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| ESPN.com |
Jim Nantz and Phil Simms on the call for CBS, with Tony Corrente refereeing.
FIRST QUARTER
Denver won the coin toss and deferred. The Patriots come out passing, Brady to Julian Edelman for 5. LaGarrette Blount is collared on 2nd down by, believe it or not, former Ram Paris Lenon for no gain. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie knocks away a slant for Austin Collie, and the last way I'd expected this game to start was a 3-and-out.
Out comes Peyton. Plenty of time on 1st down to hit Julius Thomas on a cross at the DEN19 for 5. Inside handoff to Knowshown Moreno for 3. OMAHA! Peyton bobbles the snap on 3rd-2 for about a 4-count, but Eric Decker's open at the 30 to move the chains. The crosses are getting better and better, this time Decker gets 21 across midfield. Quick out to Wes Welker for 6, but D'o'n't'a' Hightower blows up a Moreno sweep for a huge loss. Marshall? OMAHA! Decker gets open by a step deep down the near sideline but Peyton can't hit him. This really was not the postseason to ride the over, was it?
Patriots at their 20. A second former Ram sighting as MATTHEW MULLIGAN gets 6 on an out route. The Broncos are all over Blount again, though, with Terrance Knighton stuffing him for 1. Amendola time? No, Brady goes deep for..... Jackie Slater's kid Matthew?!?!? It's broken up by Tony Carter for Denver's 2nd straight 3-and-out. The NFL really does hate us over bettors, doesn't it?
Guess how Denver starts this drive, a crossing route to J.Thomas for 6 at the 24. Moreno makes a 1-handed catch on a well-set-up screen and follows Zach Beadles out to the 42. N.E. finally figures out how to stop a crossing route as Jamie Collins breaks up a pass for Montee Ball. A handoff to Ball gets nowhere, with Collins stopping him again. The Patriots bring a late blitz - dumb time for that, Belichick - Manny Ramirez picks it up and Manning hits Demaryius Thomas deep over the middle for 30. Decker's then open at the 10 on a deep dig; 1st-and-goal. Devin McCourty gets away with holding and who-knows-what-else defending J.Thomas on a fade route. Another dumb 2nd-and-10 run goes nowhere. Good but not great pressure by Chandler Jones convinces Peyton to throw the 3rd down pass to Aurora. Matt Prater gets Denver on the board. Broncos 3, Patriots 0
Patriots start at their 20 again while Simms appears to be taking some kind of perverse glee in pass interference not being called on the Patriots earlier. Speaking of glee, hooray for global warming - the Denver cheerleaders aren't in winter gear today. N.E. gets their first 1st down after DRC gambles and loses on an interception attempt in the flat, letting Shane Vereen get away for 24. Brady goes deep again next but misses Edelman on a deep corner. Stefan Ridley sweeps left to midfield. Brady gets lots of time on 3rd down while Edelman loses Carter on a comeback for 18. The drive stalls there after a 3rd-down OPI on Illini Mike Hoomanawanui. After a quick screen to Edelman, Belichick's actually going for it?!?! on 4th-and-16, or at least it looks like it as the quarter ends.
And of course two of the greatest QBs ever would combine to get us exactly 3 points in the 1st quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
As if the whole idea of people watching the Super Bowl for the commercials isn't insulting enough, especially the way the quality of the commercials has tumbled in recent years, now we get PREQUEL commercials to Super Bowl commercials? Eat it, InBev.
The Patriots do in fact go against Nantz' idiotic pre-commercial intimation and punt, pinning the Broncos at the 5, where they don't stay for long after Moreno pops for 13 off LG. Collins fills the lane the next play to stuff Moreno for 1. D.Thomas DROPS the pass on Denver's 100th crossing route of the game. Aqib Talib down after the play. DBs are dropping like flies; DRC went down at the end of the last series. A weird pass from Manning, a 14-yard out with about 3 seconds of hangtime, goes to Welker for a 1st down. ANOTHER 2nd-and-long handoff goes to... Virgil Green?!?!?, who breaks Jones' tackle and goes up the middle for 7. 3rd-1, HURRY HURRY! A swing pass is a mile over Decker's head, but Denver gets a belated holding call on Logan Ryan and another 1st down at their 47. OMAHA! Swing pass to Ball for 12 to the NE39. Get this audible on 3rd-and-10: Red Montana Batman OMAHA!, which equals a draw to Moreno. He gets a huge hole from Manny Ramirez, hurdles a diving Patriot and breaks another tackle to get 28. Ball rolls all the way down to the 2 off Louis Vazquez' block. Jones meets Moreno off LT to make it 3rd-and-inches outside the 1. Hightower keeps Ball out of the end zone but Montee gets the 1st down inside the 1. Classic play from there - Peyton rolls right, Jacob Tamme fakes a down block left and curls at the goal line for the TD. Broncos 10-0
If Brady's got an answer, now's probably a good time. Denver's drive was 15 plays, 93 yards, 7 minutes. Aaron Dobson open off play-action for 27 is a good start for New England. Vereen's wide open out of the backfield for 13 behind blocking by Dobson and Illini Mike. Blount still hasn't done much; Danny Trevathan stops him at the DEN35 for 2. Tough catch at the 20 by ILLINI MIKE after Brady double-pumps. Blount cuts back smack into Knighton for no gain. Shaun Phillips down after the play. 4:44 till halftime. DRC's back in the game, but Talib has checked out due to a rib injury. Trevathan blows up Edelman on a cross to make it 3rd-and-8 and the 18. Robert Ayers swims inside Nate Solder for the game's first sack, dropping Brady for a huge loss. Stephen Gostkowski still hits the 47-yarder. Broncos 10, Patriots 3
2:54 left, and as Trindon Holiday appears to lose track of this kick in the sun, maybe there won't be so many kicks out the back of the end zone in the 2nd half. Surprised the genius Belichick hasn't picked up on this already. Draw play from the 20? Really? Sealver Siliga (which I spelled right on the first try!) blows that up for a loss, and holding on Chris Clark on 2nd down moves the Broncos back to their 10 at the 2:00 warning. No problem for Peyton, though, he finds D.Thomas on a deep post for 26 and a similar crossing route for another 28. Hey kids! What does prevent defense prevent? Comeback to Andre Caldwell (?) for 11. OFFICIAL REASON TO ROOT AGAINST THE PATRIOTS FOR THE REST OF TIME: JON BON JOVI IN ROBERT KRAFT'S BOX. 0:52 left at the NE26. Two quick outs net a big 5 yards; 3rd down at 0:40. Great open-field stop by Logan Ryan on Moreno makes it 4th-and-1. That was yet another very wide throw not very far downfield. Denver surprises me a little and settles for a 35-yard chippie. Riverboat Ron was totally going for that! Broncos 13, Patriots 3
0:25 left for Brady, as John Fox may yet live to regret taking a timeout before the field goal. Brady way overthrows Collie on 1st down and misses an open Edelman deep on 2nd, so Belichick gives up with a 3rd down run. Tom Brady has been far from accurate with his deep ball today.
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| DenverBroncos.com |
HALFTIME
Yes, of course teams averaging 28 and 38 points apiece this season would combine for 13 at halftime against one another. Denver had 24 by themselves last time these two met. Of course, the Patriots have 3 points total in their last two first halves against Denver, so there's your problem.
I think New England should be a little scared at halftime. They're not running at all and Brady hasn't been effective enough downfield to exploit Denver's shaky secondary. Brady has had his chances in the first half, too. What if they invited two legends to a conference championship and only one showed up? I don't think Denver's going to stop keying on Blount, and... snicker... the Patriots now have to rely on... snort... the brilliant Josh McDaniels... collapsing in uncontrollable laughter... to make the halftime adjustments to get his team to the Super Bowl. HA! Gasp. Oh, the fun. If I know Josh, he's just going to send everybody deep downfield the whole 2nd half, whether or not they can get open or Brady can hit them, and let Denver just tee off on Tom for 30 minutes. Hey, it's what he did in St. Louis! At least do Tom a favor and use a lot of play-action. Also, paging Danny Amendola. Where you at?
For Denver, rush four, keep seven deep and don't let anybody behind you. On offense, keep running up the middle, where Ramirez and Beadles are dominating again, and keep pouring it on with those crossing patterns till the Patriots prove they can stop them. Take care of the ball and be ready for Belichick to turn up the blitzing dial.
Nothing about this game is over until Brady and Manning say it is, so we should be in for a cracking second half.
THIRD QUARTER
CBS shows Colin Kaepernick rockin' a... Freddy Krueger sweater? on his way into CenturyLink Soccer Park. I look to be behind about half an hour right now, sorry.
Gostkowski should kick this short and make Holliday find it in the sun. No, they're still blasting it out the back. Missed opportunity by the genius; the sun should be gone by the next time they kick off. After they get offsetting interference penalties on one another on one play, Decker beats Ryan for 18 on a corner route. OMAHA! Quick drag to D.Thomas for 15, and the Broncos are quickly at the NE40. Ball stutter-steps through Collins' tackle for 4. Quick screen to Decker for 9 off a draw fake. Manning takes a timeout with 3rd-3 at the 20. Bad play coming? Nope, quick dig to J.Thomas for 5. Moreno Omahas off RT for 7. Pancake block by Vasquez. Ball uses Beadles and Ramirez to Omadraw down to the 3. Easy TD to D.Thomas from there as he beats Alfonzo Dennard at the line with a wicked inside move. 80 yards, eight minutes, big Broncos lead. 20-3
Patriots need to do something RIGHT NOW. Dinks to Dobson, Vereen and Collie get them to the 36, then Ridley works for 5 off blocks by Solder and Logan Mankins. Amendola DROPS a first down on a quick drag. Broncos blitz on 3rd-5 but Brady hits Collie on the sideline across midfield. Dobson appears open deep after a fake draw and a fake end-around, but Brady throws it over everything. Not as open as I thought it looked. Predictable draw on 2nd-10, but Vereen muscles his way through the Denver D for 9. Brady sneaks across for a 1st at the DEN36. Ridley bounces outside right for 8. Knighton then makes a sweet play to shed Ryan Wendell and drop Ridley for no gain. Vereen goes over the middle on 3rd-2 but gets popped by Trevathan for his efforts, and an incompletion. Belichick going for it on 4th-and-2. No, he needs a timeout first. NO, Fox actually beat Belichick to the timeout. Those things are burning a hole in Fox's pocket. Only one left for Denver now. No matter, on 4th-and-2, Knighton whips Mankins right off the snap and slings Brady down for the sack and the ball. We have a POTG candidate. 5 and a half minutes, and nothing.
That may be the only time the Patriots get the ball in the 3rd quarter. Kyle Arrington blows up a screen to Ball, but a swing pass to J.Thomas gets 15 out to midfield. Peyton Omahas one down the far sideline to D.Thomas, who goes up over Dennard for 30. Ball cuts back for 8 down to the 11 as the 3rd quarter comes to an end, which is also rapidly happening to New England's season.
FOURTH QUARTER
Holding on Julius Thomas pushes Denver back to the 21. He then makes up for it by embarrassing Ryan in the flat with a deke and rumbling down to the 8. Corrente calls another hold on a run to open up Belichick conspiracy theories across America. But Welker's wide open at the 10 after squaring out and gets down to the 2. Hightower stops J.Thomas on 2nd-goal on a shovel pass. J.Thomas whiffs on an Omaha from Peyton that should have been a TD. That was only the 2nd pass of Peyton's last 21 to hit the ground. Prater extends Denver's lead. 23-3 I think that was a 6-minute drive.
Well, if anybody can pull off the miracle comeback now, it's Brady and the Patriots, but it's asking for a lot. They're going to have to figure out a way to score quickly. Brady hits Illini Mike for 18 as Carter gets hurt on the tackle, and that looked ugly. If that was ONLY his shoulder popping out, he'll be "lucky". Dig to Collie for 20. Edelman takes a quick drag and slaloms for another 17, and we have another Bronco down, Sylvester Williams. DRC and Mitch Unrein nearly get Brady on a blitz, and they're BOTH down after the play after forcing an incomplete. Brady shot puts to Vereen for 6, nearly got sacked again. Malik Jackson nearly gets there on 3rd down and forces a quick throw incomplete. 4th-and-the-season for New England. 1st down as Brady hits Vereen again on an out route down to the 7. After overthrowing him badly while open in the end zone on 1st down, Brady gets Edelman on a slant for a must-have TD. Broncos 23, Patriots 10 That took just 2:30, the quick score New England needed.
If the Broncos 3-and-out here, a lot of throats are going to tighten in the Rockies. And omigod, THIS CENTURY, make up your own damn movies. Robocop? Really? Sure, NOW Belichick pooch kicks, with the sun down and at Holliday's back anyway. Um, let's keep the clock running, huh, Andy Reid? Incomplete pass on 1st down. ANOTHER pass, but J.Thomas burns Collins down the near sideline for 37. Patriots need a turnover badly as I'm happily imagining Bill Simmons staring helplessly at his TV. Moreno gets injured on the second of two handoffs after Julius Thomas fell on him. Peyton can't hit Demaryius on a deep route, but Prater's 54-yard bomb is good, and more than likely enough to send the Broncos to New Jersey. Broncos 26, Patriots 10
Trevathan blows up a stupid screen that was a bad idea to begin with. Two passes to Edelman get them to the 38, but they took a long time just getting there. 5:50 left. Draw to Vereen for 9. 12 more to Edelman. Carter nearly jumps a dig to Illini Mike that would have been a pick 6. Vereen draws for another 10. Ball's at the DEN30 at 4:20 left. Quick drag to Collie down to the 12. What does prevent defense prevent again, kids? Under no rush whatsoever, Brady hits Edelman again, at the 5. Brady gets a wide open running lane, takes it and embarrasses the hell out of Unrein by running right through him for a 5-yard TD. The two-point conversion fails, though, because Shaun Phillips gets through and grabs Vereen by the foot. Phillips definitely saved the score there. Broncos 26, Patriots 16
Decker fields the onside kick attempt cleanly, and with 3:06 left, it's time for the Denver police to go on alert. Even though it looked like his arm fell off earlier, Carter is being treated for a concussion. Manning's THROWING on 2nd down, and Tamme's wide open in the flat for 23. 400 yards now for Peyton. I think we definitely have our POTG now. Moreno's out with a chest injury, so Ball burns off New England's last timeout at 2:41. It'll be 3rd-and-2 at the 2:00 warning, and Denver's in easy FG range again anyway.
The Patriots hold on 3rd-and-2, but Ball follows a massive block from UNREIN at fullback to clinch the game and send the Broncos to the Super Bowl.
Final score: Denver 26, New England 16
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| ESPN.com |
The NFC game has started by now, so I'll try to make this quick. 400 yards, 2 TDs and a legacy extended makes Peyton Manning an easy winner of the POTG. Nods to Terrance Knighton, Danny Trevathan and the interior line of Louis Vasquez, Manny Ramirez (not THAT one) and Zach Beadles.
A big fat stinking 0-3 for a RamView stupid enough to pick the Patriots outright. Don't gamble on sports, kids. A big thank you to the Broncos, though, for guaranteeing a Super Bowl Rams Nation will be able to bear watching.
It'll be interesting to see how the Patriots fare next season if they can get Gronk back healthy and don't have anybody convicted of murder in the offseason. I wonder if they'd think about making a splash for a field-stretching wide receiver, if they have the cap space. Could be worth taking one last shot while Brady's still around.
On to the Battle in Seattle!
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