Official Broncos @ Pats POST-game thread

[SeymourTrophies]

The 'hit Brady and he'll turtle' theory took a big hit last night. Von Miller was in his family tree and Brady still stood tall and played a heck of a game (with a couple lucky drops by their D).

 

[Uncle Rico]

Hey -- it's Homecoming Week!

 

[slam]

You must not have been paying attention. Felger was gushing about the Pats win, basically guaranteeing that there will be a rematch of this in the AFCCG and that the Patriots are a better team than the Broncos.

How can you guarantee that Manning won't get upset by team mystery meat in his first playoff game?

 

[PatsFan2]

Hate to nitpick but McDaniels or Brady's playcalls in the OT

Two Long Bombs on third and relatively short. We were throwing to guys on the outsides who were better suited over the middle. One was to Edelman the other to Gronk I was upset about both calls.

 

[Triumph]

Nice to see Thompkins again.
Bolden had a huge game. IMO, he would be NEs best RB if he got the touches.
Gronk was Gronk. Please stay healthy.
Vereen is money in the receiving game. 71% catch rate.
The Rutgers defensive backfield is gaining so much experience.


Concerned about Cannon - he never returned.
Worried about Ridley. What to do with him going forward?
Dennard left the game.
Talib walked off.
Von Miller is good or Solder is slow.

 

[SVN]

As expected a lot of headlines around seem to talk about a bad bounce and wind which let to denver's loss. Everyone forgets about the 24 lead.

 

[patman12]

Gotta love Ebner and Cole.

Asked if that’s legal, Cole replied, “I hope so.”

The Blitz with Jeff Howe & Karen Guregian | Boston Herald

I'm sure the competition committee will look at this as some kind of unfair advantage that the Patriots gained and will change the rule.

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

Man, I stayed up to 2 am...only one hour later here but that one hour the morning after is a big hour.

I mean what a game.

You can never understate the importance of momentum in football, I mean it is huge.

Great gut check. Great defensive strategy, Moreno can have all the yards he wants as long as we have the win at the end of the day.

Nicely Done NEP, nicely done....

 

[Marqui]

Von Miller is good or Solder is slow.

It's definitely that Miller sucks and he only had a good game because Solder is slow

 

[upstater1]

Man, I stayed up to 2 am...only one hour later here but that one hour the morning after is a big hour.

I mean what a game.

You can never understate the importance of momentum in football, I mean it is huge.

Great gut check. Great defensive strategy, Moreno can have all the yards he wants as long as we have the win at the end of the day.

Nicely Done NEP, nicely done....

I was so wound up I stayed up until 4 am and caught Walking Dead and Boardwalk Empire!

 

[JMarr]

What about the job Arrington did last night? The man-to-man coverage, whether the pass was completed or not, was tight ALL NIGHT. Hell, even the TD pass to Tamme (I believe) had to be squeezed in a tight window between Hightower and Harmon. Even Dennard gave a few decent plays before taking himself out. The Pats stepped up big time.

No big revelation that he excels when covering the slot, but his breaking up the slant to Welker late in OT was as big as any defensive play in the game. Donkeys were driving for the winning TD (I believe) and Arrington, yes the Arrington that a lot of folks love to hate on, came up HUGE in that situation. Owned Welker on that play and stopped the drive.

Against passing teams, the Pats defense will be unbeatable if Talib Dennard and Arrington are all healthy at the same time, regardless of how much pass rush we generate.

 

[condon84]

Wild game.

I should be tired because I only got 4 hours of sleep, but I've got lots of energy today. A couple of thoughts from last night's game:

- I've said this time and again, our offense is better when we are utilizing an up-tempo, spread formation. Letting Brady quickly make decisions while spreading the ball is what we do best. It also serves to neutralize a pass rush because of how quickly he gets rid of the ball. We again demonstrated last night of how good we can be on offense when we are in this attack mode. And for the life of me after we took the lead with a chance to really put the pressure on, McD decided to slow it down and took the rhythm out. McD is overthinking this and trying to force a square peg in a round hole. Let Brady do what he does best.

- Fletcher came through last night. Huge difference when he came on for Hightower. Aggressive, decisive and attacked the play.

- I don’t know what the deal is with Hightower, but he’s not playing fast, or maybe he’s just not fast at all.

- Love having Spikes in there. He attacks the play and his instincts make up for his lack of speed.

- Collins looked pretty good considering it was his first start. He’s not the strongest at the point of attack when defending the run, but when he was called to rush the passer or when he was out in space in coverage, you can see why the Pats have high hopes for him.

- Logan Ryan is starting to look like he could be a stud for us. You can’t teach instincts.

- Can’t say enough about Edelman. He should always be involved in the offense. He just makes things happen.

- I might be in the minority here, but Ridley needs to be given another chance. You can see the big dropoff when he is not the main RB. Now is the time to build his confidence, not kill it.

- We miss Gregory and his run support big time.

- Chandler saved us in the first half from being down even bigger.

- What I really liked about last night was the guys who refused to quit, decided to hit back, and got everyone riled up – Chandler, Spikes, and Fletcher.

Great game win. Not sure how much work I can do today. Too much post game articles to read

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

Brady had the arm strength to make the throws that Manning couldn't. That was huge in this game.

It has to do with arm strength (to a degree), but I don't think anyone in the NFL has worked on mechanics like our guy Brady. Not only does it reduce wear n' tear on his arm, it also allows for the ball to be better thrown in unpredictable outdoor weather. A luxury PM didn't have to worry about until a couple years ago.

Have you ever heard Ron Jawaorski gush about Brady's throw. He may work for ESPN, but he clearly loves the game and appreciates every aspect of the QB position.

 

[Rusty Coupe]

As expected a lot of headlines around seem to talk about a bad bounce and wind which let to denver's loss. Everyone forgets about the 24 lead.

I saw this and thought rotational spin of the earth had changed directions

Irvin: Peyton not a bad weather QB

Faulk: complimenting Belichick as a great coach

Deion: Brady a great clutch player

Is Peyton Manning to blame for loss? - NFL Videos

 

[Kontradiction]

- Love having Spikes in there. He attacks the play and his instincts make up for his lack of speed.

- Collins looked pretty good considering it was his first start. He’s not the strongest at the point of attack when defending the run, but when he was called to rush the passer or when he was out in space in coverage, you can see why the Pats have high hopes for him.

Collins and Spikes blitzed on one play last night and completely blew up Beadles and Ramirez. Beadles looked like a blocking dummy and just got absolutely trucked. Thing is, the Pats didn't even disguise what they were doing on that play, which was interesting. They showed their hand early and simply brought it, and there was nothing Manning could do about it.

 

[DaBruinz]

Brady, stud game.

Arrington, underrated great game.

Jones, great game, could have 4204230 sacks if it weren't for holding.

Thompkins, 6 receptions 56 yards. Slowly working his way out of the doghouse.

Peyton, you suck.

Except that Thompkins wasn't in the doghouse. He was just behind Dobson, Edelman, Amendola and Collie.. Collie is IRed. Not sure what was up with Dobson last night. But Edelman showed he is still a bonafide NFL receiver. And Thompkins got snaps because he showed he can get off the press coverage and get open.

Oh, lets not forget about Vereen and Solder. Solder, despite being beat a couple of times by Von Miller, had an excellent game run blocking. And I did notice that the Broncos started moving Miller around in the 2nd half instead of just lining up against Solder.

 

[PatsFan2]

Except that Thompkins wasn't in the doghouse. He was just behind Dobson, Edelman, Amendola and Collie.. Collie is IRed. Not sure what was up with Dobson last night. But Edelman showed he is still a bonafide NFL receiver. And Thompkins got snaps because he showed he can get off the press coverage and get open.

Oh, lets not forget about Vereen and Solder. Solder, despite being beat a couple of times by Von Miller, had an excellent game run blocking. And I did notice that the Broncos started moving Miller around in the 2nd half instead of just lining up against Solder.

Solder played terribly for the most part his worst game as a Patriot to me. Von Miller made him look like a turnstyle. If he had held his blocks a little better on most occasions this game wouldn't go to OT. That pass to Edelman in the EZ the one he missed was because of instant pressure from Solder man Von Miller. A little more time easy TD.

 

[Kontradiction]

Solder played terribly for the most part his worst game as a Patriot to me. Von Miller made him look like a turnstyle. If he had held his blocks a little better on most occasions this game wouldn't go to OT. That pass to Edelman in the EZ the one he missed was because of instant pressure from Solder man Von Miller. A little more time easy TD.

Miller *****made Solder on numerous occasions. He was essentially batting Solder's hands down so hard that Solder was losing his balance. Hopefully Solder watches the film and learns from that. I would also love it if he put some more bulk on his body in the offseason.

 

[jmt57]

A couple of factoids that I heard this morning:

- Brady had more yards passing into the wind than Manning had passing for the entire 73 minutes.

- Last night was the fewest yards passing by Manning since becoming a Denver Bronco, and the least in any game in Manning's career with the exception of end of regular season games when he was rested for a backup since 2003.

- Last night's win was the largest Patriots comeback victory in franchise history.

 

[DaBronxPats14]

Brrrrady thrives in these weather conditions like NO OTHER QB! Gotta get to superbowl in NJ in Feb with windy, freezin possible snowy conditions. Gronk Edleman Thompkins with good hands RBs have to hold on to'da rock but I luv our chances in Feb.