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

Pregame Discussion ahead of the LIVE game day discussion thread. The actual Game Thread will Open an hour ahead of kickoff.
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Patsfan1645 said:
Been off the boards since Friday and so my first post since we won that ugly game is about the Donkey forums. Looking at their 10+ page thread is kind of surprising. My take is they think Stidham is not much of a drop off from Nix other than some scrambling which is interesting. They also think they are better on the line on both sides of the ball and feel they can easily run on us. They dont think we have a very good wr group and should be able to shut us down in the air. They think that our TE and RB are average at best. They think we will have multiple turnovers to their defense. They think their defense is a step up from the Texans (wtf?). They don't think we belong and they are going to the SB. Little to nothing said about the Pats seem to concern them. I guess we should not even go to Denver and just concede now. I have found a new fanbase to dislike.
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yukon cornelius said:
love it - i'd argue we have the best RB & TE left playing, our WR group is better than theirs top to bottom, and healthier......our interior DL is the best still playing

their defense has feasted on their schedule, but gave up points to every decent offense they've seen........

i agree on the Nix/Stidham piece - it comes to mobility and toughness under fire (advantage Nix) and the deep ball (advantage Stidham)

i'd argue right now our D is better than theirs as a unit, TBH
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I've always admired and respected the Broncos' fan passion. Their brainlessness has been encouraged by the media, the league...and by the Patriots' ineptitude there, over generations. Many other fanbases (like their rival, the Raiders) are similarly stupid.

The Patriots winning has never shut anyone up, if anything it's made them even louder and stupider than they were before. The league restoring our two(2) stolen first round draft picks and officially acknowledging their own corruption would do nothing to shut anyone up. However, it would be nice for some production entity to create a factual visual account of the truth. I'd like to watch that...I'd even be open to participating in its production.
 
I'm now going to paraphrase Larry Bird, from something he said nearly 45 years ago before facing elimination again at the Spectrum in Game 6 of the ECF:

"If we can't win in Denver, we don't deserve to be NFL champions."
 
Actual Pats Fan said:
For months now, there has been apprehension on local sports talk radio regarding the Patriots' chances playing at Denver in the AFCCG. Historically, this is well founded, as those Patriots teams which lost there in the playoffs were arguably better but self-destructed in ignominious fashion, eliminating themselves with multiple self-inflicted wounds.

On 1/4/87 The 11-5 Patriots headed into 11-5 Denver as defending AFC champions and with more playoff and Super Bowl experience than anyone left in the tournament after young Doug Flutie was thrown to the wolves against the Redskins in Chicago. The Patriots valiantly and uncharacteristically, for that season, ran for 121 yards and passed the ball well including two long Stanley Morgan touchdown catches and picked off John Elway twice. Alas, they collapsed under the shower of six sacks of Tony Eason, including Rulon Jones' game ending safety. Berry never learned.

Actually, the Patriots' defense led the league the second half of the season, and the offense was more than adequate with Corey Dillon only a bit banged up. Again, they had more experience than anyone and arguably more talent. Alas, the Patriots (Belichick and Brady included) approached, prepared for and played this game on 1/14/06 with the kind of pitiful, loser attitude reminiscent of their Clive Rush and Rod Rust predecessors. Rodney Harrison sat home in Atlanta watching as the Patriots displayed a lack of focus, determination and effort (despite Ben Watson) totally undeserving of a prospective champion, let alone a three-peat contender, ultimately collapsing under an avalanche of turnovers.

On 1/19/14, LeGarrette Blount had five(5) total carries all day, the Patriots with 16 as a team. All their effectiveness in the rest of the phases of the game were wasted. The excuse that they fell behind is not legitimate. They got down by 10, not 21.

Bill Belichick is human, and thus capable of error, and he whipped out a couple whoppers on this day alone. Adam Vinatieri often would miss early in a game, but make it at the end in the clutch. Belichick did not give Stephen Gostkowski that chance, despite Ghost holding the NFL record for most consecutive extra points made (523) and most seasons leading league in points scored: 5 (2008, 2012–2015; tied with Don Hutson and Gino Cappelletti). On 1/24/16, after missing an extra point in the first quarter, Ghost had already made FG's of 46 and 38 yards.

Down 8 points with 6:03 left in the fourth quarter, with a porous offensive line, Belichick eschewed a 33-yard FG attempt by going for it on 4th and 1. Not even Tom Brady could overcome leaving three points off the board.

Then, still down 8 with 2:25 left Brady got down to 4th and six at the Broncos' 14 yard line. Unbelievably, again, eschewing a 31-yard FG attempt, Belichick went for it and again not even Tom Brady could overcome it.

So the touchdown pass Tom threw to Gronk with 17 seconds left did not win the game.

Clearly, the Patriots' primary objective on Sunday should be to not beat themselves.
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Not a lot of happy moments there, though the intentional safety in 2003 helped.

I think the 2005 Pats still had a good defense and would until Brady was hurt in 2008. Then the offense took over.

I really enjoy a good running game and I see teams get away from it at crucial times. I hate it if it's the Pats and love it if it's the other team, like the Rams in 2002.

It's funny how my memory of Bill going on 4th down is a negative one. I'm still unhappy with the 4th and 2 at Indy.

Anyway, thanks for another great trip down memory lane. To me, this season is very similar to 2001 and a shot at Silence of the Rams III is still possible.

Amazing isn't it?
 
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The Gr8est said:
Mad respect for how Stevenson handled this season after his fumbling issues.

I think credit goes to both his mental toughness and Vrabel’s leadership.
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One thing that I wonder...his dad died before the season starts. People grieve differently but wondering if that impacted his play earlier in the year
 
Davis at practice in a non-contact jersey (Phase 4 of the protocol). That is great news - key step to coming off the protocol. Makes it very likely indeed he is playing on Sunday.

It would have cost nothing to have Hollins come off IR (21 day practice window gets you past the Super Bowl) - that tells me he isn't coming back this season.

They did this for Farmer today and Jennings previously.
 
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I am tired of all the lazy analysis heading up to this game. And I am not even talking about the media trying to make it seem that Jarrett Stidham would start on like 25 teams in this league.

I am talking about how they are mentioning the Broncos defense in the same breath as the Texans or Chargers defense. They are not the same. There are plenty of games where the opposing offense had no problem scoring on the Broncos defense including the Bills last week. The only thing that stopped the Bills offense for much of the game last week was stupidity of the Bills.

People talk about the Pats' easy schedule, but the Broncos had a schedule that was almost as easy. And they let QBs like Trevor Lawrence and Josh Allen feast on their secondary.

I wouldn't be shocked if the Pats put 30 plus points on the Broncos this Sunday.
 
I was talking with a friend today about football.

He is a fan of another team. His take on Maye was that he cant win you a game, but he won't lose you the game either. Basically a game Manager along for the ride on a team who caught lighting in a bottle. Maye is not a Mahomes or a Stafford. If the Pats do move on Sunday, Maye will get crushed by either NFC team. Of course, I heard about all the luck the Pats had this season.

I just let him talk and didn't want to argue with him because he provides professional services for me.

Oh, how I would love for Maye to light the Broncos up and put on a clinic to shut these folks up.
 
Triumph said:
I was talking with a friend today about football.

He is a fan of another team. His take on Maye was that he cant win you a game, but he won't lose you the game either. Basically a game Manager along for the ride on a team who caught lighting in a bottle. Maye is not a Mahomes or a Stafford. If the Pats do move on Sunday, Maye will get crushed by either NFC team. Of course, I heard about all the luck the Pats had this season.

I just let him talk and didn't want to argue with him because he provides professional services for me.

Oh, how I would love for Maye to light the Broncos up and put on a clinic to shut these folks up.
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If the Pats win they won't shut up. They'll get even louder.

The Pats have been really lucky so far. Isn't it great?
 
Rob0729 said:
I am tired of all the lazy analysis heading up to this game. And I am not even talking about the media trying to make it seem that Jarrett Stidham would start on like 25 teams in this league.

I am talking about how they are mentioning the Broncos defense in the same breath as the Texans or Chargers defense. They are not the same. There are plenty of games where the opposing offense had no problem scoring on the Broncos defense including the Bills last week. The only thing that stopped the Bills offense for much of the game last week was stupidity of the Bills.

People talk about the Pats' easy schedule, but the Broncos had a schedule that was almost as easy. And they let QBs like Trevor Lawrence and Josh Allen feast on their secondary.

I wouldn't be shocked if the Pats put 30 plus points on the Broncos this Sunday.
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But the Broncos only gave up 16 more points all season than the Texans did.
 
So, I took a different tact and tried to think of what I would do to make things easier for Stiddy and take advantage of what he does best and negate what the Pats do best on defense. And ironically, I came up with something that I ALWAYS come up with when I want to screw with a good defense, and that is TEMPO!

The Pats have allowed exactly ONE TD (on a 27yd drive) this entire playoff. They have been able to do that by running a multiple scheme of different sets and combinations of man and zone coverages, combined with disguising my defensive fronts, rushes and blitzes. In doing so, I have suffocated my opponents run game and created consistent pressure in the passing game through stunts and blitzes. They have made 2 good QB's look like they were "seeing ghosts" by the end of the game.

All those things are exactly what I DON'T want my QB to experience. I want his reads to be simple and easily read. I want the ball out quickly and I don't want him pressured. I want to DICTATE to the Pats what they can and cannot do on defense and the only way to do that with any consistency is to run a hurry up offense. Keep those oxygen deprived players on the field and not let them sub. Don't let the defense get set and limit their ability to disguise their defenses. Thus keep their looks basic and easier to read and run my offense.

THIS is a way to win with a guy who hasn't thrown a regular season pass in 2 years but has burned us all year in practice. This will surprise the Pats and allow Stiddy to get off to a good start and build confidence. Remember we don't want to shorten the game, we want to make it LONGER. Because the long it goes, the more Denver's UNFAIR advantage gets to manifest. So we want to have our offense run as many plays as possible, so it isn't so much the clock, it's all about the number of plays.

Anyhow that's what I would do if I were dealt Peyton's hand.
 
 
way to give motivation

 
upstater1 said:
But the Broncos only gave up 16 more points all season than the Texans did.
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Impressive feat when you played the Titans in Cam Ward's first game of his career, , the Chiefs with a third string QB, the Jets, the Chargers with half their offense including Herbert sitting out, the Bengals with Jake Browning under center, the Raiders twice, and the Texans with Stroud getting knocked out of the game.
 
PatsFanInVa said:
Did ya watch them give up 3 TD Sunday?

Houston’s D musta played an easy schedule. They hadn’t faced Drake Maye.
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2 of those 3 TDs were into incredibly tight windows and relied on incredible catches. 2 of the best the Pats had all year. So i think it was just a case of great offense beating great defense. The pats also needed 15 possessions i think to score 21 points. That D was absolutely great.
 
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