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

Ring 6 · Jan 20, 2026

TommyD4207 said:
They have some good pieces, but it's not nearly as good as what the Patriots have faced the last two weeks. Joseph's a pretty good DC, does some scheming, so it's challenging.

I've seen the Giants and Commanders move the ball at will against this team, and I saw the Bills do it last week.

Account for Nick Bonito, they should be ok.

They have a very good pass rush. If you stop that they are a very average defense.

TommyD4207 · Jan 20, 2026

I expect the Broncos to try to run tempo as well - keep the Patriots from substituting. Keeps the play sheet easy for Stidham as well.

First quarter is going to determine the game, if I had to guess. Patriots will be hanging on by their fingernails in the 4th quarter, which is pretty much the case of every team that plays there.

There are some veterans on this young team that really have never had a chance to get this far (Henry, Moses, Stevenson, Spillane, Bradbury, Jones, Barmore) some that were just short of the big dance (Diggs, Hollins) and a couple of Champions like Davis and Williams. People don't tend to think this stuff matters, but I'd expect a couple of monster performances from guys like this you might not expect, laying it all out there for a chance at a title.

The kids just need to keep it together, and lean on those guys.

fnordcircle · Jan 20, 2026

Ring 6 said:
I enjoyed the championships more than I would enjoyed high risk defense keeping us from winning them.

Sure. Two things can be true.

I liked winning championships and defended BB/Patricia (for whatever a nobody's comments on the internet are worth) and I didn't enjoy watching large portions of the game.

SVN · Jan 20, 2026

Ross12 said:
To be honest - Buffalo showed some weaknesses in this Denver defense. They had guys getting open quite frequently, and Buffalo hardly has a scary offense. Maye is similar to Allen, Williams is similar to Cooks, Diggs is better than Shakir, Henry is similar to Kincaid, Boutte is better than any other WR they have, etc. The Pats don't have an RB as good as Cook, but Stevenson and Henderson are still pretty solid and Buffalo was somewhat pass-happy anyway.

If I was Josh I'd be studying what Buffalo did because I think Joe Brady may have given us the blueprint. The key, of course, is just to not turn it over 4+ times like Allen.

I listened mark schlereth talk to rich eisen and according to him , its the defense of denver he is worried about as there performed very poorly in the bills game. He thought allen missed a lot of chances to put points on the board

Rob0729 · Jan 20, 2026

DaBruinz said:
Wolf is a terrible talent evaluator when left to his own devices. This was proven out last year by Wolf's failure to bring in talent (either in Free Agency or the Draft) that failed under Mayo and then went somewhere else and excelled. Wolf was made the GM in everything but name last year.

I find it ironic that you want to put all the blame on Mayo for "not having a system" but give little credit to Vrabel for having a system and being able to articulate it to Wolf. I also find it ironic that you think it's so hard to change up a spreadsheet or database in terms of providing grades on players. With a properly formed database, it shouldn't be very hard at all and it shouldn't take months for the scouting department to recalibrate in this day and age.

I think it's very telling that every single player signed during the 2025 Free Agency had direct ties to someone that Vrabel brought in. So, why is it inconceivable that Vrabel had the Coaching staff put together list of bottom of the roster players that they had 1st hand knowledge for Wolf to keep an eye out for? Especially when you look at the fact Woods Taylor and Munford all had direct ties? Do you think it's a coincidence that the Pats didn't claim Jakob Johnson off waivers at the end of Training Camp despite McDaniels having had Johnson as a player here and in Vegas? Or that they didn't claim Johnson off waivers when he was cut on December 9th?

Good talent evaluators find talent regardless of the Grading system being used.

Wolf doing his own thing = Failure
Wolf following instructions from Vrabel / Streicher = Looks like a winner..

A GM doesn't select players in a vacuum. They rely on the coaches to help make selections. Many head coaches, probably including Vrabel, have more power in the final say. No GM is left to their own devices. At least no GM that is successful. Roster building, at least by competent teams, is a collaborative effort. In fact, Belichick got himself in trouble by not being collaborative which had him passing on Lamar Jackson and taking N'Keal Harry over AJ Brown and Deebo Samuel.

Not every single player had a tie to Vrabel and his staff. A lot did, some didn't. But that is common with new coaching staffs. They want to bring in players that know their system and have buy in. But there was a story earlier in the year that said that Vrabel sat in with Wolf and his scouting staff that recommended Tonga and Woodson. But it isn't telling that most of the free agents had ties to Vrabel and his coaching staff. It would have been unusual if it wasn't the case.

Double TE · Jan 20, 2026

Stack the box. Force their passing game to beat you. That only works if Davis plays.

Wingy · Jan 20, 2026

irishfanatic said:
Someone posted in another thread that whatever happens from here on is gravy considering pre season expectations, I agree.
Would be unreal to claim 7th, but I am already excited about next season and beyond and watching this team grow and evolve into the force they will be become.
Are we blessed as Patriot fans or what.

Indeed. Surpassed all my wildest expectations awhile ago. Really incredible, and so happy for the team, players, coaches (and of course, us!).

Part of me says we’re playing with house money.

The other part says you never know if and when this opportunity will come around again. The Commandos were super psyched after last season for instance.

Success isn’t always linear, or up and to the right. We’re here. Might as well finish the job cause tomorrow and years down the road are never guaranteed. I’m thankful for the insane progress, yet it’s also time to get greedy.

SlowGettingUp · Jan 20, 2026

Hugepatsfan said:
They tried to help him like that against Myles Garrett and it made the issue worse.

Campbell left Garrett way too much space after the chip. I'm sure that's now been corrected.

Ross12 · Jan 20, 2026

SVN said:
I listened mark schlereth talk to rich eisen and according to him , its the defense of denver he is worried about as there performed very poorly in the bills game. He thought allen missed a lot of chances to put points on the board

Yep. Agreed. The Denver defense played like hot garbage. They were really bad.

Buffalo had 11 drives, and 5 of them ended on turnovers. They scored 30 points on the other 6 drives, which is 5 points per drive. They had 450 yards of offense, which is over 40 yards per drive.

If Denver plays like that again this weekend, NE will score 40.

NormZauchin · Jan 20, 2026

Wingy said:
Indeed. Surpassed all my wildest expectations awhile ago. Really incredible, and so happy for the team, players, coaches (and of course, us!).

Part of me says we’re playing with house money.

The other part says you never know if and when this opportunity will come around again. The Commandos were super psyched after last season for instance.

Success isn’t always linear, or up and to the right. We’re here. Might as well finish the job cause tomorrow and years down the road are never guaranteed. I’m thankful for the insane progress, yet it’s also time to get greedy.

You are right. Go for it now. Dan Marino made the Super Bowl in his second season only to lose to Joe Montana and the 49ers. Marino never played in a Super Bowl again.

upstater1 · Jan 20, 2026

Ross12 said:
Yep. Agreed. The Denver defense played like hot garbage. They were really bad.

Buffalo had 11 drives, and 5 of them ended on turnovers. They scored 30 points on the other 6 drives, which is 5 points per drive. They had 450 yards of offense, which is over 40 yards per drive.

If Denver plays like that again this weekend, NE will score 40.

Schlereth didn't say it but we also should remember that Denver had about as easy a schedule as the Patriots, so if the Patriots offensive stats are a little puffed up as everyone is saying, that might also apply to the Denver defensive stats.

Ross12 · Jan 20, 2026

upstater1 said:
Schlereth didn't say it but we also should remember that Denver had about as easy a schedule as the Patriots, so if the Patriots offensive stats are a little puffed up as everyone is saying, that might also apply to the Denver defensive stats.

IIRC, the Pats’ opponents were around .391 and the Broncos’ were around .422 - barely different.

I remember seeing a list of playoff teams with the easiest schedules of all time, and while the 2025 Pats were third on that list, the 2025 Broncos were like seventh.

Triumph · Jan 20, 2026

obgod3 · Jan 20, 2026

I’d be careful about what guys like “Stink” say and I think a lot of the talking heads are trying to do the same thing to Denver that the Pats heard last week…they are playing with us. Denver’s defense was 2nd regular season and that cant be disputed and shouldn’t. They also have a good secondary and one of the best CB’s in the league in Pat Surtain. This is no easy game, no cakewalk, teams struggle there. It was always interesting when I went to the games in Denver how much opposing teams struggled. I believe the Pats will win, but I dont think it will be a slam dunk.

p8ryts · Jan 20, 2026

obgod3 said:
I’d be careful about what guys like “Stink” say and I think a lot of the talking heads are trying to do the same thing to Denver that the Pats heard last week…they are playing with us. Denver’s defense was 2nd regular season and that cant be disputed and shouldn’t. They also have a good secondary and one of the best CB’s in the league in Pat Surtain. This is no easy game, no cakewalk, teams struggle there. It was always interesting when I went to the games in Denver how much opposing teams struggled. I sure hope the Pats are not listening to us and focused on a really good team that was the #1 seed.

Also one of the best coaches. We might have to win this game because they might not lose it.

Ross12 · Jan 20, 2026

obgod3 said:
I’d be careful about what guys like “Stink” say and I think a lot of the talking heads are trying to do the same thing to Denver that the Pats heard last week…they are playing with us. Denver’s defense was 2nd regular season and that cant be disputed and shouldn’t. They also have a good secondary and one of the best CB’s in the league in Pat Surtain. This is no easy game, no cakewalk, teams struggle there. It was always interesting when I went to the games in Denver how much opposing teams struggled. I believe the Pats will win, but I dont think it will be a slam dunk.

I’m not going off what Schlereth said, I’m going off what I watched with my own eyes 72 hours ago. They played like crap. Surtain looked half asleep.

upstater1 · Jan 20, 2026

Ross12 said:
I’m not going off what Schlereth said, I’m going off what I watched with my own eyes 72 hours ago. They played like crap. Surtain looked half asleep.

Surtain was injured during the game and he played hurt for half the game.

The Gr8est · Jan 20, 2026

SVN said:
I listened mark schlereth talk to rich eisen and according to him , its the defense of denver he is worried about as there performed very poorly in the bills game. He thought allen missed a lot of chances to put points on the board

He still picked Denver to win, but that was a homer pick.

Uptown · Jan 20, 2026

ScottishPatriots · Jan 20, 2026

I have a bad feeling about this game, horrible Brock Osweiler vibes.

Every time we're in Denver something seems to go wrong, someone muffs a punt or the ref botches a call or someone drops a pass or fumbles.

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