manning only gets a normal week but minus a few hours to recover . But let's face it, this year and end of last, he looks best (physically) when he gets 2+ weeks off to recuperate. Not sure if you have noticed how bad he plays with a week or less to rest. So, if last week showed his old ass cranky body rested best, I can only image what he'll look like Sunday... hopefully.

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From my understanding, a travel day for pro athletes is not considered a day of rest specifically because of what the body goes through via interrupted routine, changes in time/environment and minor stresses involved with the act of traveling. If the Pats were playing at home it would be a bona fide two extra days of rest vs. Denver's schedule.

I think you have to like the Patriots chances. if they execute their gameplan, they are the better team through and through. if the defense can stop the run, the patriots should shut down the denver offense.

I think the key is to get a lead on them early and make the Broncos have to play the patriots game..which is to trade score for score.....which they no longer can. its if you let them hang around and keep the game close where they have a chance to steal it. which is what the steelers did...and they still should have won if not for the fumble!

Kubiak says Harris is good to go. We'll see how long he lasts on whatever they're shooting him up with.

Gary Kubiak says Chris Harris (shoulder) is ‘fine to go… had a good week’