The Denver Broncos have lived this season on the edge. Whether it was in Cleveland, in Kansas City, Oakland, Chicago or Indianapolis they’ve played down to the wire and more often than not, they came out on top. Trailing an undefeated New England Patriots team until the final minutes of the game, the Broncos fought back at every turn, in every phase of the game to pull out a 30-24 victory and proved once again that they can win in exciting and shockingly entertaining fashion, even against the best-of-the-best.
The game got off to an inauspicious start for the Broncos as the Patriots deferred to the home team. The Broncos followed that with a three play drive that lasted just 1:23. Britton Colquitt made himself known to the home crowd early as he punted the football just 25 yards and gave the Patriots the ball in Broncos territory.
Tom Brady and his offense made quick work of their first drive. In four pass plays, two to Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots went up 7-0. Gronkowski’s 23-yard touchdown was the ninth of the season for him and the ease with which he made two defenders miss on the play was a bad omen for Denver.
The Broncos second drive was much like the first. A short pass, a failed run and a sack later and Colquitt was out to punt again. His 42-yard punt was returned 10 yards by Chris Harper and gave the Patriots the ball on their 49-yard line.
The Patriots second drive went a lot smoother for the home team. The Broncos broke up two passes to tight end Scott Chandler. On third down, Malik Jackson made a great play on a quick screen to running back Brandon Bolden for a gain of only two yards and a forced punt.
Osweiler began the Broncos next drive with great success. After a nine-yard run by C.J. Anderson, a play-action pass to Emmanuel Sanders moved the Broncos into Patriots territory. A few plays later the Broncos faced a critical third-and-nine. From shotgun, Osweiler hit Bennie Fowler on a shallow cross but he only gained eight yards. After a measurement revealed less than a yard to go, head coach Gary Kubiak wet for it on fourth down. Osweiler and his 6’8” frame sneaked the ball over right guard Louis Vasquez for the first down.
The drive resembled last week’s success of equal pass and run but it ended as did a few drives in Chicago. Osweiler dropped back on third-and-three, got out of a tackle but was then sacked for a loss of 13 yards which took them out of field goal range.
Derek Wolfe threw a wrench into the Patriots’ ensuing drive, he beat left guard Josh Kline and grabbed Brady by the ankle for a sack. However, the Patriots quickly made up the ground and more, on a completion to Gronkowski for 17 yards and a first down on the next play. The Broncos did keep them in check after the quick touchdown, forcing them to punt on their second and third drives as the game entered the second quarter.
The Patriots were doing what they do best – taking advantage of mismatches. It was apparent early that with the shortage of receivers for the Patriots, Gronkowski and Chandler would be Brady’s main targets and the running backs would be used with screen passes often. After the quick looks to Gronkowski, Bolden became a target for Brady with slower linebackers trailing in coverage. Brady and the Patriots worked almost exclusively from shotgun on severals drives and used it to continue into the second quarter.
The Broncos then made the first big mistake of the football game. On the third play of their fourth drive, Osweiler threw the third down pass toward the middle of the field but his arm was hit and the ball was intercepted by Chandler Jones.
From the red zone, the Patriots were given an even shorter field on an offside penalty by Von Miller. The Broncos defense forced a third down, but a weak zone defense gave the Patriots a 14-0 lead on Chandler’s nine-yard catch in the corner of the end zone.
With 10:40 left in the second quarter the Broncos took over from their own 20-yard line. Three quick plays later and they were forced to punt for the fourth time in five drives.
Luckily the Broncos buckled down on the Patriots’ next drive. The Patriots continued to bring in extra lineman to block on the end of the line, presumably to neutralize the Broncos pass rush. On third down, Brady connected with Gronkowski but Darian Stewart, for the second time on the evening, made a big hit to stop their drive on their 32-yard line.
The Broncos continued their balanced approach on offense with 7:46 left in the half. Owen Daniels had his first catch of the day for 11 yards and a first down. Anderson followed it with two successful runs of seven and six yards respectively. From shotgun, Osweiler gained another first down on a dart throw to Sanders over the middle for 13 yards. The throw moved the Broncos into Patriots territory for only the second time of the contest.
Next, Daniels again made an appearance, this time on an eight-yard screen for another first down. With a patchwork offensive line, the Broncos finished the drive with a 19-yard run by Ronnie Hillman around the left side. The 10-play, 5:41 drive cut the Patriots lead to 14-7 with just 2:07 to go in the half.
The half ended with an uneventful drive by the Patriots and a deficit entirely caused by the one Broncos turnover. The home team out-gained the champions 148-123 yards in the half. The Broncos offensive approach was far more balanced as well. They carried the ball 18 times for 74 yards and completed 10 of 14 passes for 87 yards. The Patriots gained 106 of their yards on 13 of 18 Brady attempts. The lone reason the Patriots held the lead was one tipped pass.
The opening drive of the second half also showed a familiar ugly side to the Broncos defense. Following a sack by Vance Walker, Miller piled on Brady after the tackle. The unnecessary roughness penalty gave the Patriots a first down and on the very next play, Brady completed a 22-yard pass to Gronkowski over the middle. Fortunately for Miller and the Broncos, it didn’t cost them points, only field position. After two incomplete deep passes in-between a failed draw play, the Broncos received the ball back via Ryan Allen’s fourth punt of the game.
Ronnie Hillman began the Broncos seventh drive much like the sixth. A 15-yard Hillman run gave the Broncos their initial first down of the second half and set up a play-action pass to Demaryius Thomas ,but he could not hold on and dropped his second ball of the game. The following play, Anderson caught an arrow route to the outside and on second effort he gained the yardage for the first down and was face masked. The flag tacked on 15 yards and moved the Broncos to the Patriots 46. A three yard sack set up third-and-ten. On the critical play, as he has all season, Sanders went up for a ball over the middle and Osweiler delivered a strike between two Patriot defenders for a gain of 16 yards and a first down.
An Evan Mathis holding call and two incomplete passes to Thomas forced the Broncos to attempt a 48-yard field goal. Brandon McManus’ kick flew through the snowing sky and wide of the right upright for only his second missed field goal attempt of the season.
The defense, Derek Wolfe in particular, remained stout against the formidable offense of the Patriots. On New England’s ensuing drive following the missed field goal, Wolfe had a tackle for a loss and, with a little help from linebacker Shane Ray, he stuffed a third-and-two draw play by Bolden. Unfortunately for the Broncos, Allen’s punt was downed on the Denver one-yard line.
Both teams then combined for three more punts and only one first down. Thomas dropped his third straight catch on his fifth target to remain without a catch and the Patriots tried desperately to get the run game going with little to no success. Chandler continued to have success and but he Broncos continued to show its skill as Brady had extra blockers to protect him.
As the third quarter came to a close the weather increasingly became a factor for both teams. In the second half, both teams clearly wanted to get the running game going. The Broncos had the edge there with 92 rushing yards to the Patriots 38. They also had still out-gained the Patriots 208-163 total yards and held the ball for 26:20 to 18:40 but the one interception remained the difference.
The Patriots didn’t wait long to increase their lead in the final quarter. On the first play of period, on third-and-eight, Brady went back to a mismatch. He found Bolden streaking down the right sideline with Danny Trevathan two steps behind. The pass was perfect and Broncos safety Omar Bolden couldn’t knock him out of bounds. The catch went for 63 yards and the Patriots third touchdown of the day, increasing the score to 21-7.
After a poor showing of three consecutive passes, the Broncos were forced to punt and the stadium had gone nearly silent as Osweiler and the offense limped off the field. The Patriots then made their biggest mistake of the game. Chris Harper fumbled the punt as Cody Latimer closed in and hit him. Shaquil Barrett recovered the ball and the Broncos began their drive on the Patriots 36-yard line.
Osweiler had only completed two of his last seven passes, but on third down he found Sanders wide open on a shallow cross. He gained 17 yards on the play and the offense was not done. Anderson took the ball on the next play, made a defender miss and gained the edge going 15 yards into the end zone for the Broncos’ second score, cutting the score to 21-14 with 12:34 to play.
The Broncos had the momentum and the crowd was back in the game. After an illegal hands to the face by left tackle Sebastian Volmer, the Patriots couldn’t make anything happen on their possession. Brady completed one of three attempts to Chandler and on a lengthy third down, a hold on Tre’ Jackson negated a 51-yard completion to Martin. On the re-play of third down, Miller again pressured Brady and forced an incompletion.
For the second straight game the Broncos legitimately had a steady rushing threat and both Anderson and Hillman gashed the Patriots defense. The Broncos gained a quick first down on two runs, then Osweiler, with great protection, found Daniels for another first down on a gain of 11 yards on a pass to the sideline.
The threat to run, set up the pass and underneath routes continued to frustrate the Patriots defense. A 20-yard pass play to Anderson set up first and goal. The drive didn’t end as well as it began. Following a time out Thomas ran a quick out route of third-and-goal but Osweiler lead him too far and the pass fell incomplete. McManus capped the nine-play, 52 yard drive with a 21-yard field goal to bring the score to 21-17 with only 6:08 to play.
The Patriots needed just a field goal to seemingly put the game out of reach but only gained five yards on three plays and a third-down offensive pass interference call on Gronkowski set up a third-and-15 that Brady could not convert.
The Broncos also had a chance to take their time and gain their first lead of the game with 4:37 left but the Patriots made a three-play stand. Osweiler, under increasingly violent pressure, missed on three throws – on the third of which he took a big shot to the rips by a blitzing defensive back.
The Patriots took over after a Colquitt punt and on the second play of the drive found Gronkowski for his first catch since early in the third quarter. The gain of 14 yards gave them a crucial first down. Unfortunately for the Patriots, on the next play from scrimmage, Gronkowski was hit and left the game with an apparently painful injury to his right knee. Miller pressured Brady into another incomplete pass and then they stopped the Patriots on a third-down screen pass. Allen then placed a punt nicely on the Broncos 17-yard line.
Thomas, with 2:31 left in the game, finally made his presence felt. After a tough night of drops and great coverage by the Patriots, he leapt for an Osweiler throw on the first play of the drive and caught the 36-yard pass. It moved the Broncos into Patriots territory but down four, they needed a touchdown to complete the comeback and get the victory.
Two plays later Sanders one-upped his teammate. Osweiler placed a pass perfectly over the wide receiver’s right shoulder as he blazed down the sideline. He hauled in the pass for a 39-yard gain and set up a first-and-goal from the eight-yard line. Osweiler kept the ball for a gain of one on a quarterback keeper and then from shotgun he was sacked for a loss but a holding call on safety Patrick Chung negated the play and gave the Broncos first and goal from the three yard line. Then the Broncos completed the improbable comeback. From the shotgun Osweiler quickly looked right and threw a low pass to Andre Caldwell on the outside corner of the end zone for the touchdown and the 24-21 lead, their first of the day.
The Patriots, in true champion form answered quickly. In just over one minute left in the game Brady directed the offense down the field with completions 22 and 10 yards to Chandler and as the clock ticked he threw incomplete to Harper but Chris Harris Jr. was flagged for defensive holding. With 10 seconds left Brady completed his next pass to Brandon LaFell on the left sideline for 14 yards and inched into field goal range for kicker Stephen Gostkowski. The kick sailed through the uprights into the South stand net and the game went to overtime.
The Patriots won the crucial coin flip but couldn’t get away from the Broncos hungry pass rushers. After an incomplete pass, Von Miller worked his way around the tackle and brought Brady down for a seven yard loss. On the very next play, on third-and-17, Shane Ray forced Brady to throw the ball away as he was being pulled to the ground.
The Broncos finished the game how they started it. With a a team effort, Anderson ran for two yards, Daniels caught an Osweiler pass for eight and then the final play was called. Osweiler, following a timeout, took his place under center; in the blowing snow and cold he stepped back and checked out of the play. Osweiler hiked the ball, pitched it left to Anderson and the bruising back broke through the left side line of scrimmage, got to the edge and sprinted past his teammates on the sideline for 48 yards and the come-from-behind 30-24 victory.
Osweiler completed 23 of 42 passes, the same as Brady, for 270 yards to Brady’s 280. The Broncos out-rushed the Patriots 179 yards to only 39. Defensively, the Broncos held the Patriots to 2 of 13 on third down conversions and sacked Brady three times. The Patriots forced their one crucial interception and while they hit Osweiler often, he was sacked just three times.
The Broncos, for the eighth time in nine wins, won by a margin of just one score; it was the third win on primetime. For the second straight week, they did it with balance. The Broncos passed the ball 42 times and ran it 32. They had defensive stops, a special teams turnover and won the game on the arm of Osweiler and the legs of Anderson. It takes a complete team to beat the previously undefeated Patriots and they played a complete game despite being behind on the score board until there was just 1:15 left. At every moment when they could have crumbled they decided not to and rose to the challenge. Heading into the home stretch the “a win is a win” cliche certainly fits but Sunday night the Broncos experienced something much sweeter, they beat the champs.
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