Comparing this years Patriots team to the 2013 Broncos

[hambone1818]

No Gronk. Talib going down mid-game was huge, they'd have been better off not having him from the outset then scheming with him in the mix then adjusting mid game. Brady vs. Postseason Manning Face. And on that point: Brady's greatest strength--adjusting to what a defense is giving him, spreading the ball around and working both the sideline and inside the numbers, sweeps with Edelman, screens with Vereen, etc--are the way you attack and beat the Hawks secondary. Manning's not as adept as that, never mind the fact he pukes all over himself in the playoffs.

Add to that, the 2013 Broncos defense was pretty average while this Patriots unit has been among the best in the league since the early-season blip.

This Patriots team wipes the floor with last years Broncos team, in Foxboro or Denver.

 

[Oswlek]

Peyton completed 70 percent of his passes and had a record number of completions yet they lost by 35 points which is scary

That says more about how meaningful those stats are in isolation than it does anything about Denver or Seattle.

 

[Observer]

They soft, we ain't.

Only our balls are soft

 

[Kontradiction]

Here's how I see it:

1. QB - 2014 Pats
2. RB - 2013 Broncos
3. OL - Wash
4. TE- 2014 Pats
5. WR - 2013 Broncos

6. DL - 2014 Pats
7. LB - 2014 Pats
8. CB - 2014 Pats
9. S - 2014 Pats

10. ST - 2014 Pats

2013 Broncos have the slight edge on offense but the Pats dominate the other units.

 

[Show416]

If not for edelman, I'd give the award to them. . But jabar Gaffney and rache caldwell I think were by far the worst group to ever suit up for a conference championship


Last year was pretty bad though, a close second fo sho

This is true

 

[skspikex2]

Lafell in term of toughness is better than 2013 broncos wrs combine.
Never seen a wr trying to take out a cb and safety at the same time.

 

[Boots Electric]

Gameplan, Leadership, and Discipline

• Gampelan: Manning should have changed the offensive gameplan as soon as he realized that the Seahawks were not giving him any room for his throws. He tried to force his throws to his guys instead of changing the offense to a run first offense that can use play action to help J. Thomas hit the seam or use his running backs as recievers out of the the backfield. Ball and Anderson had only 3 catched passes and Moreno (who had a good season) was nowhere to be found. He also left his recievers hung out to dry (surprise, surprise) and they were getting creamed by the Seattle defense. The gameplan failed which leads to ....
• Leadership: Manning is not a great leader among men. If things don't go his way, he would rather lose doing things his way then change his game because he wants the glory. His leadership failed him the minute he didn't change the gameplan. John Fox is not a great leader. Instead of taking Manning aside with Gase and telling Manning "We have to change this. It's not working." he let Manning continue to fail and did nothing about it. Could you imagine the NE offense failing and Belichick with McDaniels not going over to Brady and trying to change the gameplan? That rarely happens though because Brady is great at in-game adjustments and knows what to do in situations like that. Even so, Fox, Gase, and Manning were not great leaders for their team and it showed because they were too stubborn or too afraid to change anything.
• Discipline: This falls on special teams and defense. They missed their assignments all game. What's the first thing they teach you with kickoff/punt coverage. Don't get out of your lane. What's the first thing they did? They relied on their athleticism and talent instead of actually gameplanning for Seattle's special teams and offense. I don't know what Del Rio was thinking with his defense knowing that Seattle's offense had short fields to work with. Do you not prepare in case the opposing offense has a short field to work with? Situational football.

The Patriots have great leaders in Belichick, Brady, Wilfork, and McCourty. The Patriots know how to gameplan and make in-game adjustments on both sides of the ball. Finally, the Patriots are a disciplined football team in all three phases of the game. Add the tremendous secondary, linebacker core, healthy Gronk, tough recievers in Edelman, Amendola, and Lafell who won't fold after getting hit, and the 2013 Broncos don't match up at all with the 2014 Patriots.

 

[FourierSeries]

Peyton completed 70 percent of his passes and had a record number of completions yet they lost by 35 points which is scary

Not really. All that does is underscore just how one dimensional Denver was in that game. Can't beat an incredible defense like that by being one dimensional. They will shut you down where it counts - in the red zone.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Could you imagine the NE offense failing and Belichick with McDaniels not going over to Brady and trying to change the gameplan?

I think that describes the "game that shall not be named"...

 

[rochrist]

I'm curious how you guys think we compare to the Broncos last year. The Broncos had arguably the best regular season of any team in history. They beat us pretty handily in the Afccg. Most people picked them to beat Seattle and then they got destroyed.

This years Seattle team is pretty much the same as last year. So how are we more likely to beat them? I would argue Brady is playing some of his smartest football of his career. I would also say our defense is better than last years Broncos team. And the addition of Blount has really opened up our offense when he gets rolling. I've just been getting excited because I think we are gonna win and it's not gonna be that close and that's what everyone thought about the Broncos last year. Thoughts?

The teams reflect the personalities of their QBs. Denver was as soft as Charmin.

 

[rochrist]

Peyton completed 70 percent of his passes and had a record number of completions yet they lost by 35 points which is scary

The kind of stat Peyton excells at. Setting completion records while losing by 35 points.

 

[mosi]

Peyton completed 70 percent of his passes and had a record number of completions yet they lost by 35 points which is scary

Which re-enforces the fact that stats are for losers…

 

[bobbutts]

Peaking at the right time. Collins and Amendola are now assets instead of liabilities. Blount has been as good as any back in recent memory in the playoffs. Gronk has got to be chomping at the bit to get a chance in the big game. Brady still has more than enough physically and is playing great. Could go on, but long story short is that they've had good luck to go along with masterful coaching and elevated play.

 

[mosi]

I think that describes the "game that shall not be named"...

I thought at half time Brady wanted to change things and was yelling at McDaniels about it and they would not change. Nobody on the seahawks scares me as much as him (McDaniels).

 

[brdmaverick]

They beat us last year because we had our best players on both sides of the ball missing. In their own stadium they were only able to beat us by 10 with a bunch of no names on our team. They were undeserving of a SB berth and it showed when they got dismantled.

I hate the Broncos, but I think it's extremely unfair to say they were undeserving as conference champs. Yes, they 'ONLY' beat us by 10, but anyone who watched the game knows that they destroyed us. They had the ball what felt like the entire gamea and just toyed with our defense. I think you are undervaluing the team to make yourself feel better about our chances of beating the Hawks.

I think the more accurate picture (more accurate in my opinion at least) is that Denver was a great team (one of the best teams in NFL history), but even they were not immune to 'quicksand' (fans of the movie THE REPLACEMENTS might like that one). No matter what team you are, there is a perfect storm scenario in which things do NOT go your way. In this case it was bad snap for the safety, pick six, fumbles, letting up a kick off for a TD......some of these are skill but then some are also just good/bad luck. The Broncos suffered from the quicksand of things going poorly for them.

It can happen to any team. We saw it this year with the Patriots (against the CHiefs). The odds of it happening to good teams such as the Broncos and Pats are very low. Therefore, I'm not saying we'll fair better than the Broncos did last year because we are far superior team than the Broncos. No, I'm saying we stand a better chance because it's unlikely that we suffer from the same quicksand effect that the Broncos did. As we saw against hte Ravens, the Pats keep their cool even when things are not going well. So i defintiely agree with you in that regard.

Let's hope it's a great game and a victory for the good guys.

 

[brdmaverick]

I don't understand why members are being overly critical towards the Broncos team of last year. They were the number one team in the conference and earned a trip to the Super Bowl. While some are calling the OP crazy for even raising the question, aren't others just as crazy for dismissing the Bronco's accomplishments of last year?

Do I like the Pats this year over the Broncos of last year? yes, you hae to love Brady, but that doesn't mean the OP's question is idiotic and unworthy of intelligent discussion.

 

[PatCat]

Only in that their WRs are better, as a group, than the Patriots' are, although perhaps not as much as some might think.

The Donkeys, of course, do not have anyone near GRONK's caliber.

Only in that their WRs are better, as a group, than the Patriots' are, although perhaps not as much as some might think.

The Donkeys, of course, do not have anyone near GRONK's caliber.

I agree. I was specifically talking about the wideout position though, I agree that there wide receiver corps is not better by much but in fairness to them they have noodle arm throwing them the ball. You can only accurately compare receivers when they have comparable QB's and our QB is worlds better. But to hell with the Donks, were on to Arizona dude.

 

[Fencer]

2013 Broncos have the slight edge on offense.

I agree with that only in the regular season.

 

[Connecticut]

 

[rochrist]

I don't understand why members are being overly critical towards the Broncos team of last year. They were the number one team in the conference and earned a trip to the Super Bowl. While some are calling the OP crazy for even raising the question, aren't others just as crazy for dismissing the Bronco's accomplishments of last year?

Do I like the Pats this year over the Broncos of last year? yes, you hae to love Brady, but that doesn't mean the OP's question is idiotic and unworthy of intelligent discussion.

As damaged as the Pats were at the end of last year, I'd be willing to be that they would have given the Hawks a better fight.