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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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Ring 6 said:
That’s not our game. We win because we create explosive plays. If we try to just move the chains we will lose. We tried that last week and it failed miserably and on 3 drives we opened it up and scored TDs.
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Denver would love a 0-0 game in the 2nd quarter
 
patfanken said:
BTW- I would like to file this with my mediot gripes of the week.

I have YET to hear or see any mediot who have taunted us with the "weakest schedule" trope this entire ****ing season, mention, even ONCE, that Dever had the SECOND weakest schedule this season. (and that includes getting a week off in the playoffs) I mean you'd think one of our guys would have at least mentioned it in passing. Literally, it was only a few percentage points difference.

I'm still holding out hope that one of the pre-game shows might mention it, or one our guys will bring it up when some National guy inevitably brings it up over the next 22 hours. Hoping sure, but definitely not expecting any media fairness.
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That’s because they (mediots & other teams) fear/envy us. Nobody cares about Denver except fans & former Bronco players…If you ain’t got no haters, you’re doing something wrong….
 
Mack Herron said:
Inactive list will be interesting.
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why?
just review last week's list and repeat, probably with the addition of Chism instead of Gregory. If Mapu can't play, I suppose that Swinson could be active.

  • G Caedan Wallace
  • OLB Bradyn Swinson
  • TE C.J. Dippre
  • OT Marcus Bryant
  • DB Kobee Minor
  • DT Eric Gregory
  • QB Tommy DeVito
 


 
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some interesting points


I do agree our defense is a flying a bit blind with what the broncos offense are going to do at the beginning so we need to weather the intial plays and adjust.
 
C Luke Wattenberg being back for them is huge. We shall see about his chemistry with Stiddy.
 
scott99 said:
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.
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Great post
I am confident this game for all your above stated reasons. I also think Campbell will play better. He’s seems to take things personally. Even with all the naysayers, I believe he is a good LT as he was most of the year.
The only thing that I have concerns about is the altitude factor and crowd noise. Take a early lead and that will alleviate those concerns
 
patfanken said:
BTW- I would like to file this with my mediot gripes of the week.

I have YET to hear or see any mediot who have taunted us with the "weakest schedule" trope this entire ****ing season, mention, even ONCE, that Dever had the SECOND weakest schedule this season. (and that includes getting a week off in the playoffs) I mean you'd think one of our guys would have at least mentioned it in passing. Literally, it was only a few percentage points difference.

I'm still holding out hope that one of the pre-game shows might mention it, or one our guys will bring it up when some National guy inevitably brings it up over the next 22 hours. Hoping sure, but definitely not expecting any media fairness.
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I’ve been hearing it a bit over the past two days. I’ve been on the road, driving and listening to NFL Radio on Sirius.

It’s consistently been:

“The Patriots played the NFL’s weakest schedule this season. …<long pause>…

but the Broncos played the second weakest schedule so we can’t talk about that.”

BUT YOU JUST DID!

And then they sometimes bring it up later when talking about the Patriots, never when talking about the Broncos.
 
Betterthanmost said:
C Luke Wattenberg being back for them is huge. We shall see about his chemistry with Stiddy.
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Coming off IR, rusty from lack of recent game action, and no game experience playing with his new QB.

Could be very huge. But for which team? I’d put Barmore head up on him for the opening plays to see how sharp he is.
 
PatsFan2 said:


Well Rham wouldn't line up directly behind Onwenu one of the Better RG's in the League. Glad we have Rham; his Blocking is off the charts from the RB position. McDaniels just gotta give Campbell help; IF McDaniels thinks otherwise strip sack here they come. IF Bonitto ain't Will Anderson Jr we're in luck.
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Vrabel, as the HC, needs to step in and tell McDaniels to have help set up for Campbell. It should be on every snap unless the Patriots are up by three scores late or something. This isn't the game nor environment to have "hope" he gets it together.
 
NFL Mystique said:
Vrabel, as the HC, needs to step in and tell McDaniels to have help set up for Campbell. It should be on every snap unless the Patriots are up by three scores late or something. This isn't the game nor environment to have "hope" he gets it together.
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I agree 100%: McDaniels presser about leaving Rookies on an Island really pissed me off. Our Guy was Overmatched: Campbell needed Help.
 
JonBonesJones84 said:
What was different about those teams compared to our Patriots’ rosters?

They executed better in the trenches?

Several HOF-esque players?

I refuse to believe that doofus Ben Rapistberger played flawlessly against that defense compared to Brady
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Steelers had an elite defense all in their prime. They had an elite OL, run game, and a QB that was very good. Though, wasn't at the level he would eventually become. Once they beat Indy, there was a team of destiny feel. They were a top three SB pick before the year started. They hit a slump during the season and everyone counted them out. Then, Bettis ran over Urlacher in the snow. And they never looked back. Note: Pittsburgh beating Indy was stunning at the time. That Colts team was the best in the Manning era. Missed opportunity.

Flacco was on a roll. They still had a great defense. Manning was in postseason form and their DB messed up late when Baltimore tied it in regulation. Actually,Manning threw a pick in OT to set up Baltimore for the win.

These Patriots are not as good as the Brady teams that lost there. However, Denver's defense is not nearly as good as the 2015 version. Manning was done physically at that time. But he still had the brains to make a difference. Stidham....nobody knows about.
 
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Gumby said:
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.
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Thanks

Pats win tomorrow.
 
PatsFan2 said:
I agree 100%: McDaniels presser about leaving Rookies on an Island really pissed me off. Our Guy was Overmatched: Campbell needed Help.
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If Tom Brady can get beaten up all day, there is no reason to believe this QB/OL can't either. That OL (even injured) was better than this one. McDaniels left Volmer on an island all day while Ware wrecked havoc. He is tempting fate by leaving Campbell on an island. I know Campbell said getting help can mess up his play, but too bad. Bad OL play can destroy any team's SB chances. It's up there with bad QB play.

Patriots mailbag: Can Pats help rookie offensive starter?

The Patriots’ offense has overcome pass protection and turnover issues through two playoff games. What can be done to fix them against the Broncos? We answer that and more in this week’s mailbag.
www.bostonherald.com
 
 
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