The Broncos went into Foxboro and defeated the Patriots 18-12 and improved to 2-3 on the season. The Broncos lead the game wire-to-wire and they dominated it for most of the day but it came down to the end, but the Broncos defense made another big play to save the day. The win might have been the biggest win of the Vic Fangio era so far and more importantly it gave Denver their second straight win and at 2-3 it does breathe some life into their season. Here are my thoughts and observations about the game...
1) The Broncos dominated this game for the first thee and a half quarters. They had an 18-3 lead and nearly blew it, but totally outplayed the Patriots in every facet of the game. They deserved to win. They were the better team. They outplayed and outcoached the Patriots and Bill Belichick.
2) The defense was excellent. They forced three turnovers, harassed Cam Newton, sacked him four times, and took away everything else the Patriots tried to do. The only thing that worked for the Pats offense was when Newton had to scramble and Julian Edelman was throwing passes out of trick plays.
3) This was not Bill Belichick's finest game. He declined a penalty in the 3rd quarter and it made it 4th and 4 but Denver was in NE territory and although it was a long FG attempt, Brandon McManus made it to extend the Denver lead. Belichick should have taken the penalty and backed up the Broncos for a long, long 3rd down. He also didn't challenge the spot when the Broncos stopped James White short of a first down on a key play in the 4th quarter. Belichick elected to punt when it was obvious that a challenge there would have resulted in a first down.
4) Drew Lock played better than his stats. He had three killer drops on him that would have resulted in touchdowns and another drop by DaeSean Hamilton that would have put the Broncos inside the NE five yard line up 18-3 in the 4th quarter. He made some big-time throws-especially to Tim Patrick deep, and I thought he played well up until the very end. Look, the last two INTs were awful and allowed the Pats to get back into the game, but still like what I see out of Drew. His offensive coordinator needs to do a better job of managing the game at the end and not even think about throwing at that point.
4) Philip Lindsay goes over 100 yards in first game back from injury. He is the sparkplug for this team. He is one of the best playmakers on the team and he was a main reason this offense was able to move the ball and keep the drives alive.
5) The Broncos have found a way to lose these types of games in the Fangio era. They pulled it out today against the Patriots no less. They were the better team all day and held on.
6) Brandon McManus has been sensational so far this season. He kicked 6 field goals today, and has been very consistent in a year where it is hard to find a solid kicker.
7) The Broncos scored on first 6 drives of the game- all field goals. You don't like the lack of TDss in the redzone but they still were able to move the ball, get points and extend the lead. The DaeSean Hamilton drop was the turning point of 4th quarter. That really would have put the game away.
8) A win is a win, and the Broncos and their fans should be happy. This was the biggest win under Fangio. It sends the Pats to 2-3 for the first time in the month of October since 2002. At 2-3, Broncos have some life with KC coming to Denver next week. They have at least added another week to make something out of this season.
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