The New England Patriots’ ideal start to the National Football League season was ended after a 30-24 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos.
Advertisement
Osweiler wasn’t going to lose faith in Thomas, who has been a big part of many wins as a Bronco – and will be again. Those guys are Hall of Famers, and God only makes so many of those guys.
“But, yeah, it was fun”.
Brady’s receiving corps already was depleted with injuries to Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Aaron Dobson and running back Dion Lewis. If Gronkowski misses some time, with all the Patriots’ other injuries, they could drop another game or two. “We’ll see. All of our fingers are crossed”.
“I think they’ve got the main pieces and that’s Gronk and Tom Brady“, Denver nose tackle Sylvester Williams said. “I bet if you asked the players, they would really rather go high than low”. I think a lot of times that gets overlooked because you sacrifice a lot. We just didn’t make enough plays in the fourth quarter. He walked to the team bus with a slight limp but no brace and coach Bill Belichick said he had no update.
Watching from the cozy indoors at field level was Peyton Manning as Brock Osweiler and the Broncos (9-2) overcame an early 14-0 deficit and handed the Patriots (10-1) their first loss since 2014.
The New England Patriots lost their first game of the 2015 season Sunday night against the Denver Broncos, but that was far from their primary concern in the aftermath.
The Broncos never led until Osweiler threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Bubba Caldwell with 1:09 left in regulation to put Denver ahead 24-21.
Osweiler drove the Broncos to the Patriots’ 3 but after a third-down pass fell incomplete in the end zone, Brandon McManus came on to kick a 21-yard field goal with 6:12 to play, setting the stage for a frenetic finish.
New England forced a three-and-out on Denver’s opening possession and found themselves with a short field when Britton Colquitt’s punt traveled only 25 yards to the Broncos’ 47. Don’t know about you, but I’m going to wait to exhale on that until we have an official diagnosis and timeline.
Tom Brady and the undefeated New England Patriots jumped out to the 14-0 lead when Rob Gronkowski caught the first touchdown and Steve Chandler caught the second one.
Brock Osweiler also was 23 of 42 and finished with 269 yards, one touchdown and one interception to help the AFC West leaders improve to 9-2.
With Manning sitting this one out in a walking cast on his left foot, the greatest quarterback rivalry was put on hold – perhaps forever.
Tampa Bay rookie Jameis Winston threw for 245 yards and a touchdown, but was sacked five times – four coming during a second half in which the Bucs (5-6) were shut out.
It still had plenty of panache.
Anderson and Ronnie Hillman were able to get to the edge and turn upfield on several occasions. But Chris Harper muffed the punt and Shaq Barrett recovered for Denver at the Patriots 36.
Bouncing back from a tough loss to Green Bay, Peterson ran for 158 yards and a pair of touchdowns and the Minnesota Vikings beat the slumping Falcons 20-10 on Sunday (see full recap).
INDIANAPOLIS – Matt Hasselbeck threw for 315 yards and two touchdowns and Adam Vinatieri made four more field goals for the Colts.
Advertisement
The Broncos say they’re expecting the unexpected with the Patriots and Gronk, something Phillips and his players have learned first-hand in years of facing the Patriots and their star tight end.
