Since their week 12 meeting in New England on a bitter cold evening, the Patriots and Broncos have been on a collision course for another meeting in the post season. This time it is in Denver.
In the first matchup, the Denver Broncos defense forced a number of turnovers early in the first half and Denver capitalized on them with touchdowns – ending the first half leading 24 – 0. But the second half showed a different New England Patriots team – their defense forced turnovers and they scored 28 unanswered points before the Broncos came back to tie the game in the 4th quarter. An unfortunate special teams play gave New England the ball in field goal range to give them the victory.
I have a feeling the Denver version of this matchup will be very similar. Denver’s defense is not the same as the defense that dominated the first half of the week 12 matchup… they lost Von Miller and Chris Harris to season ending injuries, so they are not a lock on defense. The Patriots offense is a whole different animal as well, having used the running backs more prolifically than is the norm for New England (43 points came from running touchdowns in the Divisional Championship against the Indianapolis Colts). A punishing ground game could put Denver in a tough spot physically and make Peyton Manning have to abandon the Denver running attack to keep up. Keep an eye on this.
Denver Broncos ride their surprising defense to AFC championship …
http://sports.yahoo.com Mon, 13 Jan 2014 00:53:19 GMT
American Football; Sports & Recreation; Peyton Manning; Chargers; Denver Broncos; AFC championship game; Philip Rivers. (USA Today Sports Images). Click to view comments. View Comments. New England Patriots …
Even though the Patriots are the underdogs in this contest, the majority of commentators have been siding with the Patriots, since Bill Belichick is the guy who manages to come up with a game plan to beat most teams – especially if he has played them once before.
On the other hand, Peyton Manning has a 5-0 record facing a team the second time after a loss the first time in the same season.
AFC Championship 2014 picks and predictions: Patriots vs. Broncos …
http://www.sbnation.com Wed, 15 Jan 2014 17:00:01 GMT
Experts are generally divided when it comes to the AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos. That’s good, right?
Let me know your thoughts – comment below!
