Divine Denver runs out of luck, Pats pound the Broncos

Divine Denver runs out of luck, Pats pound the Broncos

On an NFL Sunday that saw a winless team win, and an undefeated team lose…you had to figure the exception – rather than the rule – might have an edge.

And with an unorthodox, Bible-toting, doesn’t-do-anything-well-but-win phenomenon named Tim Tebow at quarterback…you might figure the home team would also have an edge at beating the Patriots. In the end, however, New England bucked a big Bronco start and held on for a 41-23 win.

Denver began a powerful, 80-yard opening march that really showed nothing fancy, except for a strong running game. Willis McGahee plowed for 19 yards and Jeremiah Johnson muscled for 25 more on a 9-play drive, capped off by a 9-yard Tebow touchdown run (which included the QB breaking a tackle along the way) for an early 6-0 Denver lead. The extra point attempt failed on a fumbled snap, but a message was sent by the Broncos.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

We may have more than just Tim Tebow. How about the number one rushing offense in the NFL?

But the Patriots managed to counter quickly. On their opening drive, Tom Brady found Aaron Hernandez for 46 yards on a 3rd down play to keep the drive moving into Broncos territory at the 33-yard line. Two plays later, Chad Ochocinco finally cracked into the scoring column for the Patriots with a 33-yard reception from Brady – with the extra point good by Stephen Gostkowski – for a 7-6 lead.

That top rushing offense went right back to work after the ensuing kickoff, with McGahee gouging the Pats’ defense for 29 yards, then after a Tebow completion to Demaryius Thomas for 22 more to the New England 32, Lance Ball powered his way over the right side of his line untouched until he reached the two yard line. He managed to score, putting Denver back up 13-7, and putting the NE defense in a serious hole…giving up 162 yards in just 13 plays to a Bronco team that had struggled mightily early in most games. The 13 points allowed on two drives also matched the entire output for the Broncos in their overtime win over Chicago a week ago.

Ouch.

By the time the first quarter had ended, Denver’s offense managed six plays of more than 20 yards against the New England defense. They also bullied the Pats for 167 rushing yards in the quarter, and the pummeling continued as defensive end Andre Carter was taken off of the field on a cart with an apparent left knee injury at the end of the period. While the drive stalled in the Patriots’ red zone at the eight, Matt Prater kicked a 26 yard field goal with 13:51 to play in the second quarter to stretch the Denver lead to 16-7.

If this were a prize fight, the unmerciful Bronco pounding would have KO’d New England early. Physically, it was no match. But with Denver playing miserably in the second quarter of their games to date this season (outscored by 87 points in the period, worst in the NFL), the Patriots were far from out of it. It took 12 plays to cover 80 yards, with Brady finding Wes Welker over the middle from 19 yards out to set up a one yard TD toss to Hernandez two plays later. The score (Brady’s 35th TD pass of the season) made it 16-14 with 8:43 to play before halftime.

With the defense reeling from the consistent pounding being delivered by the Bronco offense, they picked up the break they needed by recovering a Lance Ball fumble at the Denver 19. With an apparent touchdown grab by Hernandez not challenged by Bill Belichick on a 3rd and goal play at the three, the Patriots instead settled for a 21 yard field goal from Gostkowski to give the Patriots a 17-16 lead. On the next possession, defensive end Mark Anderson knocked the football away from Tebow on an option play, giving the Pats another short field opportunity from the Denver 40. Brady hit Hernandez for a 25 yard gain on a 4th and inches play from the 31, and two plays later he took it in himself from the one for a 24-16 lead with 1:12 before the half. With just :03 seconds left following a Zoltan Mesko punt, Quan Cosby mishandled the kick with the Patriots recovering – allowing Gostkowski to boot a 34 yard field goal as time ran out for a 27-16 halftime advantage.

Twenty unanswered first half points by the New England offense, coupled with three fumble recoveries from the defense and special teams, limited the Broncos to only seven offensive plays in the quarter. The sudden surge completely changed the tone of the contest in a matter of minutes, and a dominating start turned into a deflating finish at the half for Denver.

While the NE offense couldn’t score with the opening possession of the 3rd quarter, they did run more than five minutes from the clock, and pinned Tebow and the Broncos at their 11. After a couple of first downs, Anderson sacked Tebow for a 10 yard loss as the NE secondary – gasp! – had the Denver receivers covered down field. It then took Brady and the offense eight plays to cover 85 yards, with Danny Woodhead covering the final ten yards for a 34-16 lead with :39 seconds to play in the 3rd quarter.

The score made it 27 unanswered points for the Patriots, before the Broncos could finally stop the bleeding.

Denver managed to put together a six play, 89-yard drive with a two yard TD run by Tebow to narrow the gap to 34-23, and 8:41 still to play. Would there be another 4th quarter comeback from the Mile High Messiah?

Beginning a drive from their 20, Brady found Rob Gronkowski open over the middle for one of the few times on the day for 38 yards, setting up a first down at the Denver 35. Four plays later, Hernandez took a Brady pass 22 yards to the one, with the coup-de-grace coming three plays after that. BenJarvus Green-Ellis’ one yard touchdown run capped a nine-play, 80 yard drive that took a precious 4:31 from the game clock, and finally gave the Broncos a deficit from which they – and even the miraculous Tim Tebow – could not overcome.

Post Game Notes

New England clinched the AFC East Division title outright (for the 3rd straight year, and 9th time in the last 11 seasons) with the win. They would have done so with a loss as well, as the New York Jets were beaten by Philadelphia 45-19…at 11-3, the Pats are also in prime position for the top seed, or a first-round bye, when the playoffs begin in three weeks…while the Patriots were outgained 250 total yards to 229 in the first half by Denver, three Bronco turnovers negated that advantage in a hurry. The NE defense allowed the Broncos 218 net yards in the first quarter, only 32 in the second. You’ve got to hold onto the ball, in order to move the ball…after Andre Carter left the game with a knee injury (ESPN reported a quad injury that would require season-ending surgery), Mark Anderson came up big with two sacks (9 total for the year), a forced fumble and a recovered fumble for the defense.  With one more sack in the final two weeks, Anderson could give the Pats' defense two players with double-digit sacks (Carter has 10) for the first time since 1985 (Andre Tippett, Garin Veris)...Tebow finished the game 11-22 passing for 194 yards, and he also rushed 12 times for 93 yards, with two scores. He was sacked by the Patriots four times…Brady ended the day 23-34 for 320 yards and two touchdowns, beating the Broncos for just the second time in eight attempts as an NFL quarterback…Denver rushed for a dominating 252 yards, but the Patriots outgained the Broncos 451-393, taking the sack totals into account…it was the first loss in Denver history where they rushed for at least 250 yards (now 18-1 all time)...rookie Stevan Ridley led the Patriots with 11 carries for 65 yards on the ground…with 41 receiving yards, Wes Welker now has a career high 1380 yards on the season, and also has 536 career catches, 2nd most in NE history (Troy Brown has 557)...the Patriots scored 30 (or more) points for the 11th time this season, and for a sixth straight game.  They are now 71-3 under Bill Belichick scoring 30 or more...Indianapolis won their first game of the season, beating Tennessee 27-13.  Green Bay lost their first game, 19-14 at Kansas City, giving interim head coach (and former Patriot assistant) Romeo Crennel the victory...

One-and-One:

Nitpick – Early on, it appeared the New England defense couldn’t stop running water, much less the Denver running game. However, the mental toughness shown thereafter was impressive, forcing the Broncos into three fumbles that turned the momentum – and the game – in their favor…

Superlative – One week after setting an NFL record for touchdowns by a tight end, Rob Gronkowski took a back seat to Aaron Hernandez. Hernandez shined with career high totals of nine receptions and 129 yards, with a touchdown…

Sneak Peek @ Next Week – vs. Miami:

The Patriots play on Christmas Eve against the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium in a 1:00 pm kickoff…New England beat Miami 38-24 in Miami in the season opener on September 12th, with Brady passing for 517 yards and four touchdowns in the win…Wes Welker caught a franchise-record 99-yard TD pass in the game, as the Pats racked up a franchise record 622 yards of total offense…the Dolphins won at Buffalo Sunday 30-23 to run their record to 5-9, just a couple of days after Tony Sparano was relieved of his head coaching duties. Reggie Bush rushed for a career-best 203 yards to give interim coach Todd Bowles his first win…Miami has won five of seven after starting the year with seven straight losses…