H4TV: The AFC Championship Game Between New England Patriots & Denver Broncos Looks to Be an Instant Classic

by Hal Bent | Posted on Tuesday, January 14th, 2014

The AFC Championship Game is ready to go: the New England Patriots are set to travel to Colorado and face the Denver Broncos in the match-up of the top two teams in the AFC.  Once again it is an epic battle between two Hall of Fame quarterbacks in the postseason. Denver quarterback Peyton Manning faces future Hall of Fame coach Bill Belichick’s defense while New England quarterback Tom Brady faces the underrated defensive acumen of Denver head coach John Fox.  While New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and Denver defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio handle the nuts and bolts of their defenses, both head coaches will have their fingerprints on the defensive game plans.

For New England, the offense has leaned upon their running game the last few weeks to great success. In week 16 against Baltimore, week 17 against Buffalo, and on Saturday night against the Indianapolis Colts the Patriots offense channeled their inner Olivia Newton-John and “got physical.”  With playoff losses in four straight season directly attributable to the finesse offense getting bullied by Baltimore (twice), the Rex Ryan New York Jets, and the Giants in the Super Bowl, this New England Patriots team is different than the high-scoring offenses of years past. The Patriots had to adapt to significant injuries and rebrand themselves as a “ground and pound” offense.

Unlike most teams with this offensive philosophy, the Patriots have a quarterback who can take over the game at anytime and put up big numbers and get yards in bunches.  Against Denver on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game the Patriots will have to do more than just run the ball again and again into Denver’s strong run defense.

Last week against San Diego, the Denver run defense shut-down the Chargers plan to control the clock and keep the high-powered Broncos offense on the sideline. By halftime the Chargers had to give up their ball-control plan as their running game put up only 44 yards on 12 rushes. With the San Diego offense consistently facing second and third and long yardage due to the Denver run defense buckling down, the Broncos were able to put the Chargers in obvious passing downs and tee off on quarterback Philip Rivers.

For the Patriots on offense, they will need to mix up their play calls and be prepared to attack the Broncos secondary. While cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has been Denver’s best option in pass coverage, fellow cornerback Chris Harris has not been far behind. Unfortunately, Harris was lost during the AFC Divisional Playoff Game with a knee injury that will require surgery and end his season. Not coincidently, not long after Harris left the game the Chargers passing game came to life.

Without Harris, Denver was forced to lean upon veterans Champ Bailey and Quentin Jammer and, as expected, the long-in-tooth veterans struggled.  For New England quarterback Tom Brady, finding the match-ups with these two cornerbacks–particularly with shifty slot receivers Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman–and attacking them at every opportunity. Last week San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers completed all three passes on Bailey and three of five for some big plays against Jammer by receivers Eddie Royal and Keenan Allen...click here for more: http://www.h4-entertainment.com/2014/01/the-afc-championship-game-between-new-england-patriots-denver-broncos-looks-to-be-an-instant-classic/