Broncos Season Ends in Blowout Loss to Patriots in Divisional Playoffs

All good things must come to end, and the Broncos 2011 season came to an end in dismal fashion on Saturday Night in the AFC Divisional Playoffs to the New England. It was a cold and windy night in Foxboro and the Pats were red hot, and the Broncos looked like they wanted no part of this matchup. The Patriots and Tom Brady proved that they are ready to make another Super Bowl run, and the Broncos proved that they are a long ways away from being a Super Bowl contender. The final score was 45-10, and it felt like it could have been 63-10. Before I could even get my fire started in my fireplace, the Patriots had scored to take a 7-0 lead on a Brady to Wes Welker touchdown. After a promising drive by the Broncos was ended by a strip sack on Tim Tebow, the Pats hit another touchdown pass from Brady to Rob Gronkowski to make it 14-0 early. After a rare Brady interception deep in New England territory by Quinton Carter, the Broncos punched in a touchdown run by Willis McGahee to make it 14-7. That glimmer of hope was quickly erased and the Patriots took a 21-7 lead on another Brady to Gronkowski hookup. Near the end of the first half is when the game was basically put away by the Patriots. The Broncos were down by 14 when they took over with 5:44 left in the first half. The Broncos couldn't give the ball back to the Patriots, and the Broncos couldn't just get a drive going and go into the half still down by 14. That didn't happen. The Broncos had to punt the ball back to the Patriots with 2:27 left in the half. It took two plays and Brady hit Deion Branch with a bomb for a 61 yard touchdown down the sideline to take a 28-7 lead with 1:57 left. The Broncos ran the ball on first down, but they decided to throw it on second and third down, and both throws were incomplete which forced the Broncos to punt back to the Patriots. With 1:09 left, it took the Patriots six plays to go 58 yards and Brady hit Gronkowski for another touchdown to make it 35-7 at the half. That was essentially the game, and that pretty much ended the Broncos season. A Brady to Aaron Hernandez touchdown in third quarter made it 42-7. A late Broncos field goal made it 42-10, but it was a bitter pill to swallow as the Broncos season came to a crashing halt. I spent the entire second half thinking and reflecting on the season, but the Patriots game proved that the Broncos aren't close to being in the elite class of the NFL. It was a fun season and a great ride, but it came to a crashing halt in Foxboro on Saturday Night.

Here are some of my other thoughts and observations about the game.......

1) Tebow had a rough night (9-26 136 yards and 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions), but there wasn't too many quarterbacks that were going to win this game in Foxboro. Tebow and the Broncos walked into a buzzsaw.

2) The Patriots defense looked fast, healthy, and very stout all night long. They shut down the option game, but that really wasn't that big of an issue in the game. They dominated the line of scrimmage, got five sacks, forced one turnover, and forced 14 negative plays against the Broncos. They might not be a good defense, but they buried the Broncos in this game.

3) The Broncos got smoked by elite quarterbacks all season long, and Brady absolutely picked them apart. He was on fire all night, but the Broncos defense couldn't matchup at all with the Pats offense. The Broncos had no pass rush, and just couldn't slow down or even remotely stop the Patriots no huddle scheme.

4) The Broncos and John Fox really made a mistake by trying to throw the ball near the end of the half. They gave New England another possession and the Patriots made them pay. At 35-7, it pretty much ended the game.

5) Why do the Broncos always have these awful blowout losses in the playoffs? Here are some of the Broncos blowouts in the playoffs in my lifetime:

-Super Bowl XXI: Giants-39 Broncos-20

-Super Bowl XXII: Redskins-42-Broncos-10

-Super Bowl XXIV: 49ers-55 Broncos-10

-1993 AFC Wild Card Game: Raiders-42 Broncos-24

-2000 AFC Wild Card Game: Ravens-21 Broncos-3

-2003 AFC Wild Card Game: Colts-41 Broncos-10

-2004 AFC Wild Card Game: Colts-49 Broncos-24

-2005 AFC Championship: Steelers-34 Broncos-17

-2011 AFC Divisional Playoff: Patriots-45 Broncos-10

Those are some bad beatdowns in the playoffs. Is there a reason why this happens to the Broncos in the postseason? I think a lot of it is because most of those teams were built with an offensive minded philosophy. The Broncos had some good defenses in some of those games, but they were never great defenses, and in big games against really good offenses they got exposed. This year's blowout can be contributed to the fact that the Broncos were an 8-8 headed to the number one seed's backyard and they just weren't on their level.

6) As far as Tebow's development and future is concerned, I will have a whole separate column on him in the near future. Put it this way: Tebow made some strides this season, and there is a chance he could be the guy in my mind in Denver for a long time.

6) The Broncos season ends in disappointment, but they exceeded my expectations, and they made a great run. To go from 4-12 to 8-8 is one thing, but to somehow get into the playoffs and beat the Steelers in the Wild Card round is pretty sweet. This Winter, Spring, and Summer, there will be many nights when there is nothing on television. As I wait patiently for the next season to begin, I will have a lot of games to watch from this 2011 season. The Miami game, the comeback win over the Raiders, beating the Chiefs in Arrowhead, Tebow's run against the Jets in Denver on a Thursday Night, the win at San Diego in overtime, the shootout win over the Vikings, the miraculous comeback win over the Bears, and of course Tim Tebow to Demaryius Thomas in overtime to shock the Steelers in the playoffs 29-23. I'll be able to watch one of those games and smile on a season that brought the Broncos back to respectability.