- Joined
- Nov 14, 2006
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Here we go:
- It isn't why they lost, but the refs were horrible and biased last night. One thing non-call most people miss is that on the last TD for the Broncos in regulation, there was a blatant illegal hands to the face block by the o-lineman. Just as bad as the one called on Vollmer late in the game. Yes, the Chung holding and Gronk OPI were bad too. That said, I refuse to make it an excuse. The Pats could have won even with the refs being against them.
- I look forward to play the Broncos in the playoffs here or in Denver. I know they were missing key players too, but they didn't have nearly as many injuries. They needed overtime to beat the Pats without Hightower (for over a half), Collins, Edelman, Amendola, and Gronk (for much of the fourth quarter and overtime) and got a huge assist from the refs. When the Pats and Broncos meet again, they should have all those guys back. I think the Pats will route them in that scenario.
- The defense can lose either Hightower or Collins, but not both. Hightower has been the unsung hero of this defense. They play him everywhere and he is the reason the Pats can have a dominant run defense. Once he went out, the run defense went from being very solid to a siv. Hopefully, he will be ok. The fact he was on the sidelines for the entire game and reportedly holding his helmet at times, usually means it isn't serious. Rarely do the Pats let a player stay on the sidelines with a serious injury. EDIT: Albert Breer says it is a sprained MCL.
- I have been touting his praise for a while, but Logan Ryan has really become a solid #2 CB and has been a big upgrade from Brandon Browner. Sure he gave up that TD at the end of the game, but he made Demaryius Thomas his biatch. He covered Thomas so tightly that Thomas quit on plays.
- Speaking of that, Denver is going to regret giving Thomas that big contract. He is a dog. If he can beat the guy covering him he is amazing. You get physical with him and make him work for his catches and he folds.
- Losing Gronk would have been the final death blow to this team. If he misses time, that could be the difference for them being the #1 seed and the #3 seed (and it would be the #4 seed if not for the AFC South). According to the latest report from Adam Schefter, he is likely to be playing against the Eagles (Schefter said that the Pats believe Gronk could have gone back in the game last night). Even with Edleman and Amendola back in the playoffs, I wouldn't like the Pats' chances to get to the Super Bowl.
- Chris Harper's drop punt return is the difference in this game. Without it, the Pats win. That said, I don't blame him. He was supposed to have a red shirt year on the practice squad and work on his skills (he has tons of potential, but very raw). I am guessing he didn't start even practicing fielding punts until he was activated two weeks ago, possibly not even until this week. He should have pulled it in, but he should never have been put in that situation. No way would the Pats ever had done it if not for injuries to Amendola and Edelman.
- Speaking of that. The loss of Danny really showed on the kick returns. They didn't even put a receiver in the end zone and were content on just taking touchbacks all night even if they got a favorable kick. The thing is this was Denver. They won't be able to risk that in Gillette Sunday or in Houston the week after. Hopefully Danny will be back.
- I am not one to complain about the play calling, but I didn't get a lot of the play calling last night. They threw deep way too much. I know they must have seen something, but when the deep ball isn't working you can't kill drives keep going to it. They did perfectly exploit a lot of the weaknesses in the Denver defense at times for huge gains and TDs. So I can't totally kill McDaniels, but I think the play calling killed too many drives last night.