Denver vs. New England *class* (1 Viewer)

[HellToupee]

I'm a little disappointed that the Pats turned the ball over so much; much like the 1998/9 AFC Championship game (Belichick and Shanahan's last postseason matchup), the Broncos were pretty much outplayed on both sides of the ball but got some breaks (PI call, fumbles) and capitalized on them.

First off, the Broncos were not outplayed by the Jets back in the '99 AFC title game. How can you possibly say that? And they weren't outplayed last night, either. Total yardage does not always tell the story. Saying the Broncos were outplayed last night is like saying the Rams outplayed the Patriots in Super Bowl 36 (since their edge in total yardage was similar to NE's last night). Turnovers are part of the game and when one team turns it over five times and the other turns it over only one time, it seems absurd to me to say the team that turned it over five times outplayed the team that turned it over once. Points are what count the most. The Broncos scored 27. The Patriots scored 13. End of story.

Yards can be a function of field position. Broncos had two one yard drives - both ended up w/ TD's, but will hurt you from the ovrall yardage battle. A team that has outplayed another team does not lose turnover battle (as mentioned above), but also does not loose penalty battle - 8 penalties for 104 yards vs 4 for 24 yards.

Denver won the field postion battle in the 1st half big time , Pats were lucky to be down by only 7.That PI call was horrible

 

[Marc Levin]

I'm a little disappointed that the Pats turned the ball over so much; much like the 1998/9 AFC Championship game (Belichick and Shanahan's last postseason matchup), the Broncos were pretty much outplayed on both sides of the ball but got some breaks (PI call, fumbles) and capitalized on them.

First off, the Broncos were not outplayed by the Jets back in the '99 AFC title game. How can you possibly say that? And they weren't outplayed last night, either. Total yardage does not always tell the story. Saying the Broncos were outplayed last night is like saying the Rams outplayed the Patriots in Super Bowl 36 (since their edge in total yardage was similar to NE's last night). Turnovers are part of the game and when one team turns it over five times and the other turns it over only one time, it seems absurd to me to say the team that turned it over five times outplayed the team that turned it over once. Points are what count the most. The Broncos scored 27. The Patriots scored 13. End of story.

Yards can be a function of field position. Broncos had two one yard drives - both ended up w/ TD's, but will hurt you from the ovrall yardage battle. A team that has outplayed another team does not lose turnover battle (as mentioned above), but also does not loose penalty battle - 8 penalties for 104 yards vs 4 for 24 yards.

Denver won the field postion battle in the 1st half big time , Pats were lucky to be down by only 7.That PI call was horrible

The one in the endzone with Lelie?I thought so when I first saw it, too, but then I noticed that while Lelie was pushing the DB (can't remember if it was Samuel or not) before the ball went into the air, and even though the DB was looking back at the ball while defending the play, it seemed pretty clear to me that he DB's left arm was pushing against Lelie's midsection and the DB was preventing Lelie from being able to run his route by using his arm and not his body.

That said, I wouldn't have thrown a flag on it - whistle should have been swallowed - this is the playoffs after all. I just don't think it was a horrible - or even a wrong - call.

 

[HellToupee]

I'm a little disappointed that the Pats turned the ball over so much; much like the 1998/9 AFC Championship game (Belichick and Shanahan's last postseason matchup), the Broncos were pretty much outplayed on both sides of the ball but got some breaks (PI call, fumbles) and capitalized on them.

First off, the Broncos were not outplayed by the Jets back in the '99 AFC title game. How can you possibly say that? And they weren't outplayed last night, either. Total yardage does not always tell the story. Saying the Broncos were outplayed last night is like saying the Rams outplayed the Patriots in Super Bowl 36 (since their edge in total yardage was similar to NE's last night). Turnovers are part of the game and when one team turns it over five times and the other turns it over only one time, it seems absurd to me to say the team that turned it over five times outplayed the team that turned it over once. Points are what count the most. The Broncos scored 27. The Patriots scored 13. End of story.

Yards can be a function of field position. Broncos had two one yard drives - both ended up w/ TD's, but will hurt you from the ovrall yardage battle. A team that has outplayed another team does not lose turnover battle (as mentioned above), but also does not loose penalty battle - 8 penalties for 104 yards vs 4 for 24 yards.

Denver won the field postion battle in the 1st half big time , Pats were lucky to be down by only 7.That PI call was horrible

The one in the endzone with Lelie?I thought so when I first saw it, too, but then I noticed that while Lelie was pushing the DB (can't remember if it was Samuel or not) before the ball went into the air, and even though the DB was looking back at the ball while defending the play, it seemed pretty clear to me that he DB's left arm was pushing against Lelie's midsection and the DB was preventing Lelie from being able to run his route by using his arm and not his body.

That said, I wouldn't have thrown a flag on it - whistle should have been swallowed - this is the playoffs after all. I just don't think it was a horrible - or even a wrong - call.

I focuses on Lelie's hand grabbing the inside of Samuel's shoulder pad slighlty pulling him.Should have been a non call. Flag or not the Broncos executed & the Patriots didnt

 

[thesurfshop19]

I'm a little disappointed that the Pats turned the ball over so much; much like the 1998/9 AFC Championship game (Belichick and Shanahan's last postseason matchup), the Broncos were pretty much outplayed on both sides of the ball but got some breaks (PI call, fumbles) and capitalized on them.

First off, the Broncos were not outplayed by the Jets back in the '99 AFC title game. How can you possibly say that? And they weren't outplayed last night, either. Total yardage does not always tell the story. Saying the Broncos were outplayed last night is like saying the Rams outplayed the Patriots in Super Bowl 36 (since their edge in total yardage was similar to NE's last night). Turnovers are part of the game and when one team turns it over five times and the other turns it over only one time, it seems absurd to me to say the team that turned it over five times outplayed the team that turned it over once. Points are what count the most. The Broncos scored 27. The Patriots scored 13. End of story.

Fair enough. Maybe "outplayed" isn't the right word. But the plays the Broncos made this time and vs. the Jets in 1999 aren't exactly the kind you draw up. Either way, I'm sure we're both happy with the result so who cares exactly what word I use.

 

[Kit Fisto]

I don't like some of the threads that are coming up on the board, so I'm bumping this in hopes that we can get back to rational discussion of the game.

I think Broncos fans and Patriots fans can agree on the following:

1. The Broncos are better on paper and have home field on their side. agreed

2. The Patriots have a lot of momentum and history on their side. agreed

3. The Patriots have to play better to beat Denver than they did last week. agreed

4. The Patriots probably will play better against Denver than they did against Jacksonville. agreed

5. If Jake Plummer has a great, mistake-free game, the Broncos probably win. agreed

6. If the Patriots defense can force turnovers as they have in the past, the Patriots probably win. agreed

Surf, this is the best post of yours to date regarding this game.Don't the posters who start anti-Patriots threads realize the irony of their own words? Coming in here and whining about the Patriots and Patriots fans is being whiney themselves.

Congratulations to the Broncos. The bounces and calls went your way this year. That's playoff football. Good luck next week.I though the game was going to hinge on a mistake and it did. Just by the wrong QB!