Patriots Pregame Thread Pre-Game thread - 2025 AFC Championship at Denver Broncos

[Real fan 02]

During the late 90's the Jets were my most hated team. I couldn't stand seeing Martin and Parcells, BB and others with the Jets. Those ugly green uniforms they reintroduced in 1998 were annoying to look at as well. Dolphins and Bills were right up there as well. Broncos and Steelers were the top 2 outside of the division.

2000's were the Giants, Colts, Steelers, Broncos.

2010's were the Giants, Ravens, Steelers, Rex Ryan Jets/Bills, Broncos, Chiefs, Bengals.

2020's Chiefs, Bills and Ravens.

Agreed 100%.. in a positive note seems Hollins is slated to play.. listed as Questionable but He likely plays.. your thoughts?

 

[Triumph]

Buffy wore all whites in Buffyland. [IIRC]

Yes, but didn't NE wear White on White @ home vs Buffalo?

 

[turkeyneck]

Perhaps Surtain will be on Boutte.

He's becoming what I hoped he could be if he could get past the ankle injury - and mature a little. He's a great high risk/high reward success story - a bit like Gronk.

 

[scott99]

I think people are ignoring certain things that are in the Pat’s favor. They are ignoring the fact that the Pat’s finished 2nd in points per game. Denver was 14th, behind the Houston Texans who were 13th. That was 14th WITH Bo Nix. Sure Jarrett Stidham could have his best game ever, and the Pats can play like ****, and they lose, but the stats show that the Pats have an elite offense, and Denver’s, though good, certainly not elite. Probably will fall down a level because of the loss of Nix.

Defensively, people are saying how great the Broncos defense is, Pats finished 3rd in points against, closely followed by the Broncos at 4th. But people disregard the fact that the Pats have a good defense. I think as we’ve seen in the playoffs, I think that the Pat’s defense has taken that personal.

Drake Maye vs pressure. The Broncos led the league in sacks. But people disregard the fact that Maye was the best QB in the league vs pressure (stats back this up). The Pat’s O-line certainly isn’t elite, I believe Maye was the 4th most sacked QB in the league. Yet they still scored the second most points per game in the league. Maye seems to shrug off sacks and goes onto the next play. Same goes for fumbles and INTs, the next offensive possession, he’s put that behind him. His personality is to keep fighting. There were games where he was sacked 6 times, one time in back to back games, and the Pats scored 56 points in those games (combined) and Maye threw 5 TDs and had 2 INTs (combined). He doesn't get rattled by pressure. He never gets too high, or never gets too low.

Coaching. I believe the Broncos have the edge with Sean Payton, he’s a SB winning coach. He’s also been really good with all types of QBs. That being said, Vrabel is a helluva coach. He’s dealt with a lot of issues, as many coaches do, and he has a team, as most pundits said prior to the season, was down near the bottom of the league in talent level, in the AFCCG.

Now we come to the elephant in the room. Stidham. Despite all the stats and facts I’ve listed above, the so called experts on TV are rallying around him like he’s Nick Foles. By the time Foles beat the Pats in SB 52, he had thrown 61 TD passes and 29 INTs in the NFL and 9752 yards. Stidham isn’t Foles. Despite the media’s love, he’s not Bo Nix. I think it’s a logical conclusion that the offense won’t score at a similar rate as when Bo Nix is on the field.

Media is also bringing up the Pat’s past playoff record in Denver, it’s really a weak argument. A playoff game being played in 2016 has no bearing on a playoff game in 2026. It’s a ridiculous argument.

If the Pats play well and limit the mistakes, they should win. But we’ve seen that even when the Pats make mistakes, and maybe don’t play their best game, they still usually win.

 

[Gumby]

Yes, but didn't NE wear White on White @ home vs Buffalo?

One post too early or late. See my 2d answer. Week 6 away NO.

 

[Triumph]

He's becoming what I hoped he could be if he could get past the ankle injury - and mature a little. He's a great high risk/high reward success story - a bit like Gronk.

Boutte deserves this.

From last season working extra with Maye to the 2025 AFCC and a force to be reckoned with. He lifted the whole team up and has become a totally different person. It all harkens back to Vrabel and his team building principles. All the choices for his coaching staff and personnel selections through FA and the draft.

 

[n1997y]

Surtain is the best corner in the NFL
Not even close.
Maye will need to look elsewhere on Sunday

Even the best corner in the NFL could not have stopped that TD to Boutte against Houston last Sunday.
He could only watch.
That’s why I said Boutte’s value could increase in the next two games, assuming we make it to the Super Bowl.

 

[Triumph]

This really is a matchup HC wise.

Payton the offensive guy and Vrabel the defensive guy.

 

[Triumph]

Even the best corner in the NFL could not have stopped that TD to Boutte against Houston last Sunday.
He could only watch.
That’s why I said Boutte’s value could increase in the next two games, assuming we make it to the Super Bowl.

Maye is fearless with his placement of the ball.

Single coverage is open to Maye.

 

[Mayeniac]

I was surprised to see this available in its entirety on YouTube, I'm guessing it's set to air Sunday pregame. Cowher was somewhat underrated as a coach, IMO. He won a Super Bowl, had a .619 overall winning percentage and is in the Hall of Fame. He coached only 15 years and then retired -- he wasn't fired.

It seems that Vrabel learned a lot from him, especially regarding how to handle players on a personal level. Mike comes across as genuinely humble during this interview.

A tiny bit of trivia: I went out once with a woman who dated Cowher when he was a player in Cleveland.

LoL, got it. You think retirement without getting fired is worth more than 5 Superbowls.

 

[bormio]

He was hired to snitch and he happily blabbered to the media about what a good snitch he was.

You don't want a guy like that in your building a day longer than necessary.

Yep

 

[patchick]

Ann "Ann Maye" Maye is an Angel.

Its refreshing to see this.

She seems terrific and it’s nice to see her career taking off (in this case, literally)!

It was wild to read that “influencer” is the #1 most desired career of Gen Z & Alpha. I actually built a successful internet business from a passion project in the pre-TikTok days when you could be more anonymous, but I don’t think I could have coped with the influencer era.

 

[n1997y]

This has noting to do with football, but were you in the military? Air Force specifically? I was in for 22 years and the only people I have ever heard refer to the OODA loop are active and former military.

Not military. Cybersecurity, civilian and government. Much of my government service was Federal, IC adjacent. OODA is well known in the cybersecurity warrior community. If your interests lie in the right areas Boyd is well worth knowing.

Boyd’s work beyond OODA is also amazing: Energy-Manueverabilty Theory (reducing fighter aircraft performance to mathematics) and his essay on Destruction and Creation (combining Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem, Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics) are prime examples of really creative thought. His influence on the Left Hook in Desert Storm is incredible.

This eulogy says a lot, in not a lot of words, especially the last sentence (source):

It was fitting that General Charles Krulak, then-Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, wrote the following eulogy for Colonel Boyd:

​

11 Mar 97 To the Editor: I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Colonel John Boyd, USAF (Ret). How does one begin to pay homage to a warrior like John Boyd? He was a towering intellect who made unsurpassed contributions to the American art of war. Indeed, he was one of the central architects in the reform of military thought which swept the services, and in particular the Marine Corps, in the 1980s. From John Boyd we learned about competitive decision making on the battlefield-compressing time, using time as an ally. Thousands of officers in all our services knew John Boyd by his work on what was to be known as the Boyd Cycle or the OODA Loop. His writings and his lectures had a fundamental impact on the curriculum of virtually every professional military education program in the United States. . . . So, how does one pay homage to a man like John Boyd? Perhaps best by remembering that Colonel Boyd never sought the acclaim won him by his thinking. He only wanted to make a difference in the next war . . . and he did. That ancient book of wisdom-Proverbs-sums up John's contribution to his nation: "A wise man is strong and a man of knowledge adds to his strength; for by wise guidance you will wage your war, and there is victory in a multitude of counselors." I, and his Corps of Marines, will miss our counselor terribly. C. C. Krulak General, U.S. Marine Corps Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps3

​

 

[Triumph]

Since being fired by the Broncos.

McDaniel's has never beaten the Broncos in the post season.

2011 - Rams OC N/A
NE OC
2012 - REG 1 - 0
2013 - REG 1 - 0. POST 0 - 1( Manning crushed by Seattle D in NYC SB.)
2014 - REG 1 - 0
2015 - REG 0 - 1. POST 0 - 1 (Manning would beat Scam Newton for ring 2.)
2016 - REG 1 - 0
2017 - REG 1 - 0
2018 - N/A
2019 - N/A
2020 - REG 0 - 1
2021- N/A
LVR HC
2022 - REG 2 - 0
2023 - REG 1 - 0 relieved of HC responsibilities post game 8.

8 - 2 regular season record and 0 - 2 post season record. Id like to believe that there is a special place in McDaniel's heart to payback the Broncos org.

 

[n1997y]

Not going to lie, that upsets me a little because this is these people lives. I know that is part of the game but it never sits right with me

He got a bit more pay than he’d have gotten if they never signed him…

 

[Tunescribe]

LoL, got it. You think retirement without getting fired is worth more than 5 Superbowls.

Huh? I have no idea what this means.

 

[Triumph]

She seems terrific and it’s nice to see her career taking off (in this case, literally)!

It was wild to read that “influencer” is the #1 most desired career of Gen Z & Alpha. I actually built a successful internet business from a passion project in the pre-TikTok days when you could be more anonymous, but I don’t think I could have coped with the influencer era.

I believe its great for younger people to see role models like Ann and Drake in this cultural error that were in today. I just hope that they both can handle it when things go South (and they will) NEers are not exactly the warmest of people and totally different from folks in NC. I do believe that Drake is having some growing pains with the NE climate even though he and family went out on Gillette post Texans game (Anns idea) to throw the ball around. Drake has manners during press conferences always calling on Karen Kueregin (sp) when she was first after a guy tried to cut in line.

I always found that whenever I relocated that I took a piece of my new home with me, but never lost that I'm from NE.

 

[Bigdogx]

I tell you this media has somehow turned Jarrod Stickhims ,as Maddog calls him , into Joe Montana meets Jeff Hostetler meets Joe Flacco.....

 

[upstater1]

Yeah, both guys have flexed outside and it has paid dividends. Durden has come on, and Taylor has started to also. Farmer and Tonga might be able to give some snaps as well, though IIRC Tonga is usually replacing a DT and not pushing one outside

Durden has played better than even Tonga this year.

He's coming close to Barmore production. He's not only good against the run, but he's pushing the pocket back.

 

[upstater1]

So the answer is the only time they wore ALL WHITES (also the INTRODUCTION) was vs the Saints in Week 6





Neat new website found too as a result.

We haven't worn my 2nd favorite combination once this year.

White shirt, silver pants.