New England at Denver AFCCG pre game thread.

Connecticut said:

Boys, are we setting ourselves up here? All the local mediots are picking us overwhelmingly, along with the national morons. Hell, I'm more confident than ahead of KC..

..it's quiet.. too quiet.

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This should wake you up a bit:

FiveThirtyEight: Patriots Have Worst Chance To Win Super Bowl; Panthers Lead Way

BelichickFan said:

Three things could lose the game :

1) Turnovers
2) Domination by HGHers pass rush
3) Patriots give up 150+ rushing

If none of these happen, we win easily. If one or more happens, it gets more uncertain depending on the severity of the above.

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How about the most obvious? :

1) Any of our injured players can't push through

2) Inability to run the ball and win in the trenches offensively

phil112 said:

I'm starting to feel it.................
Report: Jamie Collins (back) good to go for Patriots - NFL.com

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How good does the last line of the report make everyone feel?

"In case Collins is somehow unavailable, the Patriots will have fresh reinforcements. New England signed rookie linebacker Kevin Snyder to the active roster off the practice squad."

sevengables_2207 said:

I think that a portion of a faction Pats fans uneasiness stems from the fact that the game is on the road, in a hostile environment, where not too long ago the team lost in a fashion that could be coined a meltdown (be it due to ill-timed turnovers/in-game injuries/poor officiating).

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They've lost horrific games in Denver for 5 decades.

Fitzy nailed it when he called it the Patriots' own Bermuda Triangle.

shmessy said:

They've lost horrific games in Denver for 5 decades.

Fitzy nailed it when he called it the Patriots' own Bermuda Triangle.

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Add in the 4th quarter blues that so many visiting teams to MILE HIGH experience, and one's confidence has to at best guarded. Besides, we should never blank out on our rare ability to decisively take anyone out this season.

Okay, so I'm scouting the Broncos tonight by watching the game last week. First of all, Manning sucks. It can't be said enough. Am I saying we should overlook him? NO. But he does. He sucks. There was one play in particular where the ball started wobbling right after it left Manning's hand. Both Nantz and Simms thought it was tipped. Then they watched the replay and saw that it was never touched. LOL

They went over 100 minutes off football not scoring a touchdown (going back to the AFDG against Indy in 2014). How can that be for a team with so many weapons? Sanders and those RB's I fear. Nobody else. I know NE is not looking past Manning (so to speak). But he is truly a shell of his former greatness.

Unfortunately, the weather report looks as though DEN will be ideal for Manning. Calm winds, zero precipitation, high humidity.

SVN said:

They wont play zone vs the pats. Not recommended vs Brady.

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If Denver is smart they'll rush just three on the majority of their snaps, flood the middle, drop the rest and do a mixture of zone and man.

supafly said:

It isn't going to be "one week," though. The Broncos had the bye and he was still nursing it a bit last week, but even then, he still had 3/4 snaps.

All accounts point to him being much healthier this week, as he's had more time to heal.

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He hurt it again on that out of bounds tackle he got caught up in. So yes it actually has been a week. As far as the signs that he's ok, well that's BS. As much BS as Maclins info was.

Chris Harris will be 100% solely because that's our luck.

supafly said:

This should wake you up a bit:

FiveThirtyEight: Patriots Have Worst Chance To Win Super Bowl; Panthers Lead Way

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The odds of repeating are never high. This pats team has spoilt us in doing this every yr -getting to the AFCCG. Thats why I was susprised at all these pats picks. Denver is in a better position with HFA.It gives them belief.
After the offseason pats had and the injuries they had, its a remarkable achievement whatever happens.

VectorPrime said:

Chris Harris will be 100% solely because that's our luck.

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It is what it is. To win big games you have to sometimes take on their best. and his stuff evens out. Who knows how the SB wouldve gone if Cliff Avril hadnt got hurt.

PP2 said:

If Denver is smart they'll rush just three on the majority of their snaps, flood the middle, drop the rest and do a mixture of zone and man.

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They will still pick them apart. Remember, Seattle played zone in the SB and got toasted. And by toasted I mean 28 points. That's more than enough to beat Denver and also I beleive Seattle had a better D as they are used to playing zone. Denver isn't.

So cool my son is downtown in Denver at Ted Montana grill with Patriots All Access, got to meet Bob Hraft. Im headed to katie mullens for the Patriots club party.

PP2 said:

I think that's the poison we're going to choose, putting Butler on an island with Sanders and hoping the damage is minimal or at least tolerable. My thinking is we are going to sacrifice to stop the run, first and foremost, and we aren't going to play our men over the top of their routes like Pittsburgh did and concede on curls and crossers and let Manning dink and dunk his way upfield. I think we'll play fairly aggressive and mostly in a cover 1 and even 0 at times, and contest all those short routes. I see us stacking the box way more often than not.

Pittsburgh played Manning like he was the Manning of old. No way we make that mistake. BB has always reveled in defensive strategies that come out of left field and that's what we'll see- a complete reversal of the way we usually treat Manning.

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Dont know about cover 0.BB barely leaves his defense open to big plays over the top.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...ady_patriots_may_find_holes_in_denver_defense

pretty good article on how the pats offense matches up well with the denver defense based on weaknesses. seems denver has weakness at the linebackers and safeties in coverage.

BelichickFan said:

Three things could lose the game :

1) Turnovers
2) Domination by HGHers pass rush
3) Patriots give up 150+ rushing

If none of these happen, we win easily. If one or more happens, it gets more uncertain depending on the severity of the above.

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Brady has thrown picks in the AFCCG before for some reason few times in the endzone even at home vs worser teams so its not out of the realm of possibility.

SVN said:

It is what it is. To win big games you have to sometimes take on their best. and his stuff evens out. Who knows how the SB wouldve gone if Cliff Avril hadnt got hurt.

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There is no doubt that when he went out TB was able to move around all over the place

SVN said:

Dont know about cover 0.BB barely leaves his defense open to big plays over the top.

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You're probably right for the most part and I do think we'll at least play a great deal of cover 1- depending on what kind of shape Manning's arm is in after only 6 days rest.

Still, I wouldn't be surprised to see us take some calculated risks, especially if we can get pressure up front.

despite everyones negativity, I just feel we are the better team on both sides of the ball. and if we play our game we should beat denver. our offense when healthy should be able to score on their defense and Manning is due for a pick or two