Patriots Fall To The Broncos

Not sure how to approach this one. On one hand, it’s impressive that the Patriots even got to this point with all of the injuries. At the same time, a playoff loss is a playoff loss. And New England had their chances in this game but Denver just outplayed them.

This game was too reminiscent of last year’s AFC Championship game. Aqib Talib goes down with an injury (thanks Wes) and the Patriots defense couldn’t stop the opposing team’s #1 receiver. Demaryius Thomas had a field day against Alfonzo Dennard yet there were no defensive adjustments made. I really don’t get that one at all.

Unfortunately at the Patriots expense, Peyton Manning had one of the best days of his career. He had all the weapons you could ask for and picked apart New England’s defense. Dennard couldn’t stop D. Thomas, rookie Logan Ryan had an off game, and the offensive line gave Manning all the time in the world to throw. Not once was he knocked down to the ground. You can’t give a great QB time to throw with those weapons, that just spells disaster.

Onto the Patriots offense, I thought they would score a lot more than 16 points in this one. One mistake I made was discounting Denver’s run defense. The ground game was ineffective until the Broncos dared the offense to run the ball in the 4th quarter.

With the running game being ineffective, Denver started applying pressure to Tom Brady and they got to him way too frequently. I’m not saying Brady had no chance to make plays but he didn’t have a lot of time to throw the ball.

Brady did not have his best game in this one. He missed some open throws for sure. He was out-played by Manning and that’s tough for me to admit. There were a few chances for big plays early in the game but TB12 just didn’t make the throws. The Patriots came into this game as underdogs and there was no margin for error if they wanted to win. Unfortunately too many errors were made.

The offensive play-calling made it seem as if Josh McDaniels had already accepted Cleveland’s head coaching job. On the first two 3rd downs of the game, the calls were to throw the ball to Austin Collie and then to Matthew Slater deep down field. Those are head-scratchers, it seemed like they were trying to be to cute there. Also, a running play on the two point conversion was iffy in my mind too. At that point, keep the ball in Brady’s hand.

The one call I didn’t mind was going for it on 4th and 3 in the 3rd quarter. I know they would’ve need a field goal eventually but 3 points seemed like nothing with the way the Broncos offense was going. They need touchdowns, not field goals.

I can’t help but think what this game would’ve been like if the Patriots had better weapons at receiver. The game is most likely played at Gillette Stadium for one. And that Denver defense could have been had with more talent. Even just a healthy Gronkowski could have made a big difference. I think everyone had flashbacks to 2006 when Brady was throwing to Reche Caldwell, Doug Gabriel and Jabar Gaffney. I thought that would be the last time that Brady would have such little help around him. Austin Collie and Hooman aren’t going to cut it.

And how about Wes Welker’s replacement? Danny Amendola – 0 catches, 1 drop, 0 difference in the game. He’s an easy target, I know.

The injuries were too much for the Patriots to overcome and it looks as if Talib’s injury was the last straw. If only he was healthy for either AFC Championship game in the past 2 seasons. Without him, opposing offenses just feast.

You can’t really look at this season as a disappointment, at least not in my eyes. The Patriots made it the final four, suffered many blows along the way, and lost to a team with the best offense in the history of the NFL. Too much was stacked up against them and they just didn’t make enough plays. I wonder if we’ll see an offensive overhaul in the offseason like the one that got us Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and Donte Stallworth.

AFC Championship Preview

In case you haven’t already heard, there’s a pretty big game coming up this Sunday. The Patriots vs. the Broncos in the AFC Championship game. It’s Brady vs. Manning for the 15th time, with 3 of their past bouts coming in the playoffs.

The Patriots enter the game as underdogs and probably rightfully so. They’ve had a ton of players go down to injury, the defense has looked suspect at times, Brady doesn’t have the weapons he used to and they’re on the road facing Peyton Manning and possibly the best offense in the history of the NFL. Yet they are only 4 point underdogs. So you’re saying there’s a chance.

There’s a lot of questions coming into this game. One of them is how the Patriots should run the ball against the Broncos. Denver has a good run defense which is a cause for some concern but I still think New England will be able to get some yards and big plays off of them. Baltimore had a very good run defense and the Patriots ran the ball pretty well against them on the road.

I think the most important aspect of a good running game on the road is that it can take the crowd out of the game and agitate them. Watching an opponent run the ball constantly for positive yardage can be very frustrating. That’s one way to neutralize the crowd.

Even if the running game isn’t a huge success, it can help to set up play action later in the game. So if the Patriots aren’t running the ball effectively, don’t worry, there’s a method to their madness. Also, running the ball can wear out a defense too.

The last thing I’ll mention about the Pats running the ball is that it has been huge for them in the red zone. Since Gronkowski has gone down, the passing game has struggled in the red zone but strong runs can help have a more balanced attack down there.

Onto the passing game, it looks like the 4 main weapons will be Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Aaron Dobson, and Kembrell Thompkins. Dobson’s presence should help because he can stretch the field. Also, now that “flugate” is over, there should be no questions about Tom Brady’s health.

Against this Broncos defense, Brady has had relatively no problem putting up points. In his last four games against Denver, the Patriots offense has put up 34, 31, 45 and 41 points. This time around, Denver’s D won’t have All-Pro pass rusher Von Miller or #1 corner Chris Harris. I don’t see scoring as a huge issue in this game, even though Brady has less targets to throw to than in the past.

Onto the Broncos. They run the ball pretty well, in part because opposing defenses have to respect the pass so much. Knowshon Moreno and Monte Ball are solid running backs that are capable of making big plays. They certainly have to be accounted for.

Everyone knows about Denver’s arsenal attack. Peyton Manning, Wes Welker, Eric Decker, Julius Thomas and Demaryius Thomas. This group set every offensive record imaginable this year You can’t stop this offense, you can only hope to slow it down, and keep it out of the endzone.

Here would be my gameplan on defense. Run a 4-2-5 defense which would mean taking out a linebacker (Dane Fletcher) and bringing in another cornerback, assuming Denver uses their slot receiver a lot. Aqib Talib gets Demaryius Thomas, Alfonzo Dennard get Eric Decker, Kyle Arrington gets Wes Welker, and Jamie Collins gets Julius Thomas. And Logan Ryan subs for corners as needed. I think you have to play a man defense because Manning will find the soft spots in a zone defense.

For me, there are two keys to this game (and yes, there pretty obvious). One is limit the turnovers. Both QBs are too good to give extra possessions to. The second is red zone efficiency. If Denver drives down the field but only gets 3 points out of it, that’s a win. And for the Patriots, when they’re close to the end zone, they have to punch it in.

I expect this game to be very close. If either team wins by more than a touchdown, I’ll be very surprised.

Here’s a shocker, I’m picking the Patriots to win. A large reason for this is believe that this game will come down to the two QBs and Brady has had more postseason success than Manning.  To steal a quote from Scott Zolak “You can have your Manning, I’ll take my Brady”.

Patriots 31 – Broncos 27

Patriots-Colts Thoughts

With their 43-22 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, the New England Patriots are heading back to the AFC Championship for the 3rd consecutive year. The Patriots never trailed in this one and looked like the better team for much of the night.

The first thought has to be about the Patriots running game. For the 3rd straight game, New England ran right over their opponents. LeGarrette Blount ran for 166 yards, Stevan Ridley ran for 52, and Shane Vereen tacked on another 17. The team combined for 234 rushing yards while Tom Brady threw for 198.

Blount just looks like he can’t be stopped right now. He has the power to break tackles and extend his runs while having the speed and shiftiness to elude tacklers in the open field. Plus, he has to be running with high confidence. Until the opposition finds a way to stop him, keep handing him the ball.

It’s pretty impressive when the Patriots continuously run the ball, the defense plays to prevent it, and the running game is still a success. A great running game helps control the time of possession and tires out a defense in addition to setting up the play action pass. That was evident when Brady hit Amendola on a big gain when they faked the run. The safeties cheated in, bit on the fake, and Amendola was able to get behind the defense.

Speaking of the passing game, when’s the last time this offense, or any other one, has scored 6 or more touchdowns, all on the ground? Brady only threw the ball 25 times, with no TDs and the team still scored 43 points.

On to the defense, they only gave up 20 points (not including the safety) to an offense that scored 45 the week before. They completely stopped the run, allowing only 69 yards on the ground. Indy isn’t a great running team but this defense has been prone to giving up some rushing yards yet they didn’t on Saturday night.

Andrew Luck threw for 331 yards but his four interceptions was the stat that stands out the most for him. You can’t turn the ball over 4 times on the road in the playoffs and expect to win, not against a good football team at least. I have no doubt he’ll be a great quarterback but 7 interceptions in two playoff games is something that can’t happen. Nonetheless, he did make some eye-popping throws that show the hype about him is well deserving.

The three best defensive players for the Patriots weren’t even on the team two years ago. Alfonzo Dennard, Dont’a Hightower, and Jamie Collins all had terrific games. Dennard had 2 interceptions, including one on the Colts first series of the game which set up an easy touchdown run. Collins had 1 pick, 1 sack, and 2 tackles for losses. Hightower quieted his critics with 1 interception and 8 tackles. It’s nice to see these young players stepping up in big games.

And you can’t mention players stepping up without mentioning Stephen Gostkowski. After Ryan Allen got hurt, Gostkowski filled in as a punter and did a pretty decent job, you certainly couldn’t have asked a lot more from him. He had 5 punts, including a 53-yarder, and pinned the Colts inside their own 20 twice. And how about Brady holding snaps for the first time since his college days too.

All in all, this was a very good win for the Patriots. They took care of business at home and are now heading out to Denver for the AFC Championship game. It’s Brady v. Manning with a shot at the Super Bowl on the line. Is it Sunday yet?

Breaking Down The Patriots Potential 2nd Round Opponents

The Patriots went 12-4 in the regular season and that was good enough to get a 1st round bye in the playoffs. They’re the #2 seed and will face the highest seed left in the AFC in the divisional round of the playoffs next Saturday night. Their three potential opponents are the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, and Kansas City Chiefs.

New England is most likely to face the Cincinnati Bengals, seeing how they’re the #3 seed and should have an easy win against San Diego on Sunday. The Bengals handed the Patriots their first loss of the year this season back in Week 5. That was by far the most poorly game played by the Pats offense this season, putting up only 6 points. The Patriots defense only gave up 13 points while forcing 6 punts and 2 turnovers. I thought New England lost this game more than Cincinnati won it.

Despite the Week 5 result, the Bengals may not be a bad opponent for the Patriots to play. Cincinnati is a completely different team on the road. They were 8-0 at home but 3-5 away. Marvin Lewis is 0-4 in the playoffs as the head coach of the Bengals and their quarterback Andy Dalton has had two forgetful games in his two postseason appearances. These facts line up well for the Patriots who were 8-0 at home this season.

One thing to consider however is that the teams who have recently beat the Patriots in the playoffs are teams that play very physical (Ravens x2, Giants x2, and Jets). The Bengals are very physical and have a very good defense. If you hear the names Michael Johnson and Carlos Dunlap a lot, it’s not a good thing because that means they are putting pressure on Tom Brady. Cincinnati has a few very good cornerbacks as well.

Next up are the Indianapolis Colts. Andrew Luck brought his team back to the playoffs and now he looks for his first postseason win. There’s a decent chance he’ll get it since he’s playing the Kansas City Chiefs and he already beat them on the road by 16 points a few weeks ago. Now Indy will host the Chiefs on Saturday afternoon.

The Colts passing game took a big hit when Reggie Wayne tore his ACL, but the offense has continued to play well. T.Y. Hilton stepped up and had over 1000 receiving yards while Luck’s college teammate, tight end Coby Fleener, has had a nice season as well. The running game isn’t all that strong, which allows opposing defenses to focus heavily on stopping the pass.

Defensively, the Colts are one of the worst teams when it comes to stopping the run. They give up 125 yards per game on the ground. The Patriots have run the ball well recently and that could be a big advantage for them if these two teams meet. When it comes to the defending against the pass, Indy has been slightly above average compared to other teams. Robert Mathis can still be an effective pass rusher and the secondary has some talented players.

The team the Patriots are least likely to face is the Kansas City Chiefs and that may not be a bad thing. I’m not sure whether to consider the Chiefs a real contender or not. They have a lot of talent but this is the first year that this unit has been good. Will they be just a good regular season team like the Falcons and Texans of the past few seasons or are they legitimate? I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

One of the main reasons I don’t want to play the Chiefs is because of their running back Jamaal Charles. Charles led the team in rushing and receiving yards this season which is very impressive. The Patriots have had trouble stopping the run and covering quick receivers in the open field. If the Patriots can’t contain Charles, it could be a long game.

KC’s quarterback is Alex Smith. The ex-49er has played well in his first season with his new team. He’s a system QB that takes what the defense gives him. He won’t wow you with many throws but he usually won’t cost you the game either. Besides Charles, he has a few weapons at his disposal including WR Dwayne Bowe.

Their defense has a lot of talent but gives up a lot of yards as well. Tamba Hali and Justin Houston both had 11 sacks this year and need to be accounted for. They have some big guys on the defensive line, including nose tackle Dontari Poe. In the secondary they have two pro bowlers, CB Brandon Flowers and SS Eric Berry.

The Chiefs started the year off 9-0 but then lost 5 of their last 7 games. They have a lot of good players including 8 Pro Bowlers so talent isn’t an issue. It’s just a matter of whether this team can get out of their down stretch and have postseason success.

With all this being said, I think the best match-up for the Patriots would be the Colts and worst match-up would be the Chiefs, although I would still like New England’s chances in that game. The Bengals wouldn’t be an easy win either but having them come to Foxboro is a big advantage for the Patriots.