AFC Divisional Weekend: Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots

[SPTO]

Quote: Originally Posted by wwharton

I don't think it'll happen but (there's your "but" kehlis) we needed to see a completely different Tebow for them to beat the Steelers as they ran the gameplan we expected them to run too... and we did indeed see him be that player he needed to be, so there's hope. I just don't see the Broncos D being good enough to keep Brady from scoring whatever number of points he'll need to to win this game.

Yep, this is why the Broncos will need to set the tempo of the game and try to have long drives. They'll need to score on most of them but if they don't score on a couple that's ok as long as they CHEW UP CLOCK!

If the Broncos win the toss I sure as hell hope they take the ball rather than kick it to New England or else the tempo may be set to a speed they don't want.

[Kaiser Wilhelm]

I get Denver for a simple reason.

NE cannot play defense. John Fox has seen that Tebow can make defences pay for overcommiting to the run.

Give Willis the ball, force the Patrots to man up on the outside, and play the run. From there, give Tebow the ball and make them pay. NE pass defence got burned by Buffalo, and Fitzpatrick has horrible footwork.

As for Brady vs Denver D. He will make one critical mistake in the game. Denver won't shut down Brady but they will hold him under 30 and then force a mistake.

I pick Denver so long as they stick to their game, and John Fox lets Tebow play.

[Sportsforever]

Just realized that it's been FOUR years since the Pats won a playoff game...wasn't their last playoff win the AFC Championship game before the Giants beat them?

[TheMatrix31]

Quote: Originally Posted by ProfessaPackMan

To say that there's ANY conspiracy to have the Steelers win is ridiculous because if that was the case, they'd(League)would make sure Dallas is in the playoffs every year. People wanna complain about officiating? Fine go ahead. I have no problem with that because it's never perfect. There's always gonna be ****ty calls that people aren't gonna like. But to say there's a conspiracy going on and that the NFL only lets certain teams get calls to have them advance is ignorant and ridiculous and that **** goes on every year where teams like NE, PIT, DAL, NO and now GB ALWAYS get the calls and the rest of the other 27 teams don't, according to some people on here. I get that you probably won't understand because you've experienced that in the NBA with the Suns. But somehow a conspiracy if Pittsburgh would've won? Ummmmm no.

Well agreed, I wasnt talking about conspiracy stuff more than I was talking about mentioning disastrous calls/reffing in general.

[nyj721]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sportsforever

Just realized that it's been FOUR years since the Pats won a playoff game...wasn't their last playoff win the AFC Championship game before the Giants beat them?

Yup. I sure would LOVE to see that streak extended another year or 10. I could see this game going the same way as Broncos vs Steelers, but I don't think Denver has it in them to score with NE on the road.

New England-41
Denver-27

[wheelman990]

34-17 Patriots.


I'd love to see the broncos win this though. Denver needs 28+ points in this game to even have a chance IMO. Denvers defense is going to have to play there "A" game.

[Broncos86]

Quote: Originally Posted by wheelman990

34-17 Patriots. I'd love to see the broncos win this though. Denver needs 28+ points in this game to even have a chance IMO. Denvers defense is going to have to play there "A" game.

Let's not forget, Denver had the Patriots on the ropes in the first game this year. The Patriots were handled by the Denver defense until fumbles broke open the dam. Once that happened, the life was sucked out of the Broncos and the Patriots took advantage. I wonder if people see the final score of that game, without watching it, and think the Patriots just steamrolled from the start. Denver had NE reeling until two fumbles in Denver territory allowed the Patriots to get rolling.

The key match up will be whoever covers the NE tight ends and slot receivers. On the outside, Bailey and Goodman shouldn't have any problem. Chris Harris and Carter will be the key focus, matching up against Gronkowski and Co.

[Beantown]

You also have to assume that the Broncos won't be able to get 160 first quarter rushing yards again.

The first game means nothing, both ways. The incredible first quarter for the Broncos, the fumbles, etc. nothing will be the same or happen the same way so there's little reason to talk about it.

The regular season meeting means nothing at all in my opinion.