The importance of this game can’t be overstated for either team.
Advertisement
The game starts at 8:30 p.m. ET, Nov. 2 9, at the Sports Authority Field, where the Broncos will obviously have home field advantage. No, their focus is rightfully on Denver’s defense.
While the Patriots wide receiver corps is depleted the offense still has leading receiver Rob Gronkowski.
The number one priority in this game for the Patriots is to keep Tom Brady on his feet and not on the ground.
Monday night’s game featured a controversial play in the third quarter when a pass to Amendola that appeared to be going for a big gain, and possibly a touchdown, was negated by an inadvertent whistle.
DE Kenny Anunike was placed on injured reserve by the Broncos Wednesday (Nov. 25) to clear a roster spot for Christian Ponder. The Patriots still should get credit for winning in face of adversity, but the Broncos will be a bigger challenge for Brady when it comes to moving the ball and putting up points, and Brady will have fewer weapons to do it with. If not, the Denver defense may have a new trick to play. The team is averaging only 22.2 points per game, which ranks 19th in the NFL. “When you get the ball in his hands, he can do a lot of damage in a hurry”, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.
Miller said if he can’t get to the passer, he wants to get the passer to rush his throw. Well, actually Manning has been playing terribly, so they may be better off with Brock Osweiler anyway.
“Uh… triple-team”, said cornerback Aqib Talib, who spent 2012-13 as Gronkowski’s teammate in New England before signing with Denver. “That’s why it’s been so fun to play in this offense with him”.
The NFL is a notorious copycat league. So every team has a different style. Brady might be throwing to a receiving group with Brandon LaFell as the No. 1 wideout and special teams specialist Matthew Slater, rookie Chris Harper – recently promoted from the practice squad – and Keshawn Martin, who was inactive Monday night with a hamstring injury, rounding out the group. No tight end has recorded more, all time, against Denver. I’m bullish on our chances though even against a stout unit like the Patriot front seven. Without a true threat at quarterback, the -3 favored Patriots can focus on stopping running backs Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson, who combined for a 161 yards rushing last week. If he’s concerned at all about facing one of the best quarterback’s in the game, you can’t see it in his face.
Including the playoffs, Brady is just 6-7 against the Broncos in his career, and two of those losses have been quite memorable.
And that leads us to the offensive line.
Tackles Sebastian Vollmer and Marcus Cannon returned to the lineup last week against Buffalo, but the line was still overmatched most of the night.
Manning steals the injury spotlight, for lack of a better term, but the Patriots have serious hurdles of their own to overcome. With Philadelphia, Houston, Tennessee, the Jets, and Miami left on the schedule, the Patriots could make a serious run at 16-0, just as they did eight years ago when they were motivated by the Spygate scandal.
But the Patriots need to figure out who the starting five should be and settle on that group.
The Broncos are 1-5 the last six times they have faced the New England Patriots.
The Patriots have some incentive this week.
Advertisement
“Being the fact that Chicago is the place where Brock played his first preseason game [in 2012], and that it was his birthday, we went ahead and booked the trip”, John Osweiler said. But that’s not their focus. I have no doubt that members of Broncos Country in attendance tonight will be ready to support their Broncos and do their part in making Mr. Brady and the rest of the Patriots uncomfortable. I don’t think there’s anything the offense can really do to dictate what they do defensively. If he absolutely had to pick a basketball team it would be the Knicks, but he’d gladly trade them for just one championship for either of his other three teams.
