Patriots - Broncos Takeaways

Your Tears Are So Yummy

> Both teams failed to score on their first possession, which meant the game wasn't a classic

> Denver had the big yardage edge early, but since they didn't score a touchdown in the red zone, it felt like Foreshadowing

> The refs didn't call DPI early, which is all OK now, I guess

> Denver scored on its second red zone drive, because they smartly gave themselves first and 10 from the 11, rather than first and goal from the 10

> Bill Belichick kept the offense in on fourth and long at the end of the first quarter just to show he's a wacky guy

> Both teams CB1's went down ealy, and yet the game didn't become Immediate Pinball, because both team's have poor QBs

> After using the running game to get close, Peyton Manning made sure to pad his TD numbers to TE Jacob Tamme

> A sack to force a long field goal with 3 minutes left in the second quarter set up all kinds of good things for the Broncos

> Not to put too fine a point on it, but an 80-yard drive that takes 7+ minutes and puts you up by 17 at home should almost always end a game

> New England went for it on 4th and 2, rather than kick a 47-yard FG, with 17:30 left, because they had no faith in their defense getting off the field

> The subsequent sack was about as big of a play as this game had

> This is the Montee Ball his fantasy owners thought they were drafting, and will probably overdraft again next year

> Brady's first playoff TD in 110 minutes of playoff football kept some drama in this, which is to say, well, any

> K Matt Prater's make from 54 with 7 minutes left was pretty big, since it made it a 16-point game and prevented NE from getting the ball back in good field position with Mo Men Tum

> QB Tom Brady looked positively bored during their touchdown drive that brought them back to 9, but the missed 2-point run set up Facepalm Time

> I'm not sure what was worse today: Tom Brady's accuracy or the performance of the NE WRs

> If this games wasn't for the right to go to the Super Bowl, and involved a great deal of Patriot Fan misery, it would have been, you know, kind of dull