Broncos post game discussion

[BobDigital]

Just a few quick thoughts now that i have had time to calm down

#1 There is never anything positive about a loss. This is a tough one and now the Patriots are perhaps going to need to walk on egg shells for a few game unless/until the Broncos lose again.

#2 As far as injuries initial reports appear the Patriots dodged 2 bullets tonight. Hightower and Gronk might miss time but I think from what I have read (Gronk not in crutches or a brace and Hightower staying on the sideline) that they are not season ending.

#3 Tonight even though the Patriots lost to the Broncos we got an upclose look at them and have reason to feel optimistic in a rematch. The Broncos barely beat us tonight catching the vast majority of the breaks in their home stadium. They have a few injuries as well but not nearly as impactful as the Pats. The Broncos offense did nothing against the Patriots D until Hightower was out and that is is where they did a lot of their damage.

When we face them again it is likely we will have both Hightower and Collins. I believe we showed this game if at full health the Broncos will have a very hard time scoring against us.

Conversely the Patriots moved the ball well without Amendola and Edelman. Even with Gronk out they were able to drive for a clutch FG. It is my belief that if the Patriots have all these offensive players healthy we can do better on offense than we did today and the OL should only improve in that time period.

Also Harper will not be back fielding kicks. Besides that play the STs of the Pats showed a clear difference between the STs of the Broncos. I believe the Broncos can and will improve between our potential next meeting (hopefully at our house) but I think the difference between the teams was shown tonight.

The Key for the Pats is get healthy and if possible get home field. Depending how long Gronk/Hightower/Amendola are out the second one could be not so easy

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

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.

 

[Fencer]

Which Patriots player named "Chandler" has the best hands?

 

[VectorPrime]

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.

 

[ausbacker]

If the Patriots received the help the Broncos received, this is a 54-0 blowout. That's how pissed off I am at this blatant disregard for the notion of competition.

Two things that pissed me off were the deep balls to Chandler. He's not a speedster, so why try and go over the top to him? Put him in motion and let him get a head of steam first. Secondly, the Patriots should never have conceded any rushing touchdowns to the Broncos. Their tackling, specifically the DBs was beyond atrocious.

The Pats should have won that game despite the fact that the team was playing with both arms tied behind its back, legs in a potato sack, and being thrown into the ocean.

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

Kind of funny how the rules of football become really cloudy up in the Mile High Stadium.

I'm still baffled by the officiating in the 2005-06 Division playoff game in Denver (which was more or less as atrocious as the officiating masterpiece I saw today).

 

[Mac&Barmore FTW]

I liked what I saw from Brown today.

 

[venecol]

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.

 

[venecol]

Which Patriots player named "Chandler" has the best hands?

Chandler caught a TD and had some clutch receptions in that game tying FG drive. Pats are going to need him and Brady seems to want to develop chemistry with him, kept on throwing to him. We need him to be more involved not less involved.

 

[Brewskies]

Every time they fumbled they retrieve it themselves. Every time we fumbled they retrieve just bad luck and field conditions. Both teams had injuries but our offensive injuries caused us to play a different game. Then there was the officiating, nothing more needs to be said. It would have been nice to have an unbeaten season but our mission is winning the SB.

 

[doesntmatter1]

Harper effed us. No running game at all(why even activate Blount?). How many times did we fail w/ the right sideline bombs to Chandler? Where are the reverses and our screen game?

Mayo for the most part was a disappointment. Secondary was decent in coverage minus those 2 bombs at the end.

 

[slash83]

No Edelman, Amendola, Collins, HT and Gronk out in the most critical part of the game. That and help from the refs is all it took for Denver to win in OT. Hopefully we see them again in the playoffs with a healthier team

 

[ausbacker]

Harper effed us. No running game at all(why even activate Blount?). How many times did we fail w/ the right sideline bombs to Chandler? Where are the reverses and our screen game?

Mayo for the most part was a disappointment. Secondary was decent in coverage minus those 2 bombs at the end.

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.

 

[slash83]

Especially in that weather.

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.

 

[luuked]

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.

I am honestly a bit more mad at the ST coach for not making their receivers fair catch everything at this point. Two scores up, it is snowing and you catch the ball around your own 40. Why take the risk ?

The decision to catch and try to move the ball looked like bad situational football to me.

 

[tombonneau]

Well, if they didn't go 16-0 this would be the game to trip them up and it did. Not an end of the world loss, but everyone bemoaning the refs, yeah they sucked, but good teams overcome bad calls. Never an excuse.

The muff was obviously huge. A combo of poor play and as others said coaches maybe putting too much trust in a rook. Not to mention just some bad luck considering Denver did the same twice but recovered.

The biggest issue was Pats failed to set the edge on all the Denver TD runs and simply got taken to the outside. They couldn't let the Broncos do well on the ground and needed to force Brock to make plays and the D did not accomplish this goal on critical plays.

Denver won this game. Pats did not play that well so take some solace (for what it's worth) that Pats brought their C-game into Denver and still went to OT and could have won.

All that matters is that Gronk is hopefully not done for the year. We've all seen what this offense looks like without him and it is very average.

The good news is this Bronco team is very beatable and should drop 1-2 more so Pats should still get a bye even with another loss.

PS Not sure how much is being made of it, but very curious decision by BB to play conservative at end of half with 2 min left. Was hoping someone at BB post-game presser would ask but, um, based on BB spitting fire daggers from his eyes can't blame them for not.

 

[mihap]

I didnt like some play calling.
U have multiple TE sets and u have no rungame,
Blount stopped at the middle and then threw himself in the middle, why dont try around, with slippery field, why in the middle? If Blount, White and Bolden can t do this than sign another RB. Hillamn and Anderson were doing this all day. I know that Hightower was missed and their def is better but still..
2 times side throw to Chandler, guy is not desean jackson, i know that their D is good but they were without NT Wiliams and SS Tj Ward,
Some long throws by Brady, that were way off

I know that it was some bad officiating in 4th quarter. Gronk OPI, holdin on Chandler, Tree Jackson nonholding penalty , where Brady find Martin wide open in Broncos teritory

But in the end this was a game where everything goes to Broncos.
They manage to secure two of their own fumbles
Harper fumble goes straight into their way
Chung was almmost INT and dropped it, that was close

Hope that Gronk and Hightower are ok, that all that matters

 

[Gwedd]

Here's my take. Maybe I'm just jaded with age, since I've been following the Patriots since '74, or perhaps I have a more nuanced take on things.

1.) The refs were atrocious last night. A BS PI call on Chung in the end zone, and a ton of no-PI calls on the Broncos when they were holding and interfering with Gronkowski. If I wanted evidence of league interference in the outcome of a game, I'd use the film of this game. You can't tell me that "someone" didn't lean on the refs to shade that game in Denver's favor.

2.) I can accept a loss as long as it's lost fair & square. Last night, Denver was aided by the refs. That isn't sporting at all. I hope some sportswriters point that out, but I'm NOT holding my breath.

Otherwise, it is what it is. This team is still 10-1, and has the potential to reach 15-1, and still has tie breakers to reach the 1st seed. But even if it's a 2nd seed, it's still better than the old days, when 6-10 was treated as a great season.

The sun is coming up, and we still love our families. We'll go to work (or not), pay our bills, and ***** about this or that. Amondola will be back very soon, and it's likely that Gronk and Edelman will both be available come the playoffs. It's a reasonably easy schedule ahead, what with Philly, the Titans, Jets, Miami, and Texans. Who on that list scares you?

So I'm over the loss. I'm not over the reffing, but otherwise, it's on to the Eagles.

 

[Mark.]

The loss didn't surprise me. Denver has always been a tough place to play. Going there on a short week with our B team put us at a disadvantage. The way we lost was what did surprise me. The officiating was atrocious. I hope to never see Corrente's crew again.

How incredible is it that this was our first meaningful loss in over a year? With everything this team has gone through, they have persevered and continued to be successful.

 

[PatsBoy12]

The loss can be categorized in two ways:

a) It's a big loss because it could have seeding implications in a number of ways and makes that #1 seed no longer a lock for NE (injuries also play a big part in this as well)

b) An even bigger loss if High and Gronk are lost for significant time, if not the remainder. Now, the word is encouraging about Gronk but no word has been heard about High, nor has anyone seen him since leaving the field yesterday. According to people who are normally around the team, like Zo, it's not a good sign when an injured player disappears and nobody seems to be talking about said player. That's what has happened with High, apparently.