This is the best pass D Denver has faced

[Double TE]

True statement if you are using the opponents passer rating. At least according to Byrne at coldhardfootballfacts.com

He said the Pats are one of the top Ds in terms of opponent passer rating and Denver to date other than NE has faced teams that are inferior in that regards. And that the team that has the better passer rating is like 114 - 7. So if Brady outperforms Manning in the passer rating category we win.

Just saying....

 

[BobDigital]

I don't know about that but I will say this.

The Patriots defense finished with the 9th best QBR in the NFL

The only team I think Denver played which was better is KC (which was 7th but played a lot of backups).

Not to mention We have had guys injured throughout the year.

Right now we are fairly healthy though and Ryan has only gotten better as well as Collins is hitting his stride.

I think our pass D pretty good and will be able to slow Denver down some.

 

[Rob0729]

The most underplayed topic about this team is that starting in the Baltimore game, this defense has really gelled and become a solid defense.

The Chiefs allowed the Colts to score a billion points and the Pats allowed them to score 24 and one TD was a perfect catch in great coverage and another was just a blown coverage. Otherwise, the Pats pretty much shut down the Colts.

I think most people around the league are sleeping on this defense and still think it is the deplete defense that has a banged up secondary and can't stop the run. I don't know if that is really the truth about this defense anymore.

 

[Sicilian]

Also, we held Manning to his lowest rating of the season at 70 or so. Weather played a factor though.

 

[Sicilian]

The most underplayed topic about this team is that starting in the Baltimore game, this defense has really gelled and become a solid defense.

The Chiefs allowed the Colts to score a billion points and the Pats allowed them to score 24 and one TD was a perfect catch in great coverage and another was just a blown coverage. Otherwise, the Pats pretty much shut down the Colts.

I think most people around the league are sleeping on this defense and still think it is the deplete defense that has a banged up secondary and can't stop the run. I don't know if that is really the truth about this defense anymore.

Nitpick, they only allowed 20 to the Colts (2 came on a safety).

 

[patsinthesnow]

The Pats and the Seahawks are really the only two teams that have the secondary personnel to matchup with the Broncos weapons. The 49ers/Panthers/Bengals/Chiefs/etc. have elite front 7s but their secondaries lack the talent IMO.

 

[everlong]

The Chief's defensive passer rating is better than the Patriots which gives the Broncos two games against the top 10.

Patriots have played Cincinnati, Buffalo twice, Miami twice and Carolina. They also played numbers 11 and 12 in Baltimore and Pitt.

Broncos are 17th and Pats 9th.

 

[Nunchucks]

I completely agree that the Patriots pass defense has really come together, both in health and experience over the last few games. We really could see the best pass defense the Patriots have fielded in a very long time.

It is certainly a strength of the team for this game.

 

[Rob0729]

Nitpick, they only allowed 20 to the Colts (2 came on a safety).

Sorry. I didn't have time to look it up and my memory ain't like it used to be.

 

[Nunchucks]

The Chief's defensive passer rating is better than the Patriots which gives the Broncos two games against the top 10.

Patriots have played Cincinnati, Buffalo twice, Miami twice and Carolina. They also played numbers 11 and 12 in Baltimore and Pitt.

If you watched the Chiefs games against the Broncos, you would see a ton of single safety looks, which the Broncos exploited to the delight of Decker. Chiefs never adjusted, just like they did not adjust for the game against the Colts.

 

[Double TE]

The Colts also beat Denver and Luck outplayed Manning. It can be done!! Yes Indi was at home but its not like the stadium was unfamiliar to Manning. LOL

 

[mayoclinic]

We have 8 players who I trust in coverage: CBs Talib, Dennard, Ryan and Arrington (in the slot), safeties McCourty, Gregory and Harmon, and LB Collins. Plus S Wilson and LB Hightower are effective in a zone. That's more than I can ever remember us having.

 

[JMC00]

Don't forget Pats were 4th in the NFL in completion percentage against with 57%. They hadn't been under 62% since '09

 

[50-yard-line]

The Chief's defensive passer rating is better than the Patriots which gives the Broncos two games against the top 10.

Patriots have played Cincinnati, Buffalo twice, Miami twice and Carolina. They also played numbers 11 and 12 in Baltimore and Pitt.

Broncos are 17th and Pats 9th.

I'd like to see the Chiefs' rating STARTING from their first Donkey game, when, the week previous, they had lost Hali and Houston. Their pass rush never recovered, and without that pass rush, they were a completely mediocre defense.

Also, they didn't PLAY ANYBODY until San Diego took them down. The only good team they had played was Philly, and they caught them very early, when Philly wasn't very good at all. The AFC West had bloated statistics this year because they played the NFC East and the AFC South, two truly horrible divisions. The best team in both were the Colts...we saw them last week and trashed them.

 

[Ivan]

The more important thing to me is that this is the most talented secondary that the Patriots have brought into a game against Manning, and they are pretty healthy playing well at the most important time. Overall Hightower is really the only weakness in the back 7 in terms of coverage, Collins is really good and as such draws the toughest assignment, but Fletcher is also pretty good in coverage.

 

[oldrover]

The Pats secondary has been subpar for so long that nobody REALLY evaluates it objectively. I heard Colin Cowherd today say that the Pats secondary is below average. Ironically, this may be the first time since 2007 where that's NOT true.

 

[Deus Irae]

The Chief's defensive passer rating is better than the Patriots which gives the Broncos two games against the top 10.

Patriots have played Cincinnati, Buffalo twice, Miami twice and Carolina. They also played numbers 11 and 12 in Baltimore and Pitt.

Broncos are 17th and Pats 9th.

Denver played the Chiefs twice, making that 3 games, not 2.

 

[Deus Irae]

The Patriots have 3 quality DBs (McCourty, Talib, Dennard), and a 4th who's generally quality when handling short areas (Arrington). I expect Talib to cover D. Thomas and Dennard to cover Decker, with Arrington getting help with Welker.

After that, it's dicey, and that's where I'm probably going to focus early on. J. Thomas and K. Moreno v. S/LB matchups.

 

[shmessy]

Also, we held Manning to his lowest rating of the season at 70 or so. Weather played a factor though.

Wind chill of 6 with 30 mph winds that night in Foxboro.

He has 58 and sunny on Sunday while the Pats have to acclimate to the thinner air.

 

[shmessy]

The Patriots have 3 quality DBs (McCourty, Talib, Dennard), and a 4th who's generally quality when handling short areas (Arrington). I expect Talib to cover D. Thomas and Dennard to cover Decker, with Arrington getting help with Welker.

After that, it's dicey, and that's where I'm probably going to focus early on. J. Thomas and K. Moreno v. S/LB matchups.

Collins on J. Thomas. BB should have been making sure Jamie has been going to sleep every night with a Julius Thomas picture sewn into his pillow.