Danny Amendola:

Will Josh McDaniels stay patient enough to allow the running game to get going on Sunday night?

The Patriots committed the cardinal sin in all of sports; don’t ever, ever let an inferior team hang around, because it come back to bite you.

Look no further than the Patriots third-down percentage the past two games to see that the running game is slowing down the offense. New England is 5 for 28 on third down percentage the last two weeks including just 2 of 13 against Denver.

In the last five games, the Philly defense has allowed 828 yards on the ground an average of 165.6 yards per game. This is the time for Blount to get some yardage and take some pressure off the receivers.

Since realignment in 2002, the Pats own a stellar 45-10 record against NFC teams including a 3-0 record against the other teams from the NFC East this season.

Look for the Patriots to try to wear down this Eagles defense with much more Blount and Bolden carrying the ball this week in a similar offensive game plan as when they faced a fellow NFC East foe, the Redskins.

The Patriots added to their depth at wide receiver, running back and kick returner on Tuesday by signing WR Demaris Johnson and RB Trey Williams. Williams played at Texas A&M and for Danny Amendola’s dad in high school

Thru eleven games in 2015 the Philadelphia defense has been on the field for 83 minutes more than the offense.

The loss to the Denver Broncos was a minor one compared to the potential loss of Rob Gronkowski who was injured in the fourth quarter of the game on Sunday night

Tom Brady fires up Patriots fans for Broncos game with new Facebook post.

The reality is that NFL football is the ultimate team sport, nothing at all like individual sports such as boxing, golf or tennis. This leads to the question: which team in Sunday night’s feature game suffers more from injuries they are needing to overcome, the Patriots or Broncos?

The focus on this week’s Patriots – Broncos game will not be about Brady – Manning or the high octane offenses but the prowess of each team’s defense. This one promises to be a defensive struggle

The meeting was expected to be a typical Brady – Manning shootout when the schedule was released, but expect this one to be much more defensive oriented. The Patriots will have to be creative on offense with all the injuries against the Denver defense.

Fortunately there was some good news and it looks like neither Aaron Dobson or Danny Amendola suffered any significant injuries Monday night.

The Denver defense led by their pass rush of Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware and Shane Ray keys the top pass defense in the NFL. They’ll be looking to shut down Tom Brady just like they did with Aaron Rodgers.