Patriots Super Bowl Hopes Dashed in Denver
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
Patriots Super Bowl Hopes Dashed in Denver
"I'm proud of our guys, fought to the very end just like they always do. In the end we just couldn't quite make enough plays, obviously," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick after the game.
The Finish
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDown 20-12, Tom Brady completed a pass in the end zone to Rob Gronkowski to bring the Patriots within two points, 20-18. However, the Patriots needed a two point conversion.
On the two point conversion, Brady's pass was deflected and then intercepted to end the game.
"We finally got something going there at the end and for it to come down to a two point conversion is a tough way to end the season," said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady after the game.
Prior to that,the Patriots had two drives that got them deep into Denver territory and the offense came up short both times.
Second to Last Possession
The next Patriots possession, New England went for it on 4th and 6 from the Broncos 14 yard line but a pass to Gronkowski was too high. Gronkowski was also covered by three Bronco players.
First Possession
The first drive was the New England's possession following the field goal when the Patriots go to the Denver 18 yard line.
New England went for it on 4th and 1 but a short pass to Julian Edelman came up well short.
Bad Start
The Patriots trailed 17-9 after the first half of football.
Peyton Manning found Owen Daniels for a 21 yard touchdown pass on Denver's first offensive possession to give the Broncos and early 7-0 lead.
The Patriots came back and got into the end zone on a Steven Jackson run, however, Gostkowski would miss the field goal and the Patriots would still trail 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Denver would score again in the first minutes of the second quarter, Manning to Daniels again, and take a 14-6 lead before New England would get a field goal to keep it a one score game at the half.
Tom Brady was 9 of 20 for 87 yards with two interceptions in the first half.
Denver Moving On
The Broncos now await the winner of the NFC Championship game between Carolina and Arizona. The Super Bowl is set to be played on Sunday, February 7 in Santa Clara, California.
5 Takeaways From The Patriots AFC Championship Loss to Denver
Patriots defense
Have to be happy with the Patriots defense, they held New England in the game, hoping the offense would get it going.
Jamie Collins had two sacks in the game to lead the defense and the defense was getting off the field on a consistent basis, especially in the second half.
The only thing the defense didn't do was get a takeaway that could have turned momentum early on, but other than that it is hard to be too critical of them.
Tom Brady
Tom Brady's struggles in Denver continue as he now falls to 2-7 all-time at Mile High.
Brady went 27 of 56 with 1 touchdown pass and two interceptions, the first was thrown right to Von Miller and the second was thrown into double coverage as he was getting hit.
Brady has also lost three straight AFC Championship games to Peyton Manning.
Gostkowski
Stephen Gostkowski missed his first extra point in 523 attempts, translating to 9 years of football, and it ended up playing a big part in the Patriots loss.
The missed extra point forced the Patriots to have to go for two at the end of the game, which they ultimately did not get.
Gostkowski did make two field goals in the game, but the missed extra point was costly.
Second Guesses
The Patriots had to play the AFC Championship game on the road because they lost 4 of their last 6 games of the regular season.
Of those four games, the home game against the Eagles hurts because New England was up 14-0 before attempting an onside kick. The onside kick did not single handedly cost the Patriots the game but it turned momentum all the way around. Eagles went on to win.
In this game, Belichick and the Patriots had two possessions in the red zone, prior to finally scoring, and failed to come up with points after going for it on 4th and 1 and 4th and 6 respectively.
Hindsight is 20/20 of course and knowing the result it's easy to say they should have kicked a field goal, but kicking a field goal at least on the first possession when there was still 6 minutes left may have been the play.
Offensive Line
The Patriots offensive line was not good in this game, letting Tom Brady get hit 23 times and sacked five times.
The times he did not get sacked or hit he was on the run or had to at least hurry the throw.
Marcus Cannon was matched up against Von Miller and and Miller had a monster game. There was at least one play where it looked like Miller was past Cannon before Cannon even moved.
The O-lines problems were compounded by Denver's coverage in the secondary, forcing Brady to hold the ball for more than 1-2 seconds.
