Steelers Coming to Denver - Jan 17

[SpringStein]

Since 2001, Pats at Denver:
2 losses
7 wins

Just to clarify, as my original post didn't, Denver is 7-2 in games played vs Pats in Denver since 2001.

 

[cdumler7]

Just to clarify, as my original post didn't, Denver is 7-2 in games played vs Pats in Denver since 2001.

Also part of this is that they are 0-2 in the playoffs against the Broncos. They lost in 2005 when Brady was 10-0 in the playoffs at that point and everybody thought impossible to beat. And then of course in 2013 where the Broncos controlled the game from the start. So no I don't look at next week and think "Man the Broncos stand no chance at all."

 

[Duffman]

So Kubiak has shown it? So they beat the #2, #3, and #5 seed in the AFC and the #3 and #5 seed in the NFC this year yet Kubiak hasn't shown he can coach in the big games? I guess I am having trouble following you on this.

Or how about the last time we played New England in the AFC Championship game who won that game? Where was it played? Tom Brady has done terrible in Denver. As shown above in the last 9 games he is 2-7 against the Broncos. He won in 2011 against Tim Tebow in Denver and the other win was in 2003 when the Broncos had to start their 3rd string QB because of injuries and it took a last second touchdown for them to win. So to me if anything New England has more to prove that they can win in Denver than that we can't win big games as we have close to half our victories this year against teams that are in the playoffs.

When we have lost this year it has been on the fact that we turn the ball over more than anything else. 3 of our 4 losses we lost the turnover battle by 2 or more. The other loss was when both our starting Safeties were out of the game and we got torched by the Steelers in the 2nd half. While I am not saying that the Broncos roll the Patriot or the Steelers as still have to win that one first I think the Broncos have just as good a chance as anybody to go out and win.

The majority of our wins against playoff caliber teams came early into the year, other than NE and Cincinnati all our wins against those seeds came before week 8. Wins against playoff level teams are great when there's very little pressure on Denver, we do well under those circumstances.

What I'm talking about is when the pressure's on or we really a chance to solidify something whether it's the AFC West or #1 seed this team comes out flat and more often than not loses to an inferior opponent. It happened first this year when NE lost to us and then Philly to give us the #1 seed and a good shot at maintaining it. And what did this team do? They choked against Oakland because the pressure was on and that's what this team does.

Then you have the Pittsburgh game, regardless of who was injured coming into the game we still had a 27-13 lead at Halftime and then proceeded to blow that by scoring 0 points in the 2nd half. We were still missing those 2 starting safeties when we scored 27 points and held them to 13 so you can not blame the loss on that. Once again the team was good in position to lock up the AFC West and proceeded to blow it almost costing us the division unless we won out.

As for the Bengals game, we didn't start playing until the 2nd half and when we did we almost blew another game with CJ fumbling at the end when we had the game locked up and then McManus proceeding to miss a game winning FG that correct me if I'm wrong but a FG that we wouldn't have even questioned whether or not he was gonna make earlier in the year. We did did still win in OT so I guess you have me there that came through in the clutch after trying to blow the most important game of the season just minutes before.

And that brings me to the final game against SD. A game in which we all knew was to determine the #1 seed with the Patriots losing earlier to Miami. And how do we respond in such a crucial game when we know this game not only determines the #1 seed but the division as well? We turn the ball over 5 times and have to rely on a 39 year old QB who was benched earlier in the year for poor play to give us a spark to comeback and win. A spark we shouldn't have even needed because of what was at stake. The Chargers were 4-11 and yet we needed a miracle comeback from Manning to save the day despite what we were playing for.

So excuse me if I have 0 faith in this team to win a game when it actually matters and to not come out and play like crap. I shouldn't have to worry as to whether or not the Denver team who is capable of beating anyone shows up or if it's the team that comes out slow and acts like they don't care whether they win or not because they're too busy reading about they are the #1 defense.

 

[cdumler7]

The majority of our wins against playoff caliber teams came early into the year, other than NE and Cincinnati all our wins against those seeds came before week 8. Wins against playoff level teams are great when there's very little pressure on Denver, we do well under those circumstances.

What I'm talking about is when the pressure's on or we really a chance to solidify something whether it's the AFC West or #1 seed this team comes out flat and more often than not loses to an inferior opponent. It happened first this year when NE lost to us and then Philly to give us the #1 seed and a good shot at maintaining it. And what did this team do? They choked against Oakland because the pressure was on and that's what this team does.

Then you have the Pittsburgh game, regardless of who was injured coming into the game we still had a 27-13 lead at Halftime and then proceeded to blow that by scoring 0 points in the 2nd half. We were still missing those 2 starting safeties when we scored 27 points and held them to 13 so you can not blame the loss on that. Once again the team was good in position to lock up the AFC West and proceeded to blow it almost costing us the division unless we won out.

As for the Bengals game, we didn't start playing until the 2nd half and when we did we almost blew another game with CJ fumbling at the end when we had the game locked up and then McManus proceeding to miss a game winning FG that correct me if I'm wrong but a FG that we wouldn't have even questioned whether or not he was gonna make earlier in the year. We did did still win in OT so I guess you have me there that came through in the clutch after trying to blow the most important game of the season just minutes before.

And that brings me to the final game against SD. A game in which we all knew was to determine the #1 seed with the Patriots losing earlier to Miami. And how do we respond in such a crucial game when we know this game not only determines the #1 seed but the division as well? We turn the ball over 5 times and have to rely on a 39 year old QB who was benched earlier in the year for poor play to give us a spark to comeback and win. A spark we shouldn't have even needed because of what was at stake. The Chargers were 4-11 and yet we needed a miracle comeback from Manning to save the day despite what we were playing for.

So excuse me if I have 0 faith in this team to win a game when it actually matters and to not come out and play like crap. I shouldn't have to worry as to whether or not the Denver team who is capable of beating anyone shows up or if it's the team that comes out slow and acts like they don't care whether they win or not because they're too busy reading about they are the #1 defense.

We could go back and forth on this all night. I can say that our late season struggles happened when our defense was about as banged up as can be. The Pittsburgh game what happened to our defense was we lost our 1 quality Safety in the 2nd half of that game in Bruton when he broke his leg. So all of a sudden we are starting 2 guys we had picked up off the street. I can point to the untimely turnovers and penalties on the offense in that game. I can point to the fact that our OL was having to rotate guys in because both Vasquez and Mathis were injured in that game but we only had Garcia to back up 2 guys.

The SD game honestly we have no excuse. We did dominate the game just the turnovers kept it close. You are right this team this year has played to the level of their competition. We have hardly blown out a single team this year. I will say though that when the big lights have been on this team has shown up. Green Bay was actually favored in our game as they were undefeated at that time coming off a bye week. We came out and dominated them. KC were favorites when we beat them earlier in the year. New England and Cincinnati were both favorites against us as well. Every game that we have been the underdog this year our team has come out and won. I worry more about the team that only has a few wins on the season more so than I do about the playoff caliber teams which to me is a huge switch from the Fox era where we dominated the weak teams but got blown out by the better teams. It is why I have some confidence going into these playoffs.

Now would it surprise me to see us go out there and blow this game against the Steelers...No. Nobody is giving the Steelers a chance and honestly that worries me a bit as they are a team that when nobody believes in them seems to show up. Throw in all the pressure is on the Broncos and Manning. This is Manning's last shot so I am hoping he doesn't try to do too much which I have seen him do in many playoff games where he thinks he has to go out and win the game. I guess we will find out soon enough though how this all goes. I like our chances but I also understand we are down to the final 6 teams now in the playoffs. They are all here for a reason and all have plenty of reason to believe they will be the last one standing.

 

[Duffman]

We could go back and forth on this all night. I can say that our late season struggles happened when our defense was about as banged up as can be. The Pittsburgh game what happened to our defense was we lost our 1 quality Safety in the 2nd half of that game in Bruton when he broke his leg. So all of a sudden we are starting 2 guys we had picked up off the street. I can point to the untimely turnovers and penalties on the offense in that game. I can point to the fact that our OL was having to rotate guys in because both Vasquez and Mathis were injured in that game but we only had Garcia to back up 2 guys.

The SD game honestly we have no excuse. We did dominate the game just the turnovers kept it close. You are right this team this year has played to the level of their competition. We have hardly blown out a single team this year. I will say though that when the big lights have been on this team has shown up. Green Bay was actually favored in our game as they were undefeated at that time coming off a bye week. We came out and dominated them. KC were favorites when we beat them earlier in the year. New England and Cincinnati were both favorites against us as well. Every game that we have been the underdog this year our team has come out and won. I worry more about the team that only has a few wins on the season more so than I do about the playoff caliber teams which to me is a huge switch from the Fox era where we dominated the weak teams but got blown out by the better teams. It is why I have some confidence going into these playoffs.

Now would it surprise me to see us go out there and blow this game against the Steelers...No. Nobody is giving the Steelers a chance and honestly that worries me a bit as they are a team that when nobody believes in them seems to show up. Throw in all the pressure is on the Broncos and Manning. This is Manning's last shot so I am hoping he doesn't try to do too much which I have seen him do in many playoff games where he thinks he has to go out and win the game. I guess we will find out soon enough though how this all goes. I like our chances but I also understand we are down to the final 6 teams now in the playoffs. They are all here for a reason and all have plenty of reason to believe they will be the last one standing.

We just don't match up well against NE we never have and that's the main reason I don't give us much of a chance to beat them assuming we even beat Pitt tomorrow. The Broncos have a real problem stopping TE's and the pats exploit that like no one else in the league.

And we can talk about the last time NE played Denver at Mile High in the AFC title game and how we played great against NE trust me I've told that to many a Pats fan but the main thing is they didn't have Gronk in that game. Now if he plays maybe we still win maybe not but no one can deny that Pats are extremely dangerous when he's in the game especially when we play them.

So now Gronk is be at full strength as well as Edelman and Amendola who didn't play in the first game. Combine that with the fact that we couldn't run the ball well until Hightower went out of the game due to injury and he's gonna play as well and that doesn't bode well for us. We have a hard enough time beating NE when they don't have all their offensive weapons, it's a lot worse when they do.

It's why I said unless they can show me something by looking great against Pittsburgh I don't think things go well against NE next week.

 

[cdumler7]

We just don't match up well against NE we never have and that's the main reason I don't give us much of a chance to beat them assuming we even beat Pitt tomorrow. The Broncos have a real problem stopping TE's and the pats exploit that like no one else in the league.

And we can talk about the last time NE played Denver at Mile High in the AFC title game and how we played great against NE trust me I've told that to many a Pats fan but the main thing is they didn't have Gronk in that game. Now if he plays maybe we still win maybe not but no one can deny that Pats are extremely dangerous when he's in the game especially when we play them.

So now Gronk is be at full strength as well as Edelman and Amendola who didn't play in the first game. Combine that with the fact that we couldn't run the ball well until Hightower went out of the game due to injury and he's gonna play as well and that doesn't bode well for us. We have a hard enough time beating NE when they don't have all their offensive weapons, it's a lot worse when they do.

It's why I said unless they can show me something by looking great against Pittsburgh I don't think things go well against NE next week.

Oh I get that and I definitely won't feel good about us winning that game if we make it to next week even if we blow Pitt out today. They are a very well coached disciplined team that knows how to win. They can win so many different ways it just seems unfair at times. The fact that they don't have a run game though gives me a bit of hope and while their defense is actually better than people give it credit for I have seen them struggle at times especially against teams that can remain balanced. To me the biggest thing will be turnovers. The Patriots because they are so disciplined and rarely turn the ball over require teams to go the length of the field and as we saw with the Chiefs they could move the football but when it came to touchdowns vs. Field Goals they had too many times they had to settle for the field goal. Have to capitalize on our chances. Right now the Broncos have to play 3 straight clean games on both sides of the ball if we are to stand a chance at winning the Super Bowl. So far we have had 1 game this year without a turnover. So I don't like our chances to do that but crazier things have happened.

 

[iknowftbll]

I swear, I have no idea why some people even follow this team. If it causes you this much stress, why bother? This is supposed to be fun.

 

[{+}Mother-Marge{+}]

Oh I get that and I definitely won't feel good about us winning that game if we make it to next week even if we blow Pitt out today. They are a very well coached disciplined team that knows how to win. They can win so many different ways it just seems unfair at times. The fact that they don't have a run game though gives me a bit of hope and while their defense is actually better than people give it credit for I have seen them struggle at times especially against teams that can remain balanced. To me the biggest thing will be turnovers. The Patriots because they are so disciplined and rarely turn the ball over require teams to go the length of the field and as we saw with the Chiefs they could move the football but when it came to touchdowns vs. Field Goals they had too many times they had to settle for the field goal. Have to capitalize on our chances. Right now the Broncos have to play 3 straight clean games on both sides of the ball if we are to stand a chance at winning the Super Bowl. So far we have had 1 game this year without a turnover. So I don't like our chances to do that but crazier things have happened.

.....*kneel-CD/Hoodie wants to ''knight-YU''.......

 

[{+}Mother-Marge{+}]

...*GO...STEELERS*..!!,...

 

[Mingo]

Beat the Steelers - then marginalize - Mother Marge.

 

[{+}Mother-Marge{+}]

Beat the Steelers - then marginalize - Mother Marge.

...good-luck, regardless,........just beat the crap out of each other so we = win/next sunday,......*thanx*.

 

[WalkerBoh]

We just don't match up well against NE we never have and that's the main reason I don't give us much of a chance to beat them assuming we even beat Pitt tomorrow. The Broncos have a real problem stopping TE's and the pats exploit that like no one else in the league.

And we can talk about the last time NE played Denver at Mile High in the AFC title game and how we played great against NE trust me I've told that to many a Pats fan but the main thing is they didn't have Gronk in that game. Now if he plays maybe we still win maybe not but no one can deny that Pats are extremely dangerous when he's in the game especially when we play them.

So now Gronk is be at full strength as well as Edelman and Amendola who didn't play in the first game. Combine that with the fact that we couldn't run the ball well until Hightower went out of the game due to injury and he's gonna play as well and that doesn't bode well for us. We have a hard enough time beating NE when they don't have all their offensive weapons, it's a lot worse when they do.

It's why I said unless they can show me something by looking great against Pittsburgh I don't think things go well against NE next week.

Yes. They're at "full strength". So what? They didn't really beat the Chiefs yesterday as the Chiefs choked the game away. Doesn't exactly say to me the Patriots are some juggernaut that Denver can't possibly beat. But your opinions won't change, and neither will mine. I guess you have the can say you have the best approach : believe the worst, and you'll never be disappointed.

 

[Mingo]

...good-luck, regardless,........just beat the crap out of each other so we = win/next sunday,......*thanx*.

Don't forget to bring the Oxygen - as the Pats chase after the fastest team in the league.

 

[{+}Mother-Marge{+}]

Don't forget to bring the Oxygen - as the Pats chase after the fastest team in the league.

......*trying it on/as I type*.....

 

[randymon]

First off I'm not even thinking past today but also I know what Duff man is talking about when it comes to Denver " shockingly" coming out flat and listless in big games. We've all seen it and it has to be lingering in your thoughts. Hopefully there is a different chemistry,urgency and mindset with this group. Don't be too hard on Duffman. It has been an issue with this team. I'm concerned about it and I hate that !

 

[Mingo]

This has been my argument about Kubiak - he has fostered physical and emotional reserves for this team - my prediction - whatever the outcome - this team will have plenty in the tank to play with energy.

What I point to - is late game success and OT success for this team - now I think - we will get Playoff success.

 

[CEH]

Vernon Davis is going to go off this playoff series. He's my X Factor.

 

[randymon]

This has been my argument about Kubiak - he has fostered physical and emotional reserves for this team - my prediction - whatever the outcome - this team will have plenty in the tank to play with energy.

What I point to - is late game success and OT success for this team - now I think - we will get Playoff success.

Oh Believe me Mingo, I am wanting that to be case. This is playoff time,not regular season and the performance/ intensity level vs Indy last year regardless, is still in back of minds. I do however believe this team has a different persona and won't let that happen. Go Broncos! Don't take any prisoners !!!

 

[SpringStein]

Kickoff in 10 minutes - how are you feeling about the game? I'm hoping we get off to a good start and not fall behind. My nerves have informed me they have had too much stress this season.