Week 9 @ NE

[TDs3nOut]

I think that part was more the writer putting his thoughts into the article than actually anything they have heard. When Talib was with the Patriots they were a team willing to do such a thing. So far I have never seen Del Rio do such a thing. Heck this season he has shown to allow Roby a rookie to even try and cover the top target of the other team. Not my favorite decision of his but I do like that he shows such trust in the rookie and pushes him to be great.

Agreed. That's why I labeled it "speculation" when I posted the article. I do like the idea, however. Just have to wait and see.

 

[cdumler7]

Maybe. I do like our defense a lot better than Chicago's, but I also think that they could have their hands full on Sunday. I'm particularly concerned about the two TEs. I think that getting pressure on Brady, particularly up the middle, is a likely key.

If you look at the Bears defense over the course of the season they started out pretty strong for the first few games but have just dive bombed ever since. They had a decent game against the Falcons a few weeks ago but otherwise they have been giving up 27 or more points since week 3. So at this point you would have to say Chicago's defense is playing as a bottom 3 defense in the league.

 

[HammerDown]

Haha I will let you know...so far they have been pretty tame. Given BigKen hasn't shown his face yet looking for a fight. Plus the week is young but so far they have been very respectful. MotherMarge likes to get a bit weird but I think being locked in that convent all day with the other nuns is getting to her.

If Big Ken offers to fly somewhere halfway in between like St. Louis and fight you DON'T DO IT!!!

 

[cdumler7]

Agreed. That's why I labeled it "speculation" when I posted the article. I do like the idea, however. Just have to wait and see.

I like the idea as well...just like I said I think that is a Boston writer thinking the Broncos plan on using Talib the same way they did when he was in NE. That just hasn't been the case. Part of it is they don't have to having such a great corner across from him in Harris. He doesn't have to move all over the formation covering the top guy with this defense.

Maybe Del Rio surprises us this week with having a bit of extra time to game plan, but like I said so far in Del Rio's career he seems content to stick to the status quo.

 

[cdumler7]

If Big Ken offers to fly somewhere halfway in between like St. Louis and fight you DON'T DO IT!!!

He's told me any time I am in the Boston area to come meet him and see what happens. Haven't taken him up on the offer yet but my guess is I would get crickets the second I emailed him I was coming to town. Problem is I have no desire to go to Boston. Had a friend live there for 2-years going to school and he said it was the worst 2-years of his life. Said he had never met such smug jerks in his entire life. Now I'm sure none of the Boston people on here fall into that category but he just did not have a good experience so I have had no desire to go back. Went as a kid but we stayed right on the beach and rarely ventured into the city.

 

[TDs3nOut]

If you look at the Bears defense over the course of the season they started out pretty strong for the first few games but have just dive bombed ever since. They had a decent game against the Falcons a few weeks ago but otherwise they have been giving up 27 or more points since week 3. So at this point you would have to say Chicago's defense is playing as a bottom 3 defense in the league.

Haven't watched a lot Bears, but I've seen enough to know that they probably missed Kyle Fuller last week. That kid has impressed me with what I've seen of him.

 

[packerzrule]

Big game to possibly determine HFO

In any event, Manning vs Brady is always good theater.

 

[{+}Mother-Marge{+}]

Haha I will let you know...so far they have been pretty tame. Given BigKen hasn't shown his face yet looking for a fight. Plus the week is young but so far they have been very respectful. MotherMarge likes to get a bit weird but I think being locked in that convent all day with the other nuns is getting to her.

hey,...all in ''fun''...thas'all,..I've gone to every opposing team's site this season [here] just to rile-up the fan-base for chat-n-yack.,......I did visit the titans with a plate of cookies but ''nobody'' was home[?].

 

[TDs3nOut]

hey,...all in ''fun''...thas'all,..I've gone to every opposing team's site this season [here] just to rile-up the fan-base for chat-n-yack.,......I did visit the titans with a plate of cookies but ''nobody'' was home[?].

LOL Nice dig at Hammer, even though he doesn't deserve that, right?

 

[BigKen]

Why is everyone so worried about a 65 year old fat guy, who has to use cane 3 out of 7 days a week? So what if the cane has a 16" blade.......I'm always watching ......c'mon Hammer, your supposed to be an administrator not an antagonist..8^)


CD, you know I appreciate a civil conversation with no name calling or insults.....you're comments in the Pats board have been stellar.


I don't know how long it will last, but the Patriots are the #1 pass defense in the NFL as we speak. Having added Revis has helped and now that Browner has a couple of games under his belt, the secondary appears to be getting better. McCourty and Chung have been outstanding at safety. The league has watched the Patriots very closely the past few weeks and the secondary has been right up on the line of scrimmage and pounding the receivers before they get 5 yards. Everything has been by the book, and it's taken teams out of sync early. They back off later in the game but by then it's been too late.


As was stated earlier, the matchups will be interesting. I think Revis will be on Sanders with McCourty over the top and Browner will attempt to hold up D. Thomas at the line and not let him get free to do his typical big guy damage. This isn't the typical old Patriots with 5'9" 185 lb corner backs.


As I stated in the Patriots board......a late INT will turn the tide one way or the other for one team and the team with the ball will be fighting their way to get into FG position with the clock running out.

 

[cdumler7]

hey,...all in ''fun''...thas'all,..I've gone to every opposing team's site this season [here] just to rile-up the fan-base for chat-n-yack.,......I did visit the titans with a plate of cookies but ''nobody'' was home[?].

Haha nice dig...no problem with you guys coming over. Like I said you all have been very respectful and I appreciate it. We could actually do something that I have done on another site called "Ask a Bronco fan" on your site and "Ask a Patriot fan" on our site. Pretty much gives the opportunity for us to get to know each other's teams a bit more. Such as with Mayo out how has the linebacker core been doing and what do you think of the new Linebackers that the team has brought in? That kind of thing. I don't watch enough of the Patriots to really know.

 

[cdumler7]

Why is everyone so worried about a 65 year old fat guy, who has to use cane 3 out of 7 days a week? So what if the cane has a 16" blade.......I'm always watching ......c'mon Hammer, your supposed to be an administrator not an antagonist..8^)


CD, you know I appreciate a civil conversation with no name calling or insults.....you're comments in the Pats board have been stellar.


I don't know how long it will last, but the Patriots are the #1 pass defense in the NFL as we speak. Having added Revis has helped and now that Browner has a couple of games under his belt, the secondary appears to be getting better. McCourty and Chung have been outstanding at safety. The league has watched the Patriots very closely the past few weeks and the secondary has been right up on the line of scrimmage and pounding the receivers before they get 5 yards. Everything has been by the book, and it's taken teams out of sync early. They back off later in the game but by then it's been too late.


As was stated earlier, the matchups will be interesting. I think Revis will be on Sanders with McCourty over the top and Browner will attempt to hold up D. Thomas at the line and not let him get free to do his typical big guy damage. This isn't the typical old Patriots with 5'9" 185 lb corner backs.


As I stated in the Patriots board......a late INT will turn the tide one way or the other for one team and the team with the ball will be fighting their way to get into FG position with the clock running out.

You're just a feisty old man and I respect that. I hope I have that kind of fight in me when I am that old. Maybe not to the point that I am carrying around a saber in my cane but I do look forward to the days of chasing kids off my lawn.

I agree the Patriots have really changed their identity on the back end of the defense. As have the Broncos with adding some real physical guys in Talib and Ward. It is part of the reason I do think teams have had so many drops against us this season in players are just looking for those hits. I really don't think that can be a coincidence that the Broncos have seen so many drops this year when they add so much physicality to the defense.

I do think Browner on Thomas will be the biggest match up. Thomas in the past has struggled some with getting off the line but seemed to really work on it in the off season and is very much improved in this area. IF he gets loose you guys better watch out as he can take it to the house just about as fast as anybody in the league. I would bet you are also going to see the Broncos stack the receivers quite a bit as they love to run the screen game out of this set and get a blocker out front of D. Thomas then let him make a guy miss. Thankfully Welker has no problem going up against bigger corners to block them as you all know all too well.

I would also like to know what you guys think of your RB position right now. Seems like quite a few guys running the ball that most of us have barely heard of before.

 

[Broncos6482]

Why is everyone so worried about a 65 year old fat guy, who has to use cane 3 out of 7 days a week? So what if the cane has a 16" blade.......I'm always watching ......c'mon Hammer, your supposed to be an administrator not an antagonist..8^)


CD, you know I appreciate a civil conversation with no name calling or insults.....you're comments in the Pats board have been stellar.


I don't know how long it will last, but the Patriots are the #1 pass defense in the NFL as we speak. Having added Revis has helped and now that Browner has a couple of games under his belt, the secondary appears to be getting better. McCourty and Chung have been outstanding at safety. The league has watched the Patriots very closely the past few weeks and the secondary has been right up on the line of scrimmage and pounding the receivers before they get 5 yards. Everything has been by the book, and it's taken teams out of sync early. They back off later in the game but by then it's been too late.


As was stated earlier, the matchups will be interesting. I think Revis will be on Sanders with McCourty over the top and Browner will attempt to hold up D. Thomas at the line and not let him get free to do his typical big guy damage. This isn't the typical old Patriots with 5'9" 185 lb corner backs.


As I stated in the Patriots board......a late INT will turn the tide one way or the other for one team and the team with the ball will be fighting their way to get into FG position with the clock running out.

No they aren't. That would be the Chiefs.

 

[cdumler7]

No they aren't. That would be the Chiefs.

I would also say yards given up a game is not a great stat to base your claims on. You are right they are 2nd in yards given up a game instead of 1st like BigKen had suggested. I would look a little more at quarterback rating as teams have figured out against New England that their greatest weakness is that of the run defense. So my guess is the yards given up through the air have a lot to do with teams deciding to rush against them more than pass. Makes more sense to attack a team's weakness than strength. Now with this I'm not saying the pass defense isn't good but when you look at quarterback rating they are not even in the top-10. In fact they are in the bottom-10 in the league in touchdowns given up through passing with 14. Now the quarterback rating NE is 11th in the league at this point.

Now given a lot of this was without Browner in the lineup because of suspension then injury so not completely sure how they would rank with him in the picture for the full season. I guess we will find out on Sunday just how much of a difference he makes for this unit.

 

[TxHeat]

LOL Nice dig at Hammer, even though he doesn't deserve that, right?

hmmmm.....

 

[{+}Mother-Marge{+}]

Haha nice dig...no problem with you guys coming over. Like I said you all have been very respectful and I appreciate it. We could actually do something that I have done on another site called "Ask a Bronco fan" on your site and "Ask a Patriot fan" on our site. Pretty much gives the opportunity for us to get to know each other's teams a bit more. Such as with Mayo out how has the linebacker core been doing and what do you think of the new Linebackers that the team has brought in? That kind of thing. I don't watch enough of the Patriots to really know.

COOL,........ but I might have to wait till after this game before I reveal the linebackers, etc.,......*coach/B.B. might be reading this*.

 

[cdumler7]

COOL,........ but I might have to wait till after this game before I reveal the linebackers, etc.,......*coach/B.B. might be reading this*.

Alright so how about the RB position...Seems like a bunch of no names (can't say much as most people haven't heard of our backs either) but what can you tell us about them? Or any Pats fan coming on here just some friendly questions to get to know your team...

Another would be what has happened to Dobson? I heard he was a healthy scratch for the last game...Is he a bust or do you expect anything from him this season?

Any young players that are really beginning to make a name for themselves?

What do you think of all the trades that NE has been making lately? Seems like BB is getting back to his trade happy days...or maybe he just never left them.

 

[cdumler7]

So the CRAP news of the day for the Broncos is Hillman injured himself at practice today. Looks like he fell awkwardly on his shoulder but has not been deemed out for the game on Sunday so maybe they are just being cautious at this time. Still, the news is a bit uneasy to take at this point in the week.


Other injuries that are a bit concerning (this is why Thursday Night games are idiotic as players are more likely to get hurt than in a regular week) are Lamin Barrow, Quinton Carter, and Louis Vasquez did not practice today. Vasquez is sick so no actual injury just getting rested up for the game. Barrow with a concussion is still out and Carter has a Hamstring injury.


Others limited today were Bolden with Concussion and Steven Johnson with an ankle issue. All other players were full practice.


Hillman and Carter are the two that stick out to me right now. Didn't know Carter got injured in the last game and hopefully Hillman is ok as he has had a great run and would love to see what he can do against a pretty bad run defense in NE. Also looks like we could be hurting in two areas for this upcoming game...Linebacker depth with both Barrow and Johnson being hurt and then Special Teams. A lot of these guys are our special teams guys that have been making the plays.

 

[cdumler7]

Just to ease some minds on the Hillman situation he said after practice that his shoulder is fine and should not limit him in the game at all...so he is going to play in the game. Just might see a few less carries kind of thing. My biggest concern is if it weakens his grip on the football making it easier to cause him to fumble. We shall see.

 

[cdumler7]

Getting ready to get off work so getting my last few posts in before I leave but some cool stats heading into the game (at least they are cool because well the Broncos look pretty darn good in them)...


The Broncos rank 1st in the NFL with an average of 2.74 points per drive. The Patriots are 8th at 2.49


The Broncos defense leads the NFL in forcing three and outs (31% of all drives). The Patriots force a three and out 20% of all drives.


The Broncos rank 1st in the NFL in Red Zone TD percentage scoring a TD on 82.6% of all opportunities, the Pats are 18th scoring a TD on 54.8% of all opportunities.


Should show just how good this offense even though it struggled at the beginning of the year truly is.