Patriots Get Mile High Feeling As Hex Ends

DENVER — Oh, I get it now. Wait until an old stadium is closing, then it’s finally time to win there.

For those of you whose recollection of the 1985 AFC title game is still fresh in your memories, you got treated to a refreshing redux today in Denver. Same circumstance, not quite as important a game, but a win that was nearly as badly needed. The game transcends the broken hex, and the result is longer lasting than the end of the skein itself.

Troy Brown celebrates the first of his two touchdown receptions Sunday in Denver. The Patriots defeated Denver, 28-19, for their first win in Denver in 32 years.(AP Photo)
Taking things in proper perspective, I admit that I was a wee bit happier watching this incredible road playoff run by the Patriots evolve into Super Bowl XX. Breaking the Miami hex on that hallowed night in January 1986 was great. To top things off, the Pats won the following year at the final Dolphin game played at the Orange Bowl, a win that clinched the ’86 AFC East title for your faves. The Pats go 19 years without winning in Miami, then win the last two games they play at the Orange Bowl. One gets them a Super Bowl bid, the other gets them a division title. As far as timing goes, not too shabby.

Today’s “hex breaker” is important, maybe more important than the Miami deal 15 years ago. Whereas direct playoff implications were not at stake today, a lot more tangible and intangible things were on the line today at Mile High Stadium for the Patriots.

To say that it was important for the Patriots to walk out of Mile High Stadium for the final time victorious is an understatement. Their 28-19 win over Denver means so much to this team, both in terms of the team psyche, and the possibility that this doomed season might now be saved.

Sure, it was the final game the Patriots ever have to play in this loud dump ever again. Things are so bad with this place, the ground crew has stopped taking care of the field, since this is it for the stadium and there is no urgency to keep up a nice lawn anymore. But the fact that the Pats don’t have to play in this horsehoe snakepit anymore is real nice. The fact that they ended things here with a win is just plain unbelievable.

The Patriots now have to believe that they have righted this ship and can now focus better on this brutal first half of the season. While getting to 4-4 at the bye week is still a reach, at least the team has a win to build on and can reasonably think about “maybe” getting back to .500 at midpoint.

The reason for this thinking is how the Patriots attacked the Broncos today. Except for some brain cramps on defense and special teams, and some unreal grabs by Ed McCaffrey, the Patriots did the unthinkable today. They totally dominated the Broncos on both sides of the ball, and they did it on the road here in Denver.

Now, the Patriots feel great about themselves. Even better, the upcoming Patriot opponents have some serious game planning to do.

Willie McGinest, being the leader everyone wants him to be, sounded the call early on. On the Broncos’ fourth offensive play, McGinest burst in from the right side and blasted Brian Griese. Griese coughed up the ball, and McGinest pounced on it at the Denver 29. The Patriots had come out with fire in their bellies anyway, but the McGinest play poured gas on the Patriots’ fire.

Drew Bledsoe took it from there, going the distance in four plays.

Right from the start, Charlie Weis showed some savvy and called for a quick toss left to Terry Glenn with the Broncos showing blitz. It was a one-step-bang play, and Glenn got 14 yards. Weis would call this play often today, and Glenn would get decent yards every time.

Bledsoe cashed in at the 11 by rolling right and hitting an open Troy Brown at the two, and he leaned into the end zone to put the Pats up 7-0. The play was well-designed, and no one was within five yards of Brown when he caught the ball.

The Patriots got the ball back, and then drove 76 yards for their second touchdown. Again, Weis began it with a quick toss left to Glenn for 14 yards. Chris Calloway made a tough catch for 12, then Bledsoe found Troy Brown open in the secondary for 15 yards. Brown caught the ball, slipped by a tackler and scampered another 30 yards for the score. It was 14-0 Pats, and Joe Patriot Fan had to check his favorite beverage to make sure no one slipped anything in it.

The third Patriot touchdown was a thing of beauty. Late in the first half, and facing third and 5 at the Bronco 12, Bledsoe called a timeout. He took the snap, rolled right, and saw that J.R. Redmond had beaten Bill Romanowski in the right flat. Bledsoe laid it in there, and Redmond caught a perfect toss for the score. Again, this play had Weis written all over it, as the Pats lined up Redmond in a slot and went with an empty backfield. For a change, the Patriots went with offensive trickery and it was working.

Griese, meanwhile, could do nothing with the Patriot defense. The Bronco quarterback did engineer a nice drive in the second quarter thanks to some great grabs by McCaffrey, and the Broncos marched from their own 10 to the Patriot 3 in 18 plays. But the drive stalled at the three, and they had to settle for a Joe Nedney chip shot.

The Patriot defense came up huge in the third quarter. After Bledsoe threw an interception to Terrell Buckley, the Broncos drove 36 yards to the Patriot 2. On fourth down and goal, Mike Shanahan elected to go for it, but a Griese pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage by Ted Johnson. On the play, Otis Smith had primary receiver Rod Smith blanketed perfectly. The Broncos got nothing out of Buckley’s pick, and the Patriots were even more buoyant.

Things got a little hairy after the Patriots took over. Bledsoe was nearly nailed for a safety on third and 8 at the 12, but with fourth down at the one, Lee Johnson stepped out of the end zone to make it 21-5 Pats. On the ensuing free kick, Deltha O’Neal ran the punt back 84 yards for a score despite Chris Floyd being clipped on the play. Suddenly it was 21-11 after a missed two-point conversion.

With the crowd back into the game, Bledsoe led the Patriots on their most important and impressive drive of this season. The Patriots took over at the 23, and parlayed a costly holding call on Ray Crockett (which nullified a sack of Bledsoe) and a 39-yard reception by Brown (again, largely on yards after the catch) into a nine-yard toss to Glenn to put the game nearly out of reach. Watching the Patriots answer those eight quick points with this kind of a touchdown drive on the road was nothing short of inspiring to all who claim allegiance to this team.

The Patriots literally sat on the lead for the rest of the game, and tried to eat up as much clock as possible. Except for a blown Hail Mary play which resulted in a late touchdown pass to Travis McGriff, the Pats pretty much shut down Denver the rest of the way. The Pats gave Griese anything he wanted over the middle and short, and the offense forced the Broncos to burn their timeouts with five minutes to go.

On that Hail Mary play, Tebucky Jones and Smith were double-covering McGriff. On a toss that should have been easily batted down at the very least, Jones and Smith instead batted the ball up, and McGriff was able to make an easy catch thanks to these two defenders. This play might come up in film sessions this week, and it took the luster off an otherwise dominating win by the Patriots.

In fairness to Jones, he did pick off a Griese pass today, intercepting a hurried, floating toss at the goal line early in the fourth quarter. On third and 16, Griese worked from the Patriot 30 and was about to be sacked. He wobbled one over the middle right into Jones’ hands.

This game should really galvanize the team. With Indianapolis and their high powered offense coming into Foxborough next week, the defense has to believe that they can hold Peyton Manning down just enough to give the Patriot offense a chance to win the game. If what you saw out of the Patriot offense today was no fluke, things might look good for the Patriots next week.

Bledsoe was well protected by his line today, for the most part. No running back distinguished himself today, but Bledsoe showed today that it literally wasn’t necessary. Bledsoe hit on 18 of his 27 passes, and passed Steve Grogan on the all-time Patriot passing yardage list. He was in clear command all day long, and found a good rhythm today.

Anyway, we can all relax. The Denver hex is over. The Patriot losing streak is over. Life is suddenly good. The Patriots kicked a good team’s behind on the road, in a stadium the Pats hadn’t won in since LBJ was president.

The Pats will never have to play in this nightmare arena again. At least, like the Orange Bowl, the final memories will be good ones.

Oh, and just for good measure, read the Denver Post’s columnist Woody Paige’s rip tomorrow. How ’bout them Patsies, Woody?