WHEN THE BRONCOS RUN THE BALL
This is the unquestioned strength of the Denver offense, at least at this point of the season. C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman form a really nice 1-2 punch, and as the Denver offense has evolved over the course of the last year, they have both asserted themselves as key parts of the Broncos’ success. In the regular season, Denver finished 17th in the league when it came to running the ball at 107.4 rushing yards per game, but that isn’t really indicative of where they are as a team right now. Denver broke 100 yards on the ground as a team in six of its last seven games in the regular season, and finished with 109 yards Sunday against Pittsburgh. Hillman is a 5-foot-9, 200-pounder who averaged 56 rushing yards per game and four yards per carry over the last six games of the regular season, while the 5-foot-8, 224-pound Anderson (who had the 48-yard run for a touchdown in the extra session against the Patriots that lifted the Broncos over New England in the overtime contest between the two teams in November) had 66 yards per game and a whopping six yards per carry in the same stretch. The return of Dont’a Hightower to full strength should play a big role in helping slow the Denver run game — if the Patriots can at least minimize the impact of Anderson and Hillman, that will go a long way toward winning this game.
UNDER THE RADAR PERFORMER: The Denver offensive line. While we’ve written a ton about the struggles of the New England offensive line over the last few weeks — as well as the fact that the group played well last Saturday against the Chiefs — the fact remains that the front that will have the most on its shoulders come Sunday is the group assigned to protect Peyton and the rest of the Broncos’ offense. If that group can get a push when it comes to run blocking against a New England defensive front that will be out to slow down the Denver ground game by any means necessary, that can potentially change the face of this game. If the Broncos can get the ground game cranked up, it’ll open things up just slightly for Manning and the passing game. And if the veteran gets enough time to throw, he’s still capable of putting his receivers in good situations. Left tackle Ryan Harris, left guard Evan Mathis, center Matt Paradis, right guard Louis Vasquez and right tackle Michael Schofield will all have a lot on their plate — if they can rise to the challenge on Sunday, it could go a long way toward determining the outcome of this one.
