Tough 3-Game Stretch

[DownSetHutch]

So we have the 49ers this Sunday night in Denver, then the Chargers on Thursday night in Denver, and then go on the road to play the Patriots in Foxboro two weeks from this Sunday. That is a gauntlet for sure. So how do you rank these games in difficulty?

I think the Chargers will be the toughest out, with the 49ers being the second most difficult, and the Patriots being the least difficult, though still a big challenge. The Charger game will be the most critical of course. Winning 2 out of 3 of these games would be good, but coming away with 3 "W"s would really cement the Broncos as the team to beat.

 

[TDs3nOut]

So we have the 49ers this Sunday night in Denver, then the Chargers on Thursday night in Denver, and then go on the road to play the Patriots in Foxboro two weeks from this Sunday. That is a gauntlet for sure. So how do you rank these games in difficulty?

I think the Chargers will be the toughest out, with the 49ers being the second most difficult, and the Patriots being the least difficult, though still a big challenge. The Charger game will be the most critical of course. Winning 2 out of 3 of these games would be good, but coming away with 3 "W"s would really cement the Broncos as the team to beat.

Tough to say, but I usually feel more confident about home games than road games. At the moment, however, the Pats seem to have their hands full at home against the Jets. SD and SF seem to be playing pretty well, so those could definitely be tough games.

I like your point about how meaningful it would be if we can manage three wins over these three games. Gonna be tough, but I definitely think it's possible.

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

I completely agree DSH. Tough stretch coming up but am I allowed to think that?

But I think it's so hard to rank the games as it seems every week is a new week. I think the Charger game is the most important and the way both teams are playing probably the toughest. The SF game should be a good one and if the weather holds in Foxborough the Broncos should be favorites.

 

[cdumler7]

I'm torn on the order of these games...Home games are supposed to be the easier of the games so that should make the Patriot game the toughest but I think the Chargers game will be the most difficult at this time...


Peyton does his best work when he has time to prepare properly and only have a few days to do so does limit some of his great ability. Defensively though we are much more prepared to handle what the Chargers have to throw at us but then again my guess is tomorrow's game is going to be pretty darn physical meaning we could be a little battered and bruised.


So all that to say I would go Chargers game as toughest, Patriot game next since it is on the road, and the 49ers game coming in a very close 3rd. Honestly I wouldn't argue anybody if they completely reversed that order as all 3 games are that close in difficulty in my opinion.

 

[MileHigh64]

I think that the Broncos are going to roll the Chargers next Thursday night. I'm not sure why, I just do. The toughest game IMO is going into Foxboro and taking on the Patriots. I think this is finally the year that we get it done in NE.

 

[cdumler7]

I hope you are right MileHigh64. I would love to crush the Chargers and just remind everybody who is still king of the AFC West. The Patriots in Foxboro is one I go back and forth on. On one side you have the Patriots who have been one of the best home teams in all the NFL for many years. I think they have won something like 40 straight against AFC opponents at home. That is just a crazy number. On the other side of it they just got done barely beating the Jets at home where they needed a blocked field goal to seal the victory. They have been very uncharacteristically up and down this year so it just seems like you have to catch them on one of the down weeks. When they are on though they are tough to beat. Usually the Patriots like to give Manning their best shot so we shall see. I'm actually kind of excited that we get so much Bronco football over the next week. I know the players hate the Thursday night games but always great to see your team as often as you can.

 

[Southieinnc]

Tough to say, but I usually feel more confident about home games than road games. At the moment, however, the Pats seem to have their hands full at home against the Jets. SD and SF seem to be playing pretty well, so those could definitely be tough games.

I like your point about how meaningful it would be if we can manage three wins over these three games. Gonna be tough, but I definitely think it's possible.

Speaking of 3 tough games - The Patriots just won 3 games in 12 days. They struggled in jets game but I'm counting on them to be ready for the Broncos. Will 3 tough games in a row soften the Broncos for a Foxboro visit? That's why we play the games.....

 

[cdumler7]

Speaking of 3 tough games - The Patriots just won 3 games in 12 days. They struggled in jets game but I'm counting on them to be ready for the Broncos. Will 3 tough games in a row soften the Broncos for a Foxboro visit? That's why we play the games.....

Not sure it will soften us too much considering we do have 10 days in between the Chargers and Patriots game so should give us a bit of time to heal up from 2 pretty physical teams in the 49ers and Chargers. The road part of the equation is the part that has me worried about the Patriots more than anything. If healthy though I like us to still be the favorites in that game and do pretty well.

 

[AmericanTebowFan]

The Broncos will take care of the Patriots, the cheater's franchise. I predict a win by at least 2 TDs. This Denver team not only has the best QB in football, but it's very CLEARLY the best team in football. Anything other than a super bowl win will be a massive BUST.

 

[cdumler7]

The Broncos will take care of the Patriots, the cheater's franchise. I predict a win by at least 2 TDs. This Denver team not only has the best QB in football, but it's very CLEARLY the best team in football. Anything other than a super bowl win will be a massive BUST.

Well 2 down and 1 to go on the difficult 3-game stretch. I will say though this next 3-game stretch will be quite the challenge with all 3 being on the road. Can't remember the last time we had 3 straight road games. Can't go out and have a let down. Hopefully this 10 days off will give the time to get rested up and get ready for 9 straight games without a break.

 

[randymon]

Yeah cd, going to be a tough 9 gm stretch and Denver is going to have to be real smart keeping guys as fresh as possible. I noticed how the front four for Denver seemed to be getting gassed in 2nd half as their wasn`t alot of pressure on Rivers. I haven`t watched game again to see if Del Rio was substituting enough when it was obvious they were tiring. Need to see more of Q. Smith,Austin, Unrein ( when healthy) and even some Anunike when that front seems to be struggling. Hopefully Denver gets some good leads heading into 4th and they can give those front 4 guys some rest but even when score is closer I think its better to have some fresh bodies in there,than guys who are fatigued and not making the plays they normally do. Del Rio needs to monitor those guys alot as season wears on and make those assessments accordingly. Ware seemed to be struggling a little. I saw in box score he had 0 tackles and 0 qb hits ( maybe it was mis-print). Once again, Marshall had great game and led all players with 10. Great Game though and very proud of Hilman and the running gm, Sanders and the whole team for a great effort on a short week vs a very formidable div rival in SD. Very well done Denver!!

 

[DownSetHutch]

Given the way the Patriots are playing right now, and the way the Broncos handled the 49ers and Chargers, it looks like the New England game may actually turn out to be the toughest of the three.

Manning vs. Brady is always a great matchup. Can't wait for this one.

 

[cdumler7]

Amazing how quickly things change in the NFL. A couple of weeks ago people were questioning whether the Patriots would even make the playoffs and were predicting doom and gloom. Now they are looking just about as good as we are. This will be a huge game for both teams. Could come down to who wins this one for playoff seeding.


I will say though other than the Patriots winning this weekend once again worked out well for the Broncos. Obviously Chargers losing gives us a nice cushion in the division while the Ravens and Colts both losing could be huge come playoff seeding.

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

Amazing how quickly things change in the NFL. A couple of weeks ago people were questioning whether the Patriots would even make the playoffs and were predicting doom and gloom. Now they are looking just about as good as we are. This will be a huge game for both teams. Could come down to who wins this one for playoff seeding.


I will say though other than the Patriots winning this weekend once again worked out well for the Broncos. Obviously Chargers losing gives us a nice cushion in the division while the Ravens and Colts both losing could be huge come playoff seeding.

Yeah, I agree CD. Week to week is the name of this NFL. Look no further than the Colts last week shutting out the Bengals then getting 51 hung on them by the Steelers who were scoring 21 PPG.

I love the sports media. If you read and watch the sports shows today, the Packers are in trouble, the Saints are now a "scary" team, the Steelers offense is back and better than ever. 3 weeks ago the Bengals and Colts were the best team's in the league, the Pats (this weeks darlings along with the Steelers) and Brady were done and the Steelers were old and needed to start over. Oh yeah, and one that's a bit interesting for Broncos fans #6 for the Bears. All I was reading earlier in the season was how he grew up and was now a mature QB who gets it. Hows that going for Chicago now? I said about a month ago that you really don't know week to week what's going to happen in the NFL. It's funny to watch these peeps in the media use these types of statements / verbiage just to look like idiots the very next week, and then they do it again.

But I digress, should be a great game. I'm so tired of playing in Foxborough though. If everything holds we should finally have them in our barn next year. But next weeks game will be very interesting, if the Broncos can go in there and get a W, we should be in great shape in the race for home field although there is a lot of football left to play. Can the Broncos cover Gronk and it looks like Lafell is really starting to be a favorite of Brady. I don't think the Pats will be able to run on us, we are #1 against the run. I think the Pats are going to have a lot of trouble covering our WR's. I would think that Browner will be on DT and Revis will be on Sanders. I don't think the Pats have the horses to cover J Thomas and Welker in the middle. While Revis and Browner are good DB's it's going to be tough covering DT and Sanders all day especially the way Manning is throwing the ball right now. I also think we will have some success on the ground as NE is 25th in YPG against the run. Close game but I think Denver's the better team. The wildcard is the weather, they're expecting a pretty widy day but Manning has some zip this year so it shouldn't be as big of a factor that it's been in the past couple of years.

Denver 34 Pats 24.

 

[cdumler7]

I just honestly have no clue what to expect in this one with NE. Belichick always seems to have a trick or two up his sleeve when he plays Manning but I just think our defense is going to be able to hang with NE pretty well. I think we can limit them to that 21 point area just like we did San Diego. I mean Gates just had a great game against us yet they still only put up 21. I would be very surprised if their defense can keep us from putting up 21. So right now I have it at 31-21.

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

I just honestly have no clue what to expect in this one with NE. Belichick always seems to have a trick or two up his sleeve when he plays Manning but I just think our defense is going to be able to hang with NE pretty well. I think we can limit them to that 21 point area just like we did San Diego. I mean Gates just had a great game against us yet they still only put up 21. I would be very surprised if their defense can keep us from putting up 21. So right now I have it at 31-21.

Yup, who knows. Other than the SB Denver has been by far the most consistent team in the league over the past three seasons. Something Jaws just said, "this is the best defense Manning has taken to Foxborough". I agree. Should be interesting.

 

[{+}Mother-Marge{+}]

hmm,.....might be unseasonal weather for peyton this weekend,.....supposed to be in the 30's rainy/windy/snowy at Gillette,........the bad/weather could work for either team, regardless,.....should be a fun game,....I'm surprised it won't be ~flexed~ for SNF...?

 

[{+}Mother-Marge{+}]

....GO PATRIOTS...!!!

 

[cdumler7]

hmm,.....might be unseasonal weather for peyton this weekend,.....supposed to be in the 30's rainy/windy/snowy at Gillette,........the bad/weather could work for either team, regardless,.....should be a fun game,....I'm surprised it won't be ~flexed~ for SNF...?

Yeah the weather could get interesting. It usually benefits the team that can run the ball the best as passing could be at a premium and right now I would say the Broncos are better at running the ball plus have the better defense at stopping the run but hey it is a home game for the Patriots and really that is the part that scares me. Pats just don't lose at home especially against AFC foes.

Now about the game being flexed...that won't happen. The Broncos are already maxed out on Prime Time games so any Bronco game cannot be moved. The NFL honestly was pretty stupid to have done that. They usually try to leave one game available in case they need that team flexed later in the year.

 

[Chewbaccer]

2 down, 1 to go. The Pats seem to have our number in the regular season, but I'm optimistic about Sunday.