Edelman had 10 catches for 89 yards and 1 touchdown, Vereen had 93 total yards (rushing/receiving and Collie had by far his best game of the season with 4 catches for 57 yards. In addition Ryan Allen had an excellent game as did Devin McCourty and Donte Hightower.
People have this perception that we got destroyed in Denver but we didn’t, the defense held a team that averaged 37.9 PPG during 2013 to 26 points that’s nearly 12 points less than their average. Tom Brady completed 63% of his passes for 277 receiving yards and a 93.9 QB rating. It is not as if the other players around Amendola were sucking up the building and Brady couldn’t throw a hotdog down a hallway, I highlighted the players above that had good games but others helped out – Dobson made 2 big catches despite playing a broken foot, Hooman had 2 big catches. The passing game was effective, Amendola was not and the only person to blame for that is Amendola.
You and I clearly watched different games. The game I watched saw a New England offense that looked pathetic until the 4th Quarter. 3-and-out on the first two possessions, including a 3rd-and-3 hail Mary to Slater when underneath receivers were open for the first down.
The game I watched, Brady didn't have enough time to go through his progressions, which is why he kept throwing to Edelman, who was his 1st option on many plays. The game I watched, running backs couldn't get to the line of scrimmage unimpeded.
The game I watched (look it up) Denver had 21 FIRST DOWNS at the same point where New England had run 24 PLAYS...in the Denver air.
The Patriots were dominated - and couldn't get a call on top of it. The Hooman call, the Welker non-call, and the ridiculous Ryan holding call were critical in allowing Denver to get up two scores on a team that was clearly flat, and clearly couldn't adjust their offensive game plan against the aggressive Denver D. They were out-coached, out-muscled, out-talented, and out-performed.
They came up flat. It happens. I'm sick of it happening in the big games.
I won't get into the whole Welker/Amendola thing, other than to say that part of the reason so many receivers don't seem to work out in New England falls on Brady's shoulders. His considerable strengths at QB do not include lifting up his receivers. In Brady's defense, since 2007, he always seems to be under more pressure, particularly in these big games, than the guy on the other side of the ball: Giants/Jets/Ravens/Giants/Ravens/Broncos...
Welker was a fool to walk was much as the Pats were foolish to let him walk - which tells me that Welker didn't want to be here any more than BB wanted him here (which makes this constant back-and-forth silly). The business deal got personal and that's never a good thing, and in the end, Kraft was right: the deal the Pats offered him was BETTER than the one he took in Denver. He's 8 million against their cap next year, and only 2 million in dead money if cut (and they've got some big free agents).
I watched a lot of the Denver games this year and Welker was good but nothing spectacular. He wasn't being doubled at all, and was rarely bracketed, and got a ton of easy catches on the famed Denver rub crossing pattern. Still a very good player, but if I'm playing Denver, he's the 4th receiver I worry about.
He's also not a long-term answer for anybody. If he retires after the SB, I won't be surprised. He's playing on borrowed time, like a lot of other undersized slot receivers who stalk the sidelines saying, "I'm Batman."
