It seems inevitable that we will have to beat Denver on the road at some point in order to win SB

[Joey007]

Why?

Because right now it appears that, the winner of that late season matchup at Denver will likely have the top seed. Meaning: if we lose that matchup, the road to the SB will likely, once again, go through Denver.

Not saying this is set in stone, much can change over the next few months. But that looks to be where it's headed this year at this point.

 

[SVN]

its 4 games so far. We lost to the bills at home when no one thought so , yet we predict what will happen in week 15 and beyond. Plus , lets totally disregard the rest of the schedule for both us and denver. Steelers,seahawks etc obviously will just fall by way side and let us win so we can go to denver to find out who will play in the superbowl.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

It seems more inevitable that most assumptions this early in the season will prove to be false.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Let's look at the last 10 years or so. No Super Bowl Champ has repeated and let's see how they built on their momentum after four games:

2007 Colts: 4-0
2008 Giants: 4-0
2009 Steelers: 2-2
2010 Saints: 3-1
2011 Packers: 4-0
2012 Giants: 2-2
2013 Ravens: 2-2
2014 Seahawks: 3-1
2015 Patriots: 4-0
2016 Broncos: 4-0

That's a combined record of 32-8, or a winning percentage of .800. Defending champs tend to jump out of the gate fast and ultimately tire in the long grind. We will see if Denver is this unbeatable down the stretch.

The 2014 Seahawks (Super Bowl runner up) and 2015 Patriots (AFC runner up) are the only two teams who made the final four.

 

[farn]

Easy does it. 4 games in...

 

[LightSkinSmurf]

Kinda early to be saying that. We might get two cracks at it this year. Let's hope we only need one.

 

[Joey007]

It seems more inevitable that most assumptions this early in the season will prove to be false.

Read the whole post

 

[WhoaDirty]

Broncos have a cupcake schedule, and a really solid D again, so I think if the Pats don't beat them in the regular season, they'll be back there again in the playoffs.

 

[Wordsmyth]

You never know, the injury bug just might strike Donkeyland this year.

 

[patsinthesnow]

I'm with you. Denver denial is becoming a thing with some pats fans. The Pats and Broncos will likely be the top 2 seeds five years in a row. There is a good chance they win 3 out of the last 5 superbowls.

The Broncos are giving up 5.6 yards per pass & 61.3 opposing QBR. That is unbelievable in the pass happy era right now.

You can't lose that many games as a team with that type of pass defense.

The NFL season will come down to whether Dante/OL can give Brady enough time vs. them. They can't cover our TE duo + other weps unless they drop 8 in coverage and get to Tom with 3 players like last year.

Pats or Broncos are taking the lombardi barring injuries. Enjoy the rivalry. Regardless of how the Vikings are playing no NFC team comes that close to us two IMO.

 

[Bradyking12]

We almost beat Denver with a beat up team in afc title game and took them to OT in regular season game with no gronk edelman and lewis and based on those facts yes I think denver is overrated and our game against them them this year wont be close like others think as long as we are healthy

 

[Ring 6]

Why?

Because right now it appears that, the winner of that late season matchup at Denver will likely have the top seed. Meaning: if we lose that matchup, the road to the SB will likely, once again, go through Denver.

Not saying this is set in stone, much can change over the next few months. But that looks to be where it's headed this year at this point.

I'm confused. You say it looks inevitable then that much can change.
Fact is both teams have 12 games to play and a lot can happen.

 

[Guts]

We almost beat Denver with a beat up team in afc title game and took them to OT in regular season game with no gronk edelman and lewis and based on those facts yes I think denver is overrated and our game against them them this year wont be close like others think as long as we are healthy

You're forgetting that through 4 games this year with pretty much the same D they actually have adequate QB play compared to horrible play from Forehead last season.

 

[obgod3]

Im not complaining or making excuses here but look at the two teams schedules....Our Pats have a pretty tough schedule, Steelers and Seattle are no cake walk, Ravens?, Denver on the other hand has a much easier schedule, no on other than maybe the Falcons or a weird division loss and the Patriots to stop them.

Hate to say this also, Talib looks great right now. Their defense might not be quite as good as last year but their offense is clicking and looking very good, not just ok. dont take any 5 or 6 step drops on those guys either.

I wouldn't disregard the Steelers.

But four game in ...well....lets see what happens. I think if Ne can do defensively what we saw in the Houston game they will have a great chance at home field, if its the defense we saw against Miami or Buffalo then all bets are off.

Long season ahead.

 

[FourierSeries]

Who cares? Barring a multitude of injuries like last season and 2013, we can beat that team anywhere. Nothing to be concerned about.

 

[Wordsmyth]

We can't live in fear of Denver. No cheating will bail them out this year. No salary cap hijinks, no HGH from Fivehead Omaha, no nothing.

 

[IllegalContact]

with a healthy squad it should not be a problem

 

[Kontradiction]

*IF* the Pats are healthy going into that game, they should be able to win relatively comfortably... even in Denver. Denver's corners are best used against long striders and speedsters. They're not built to cover the short, shifty, receivers that get in and out of their breaks quickly as New England's receivers do. On top of that, I don't see how they cover both Gronk and Bennett.

 

[TBR]

And they will.

The last 3 games in Denver involved absurdly injured Patriot teams (2013, 2015, 2015).

2013 - no Mayo, Wilfork, Gronk, Talib. After Edelman & Amendola, Brady was throwing to Austin Collie, Aaron Dobson and Matthew Mulligan.

2015 reg season game - no Collins, Hightower, Edelman, Lewis, Amendola, Gronk (out in 4thQ/OT). Brady had guys like Asante Cleveland, Keyshawn Martin, Brandon Bolden, Scott Chandler, Brandon LaFell and Chris Harper out there on offense. On top of that, that game had some of the most awful calls in any sporting event I've ever seen.

The AFCCG also had some big flukes like the mixed XP and Stork giving away the snap count.