PatsPropaganda

This is the biggest key no one is talking about. Just who is going to have the “Best Day of [Their] Life” this day? Personally I think it will be Patriots fans but I’d bet Broncos fans think it will be about them. Guess we’ll just have to see what unfolds on the field with the football players who are playing the game. Weird.

I hesitate to talk about potential Super Bowl matchups because it seems kinda like bad luck but let’s just speculate for fun even though I think this weekend will be a grind even if the final score doesn’t make it appear that way. And honestly, if we win this weekend I’d be pretty relaxed about the Super Bowl because at this point, even another Super Bowl loss only moves the bar Belichick and Brady are setting even higher.

I think both the Panthers and Cardinals would have their advantages and disadvantages. On a personal note I’m rooting for the Cardinals because of connections to their front office that could result in possible tickets to the Super Bowl. I do think I would lean toward the Cardinals as being slightly more favorable, but I don’t think it’s a slam dunk because they have size and speed at all the skill positions and would stretch us thin. That means a game against the Cardinals would likely make Sheard/Ninkovich/Jones/etc and the pass rush the biggest key to victory.

But for the Panthers I don’t see their weapons outside of Newton stretch us thin and that would leave enough resources in the front seven to deal with him. From a matchup standpoint the Panthers would make me a lot more intrigued, especially to see how Belichick would not only deal with Newton, but on the other side of the ball we’d see what I think is the best defense in the NFL. Kuechly is my favorite non-Patriots defender to watch. Norman would be a great matchup for Edelman, and right on down the line with the rest of them.

Either way it would be a close game. After six Super Bowls agains varying degrees of opponents that all came down to the very, very end why would we expect anything else?

Let’s look back. They had 5 turnovers in the 2005 AFCDG in Brady/Belichick’s first playoff loss. In 2009 against McDaniels they had the ball starting at midfield late in the fourth quarter with the game tied and… fumbled it away, then lost in overtime on the first possession. The 2013 game was the most acceptable (if you can call an AFCCG loss acceptable) because of the lack of weaponry and then the loss of Talib.

Those are the first three to jump to mind, they lost there in the 2005 regular season as well. But the trend in those last three games is pretty apparent – turnovers and injuries will get you (almost) every time.

Yeah, I’m not really concerned about the offensive line play. I just think they’ll be protected by the offense’s quick strikes and can hold up in the instances where they need to protect a little longer. I think a large part of that is just establishing an early rhythm. The games where protection is an issue it’s usually an issue from the outset and only grows into a worse problem over the course of the game.

Stopping the run is my biggest key and the must must must do it for 60 minutes. The Denver air worries me as the game wears on, and our battered guys start to have their pain shots wear off. I don’t want to see our defense gassed and getting gashed at the end.

Otherwise I think it’s just about doing what the Patriots do and playing a clean game on offense. So many of the Broncos games this year were handed back to them with a timely turnover. The teams that didn’t do that were able to close them out. But I struggle to see the Patriots losing this game if they have one turnover tops.

Hopefully by having success running the ball. But really this is a pretty common thing that Rex Ryan basically started and it’s not like it totally confounds Brady and the Pats offense. They just need to extend the play and let guys like Edelman uncover. The Pats just have so much experience, there isn’t a wrinkle that can be thrown at them that they won’t decipher and know how to beat. Might take a series or two, but they’ll get it. And as Mangini said “they’re incredibly patient” and once they know what the defense is doing they can torch it.