I execpt the refs to properly protect the QB, which they didn't do yesterday at all. It's still football. Brady gets paid a bunch...and it's hazard pay.

How so?

THIS

It's the benefit of home field.. NE has the same when they play at home, which is where they played in 2008 when NE blasted Denver. But, both teams have had a face lift since that meeting.

Denver has started slow too... with a new coaching staff, new offense and new 3-4 defense with 52% roster turnover. Defensively, there are 5 new starters and on offense... new QB, two new RBs... lots of new players, some you are familiar with as well. Massive turnover has touched both teams, but I don't think NE experienced more...

I don't believe there are any injury concerns coming from yesterday's game for Denver, but the exact same applies for Denver. Nobody expected much from this team... there's a "Garbage" clip around here somewhere. 75% of Denver's secondary was churned for the better... new starters up front and at LB are proving to be fantastic additions so far.

Enh, too much is made of this in my opinion... yeah, McD has intimate knowledge of what NE does... maybe some things you can't pick up on film. But, it's not like Bill doesn't know how McD thinks... and McD is still a rookie HC, so I'm not going to suggest that McD has some jedi tricks ready to roll. Unless he's ready to unveil the league's next greatest phenomenon since the Wildcat. :p

BUF and NE games were in NE... tough place for any young QBs to play and taking TO out of the mix hasn't proved to be that incredibly difficult this year. And, based on the games I've seen... McD has done a fine job of taking Marshall out of the mix, but the good thing is... they have several other very capable weapons and what I do like is that after this last game, a happy and productive Marshall will require special attention from the NE defense. But, to suggest taking TO out means they will take Marshall out... that's a bit dreamy. Again, we'll see.

I don't know if they're "real" yet either... but, I do know they've played damn well ... everyone was touting the vaunted Cowboys' rushing attack and they didn't break 80 yards. The game is in Denver... the place will be electric and at the very least, Denver's defense has played consistently well and while they break on a few plays, they stand tall when it matters. So far...

I could see a 20-17 ending to this one... I just hope that Denver does enough to be on the 20 side of that equation.

I admit I'll be surprised if you can score 20 on the Patriots defense, and I'll be surprised if the Patriots can't score at least 21 against the Broncos.

I'll say 24-14 or somesuch, Patriots.

LMAO We'll soon find out... NE is 3-0 on the home turf and they lost the one road game they played vs the Jets. The Bills put up 24 points against NE, so I'll take my chances with Denver hitting the 20 point mark in Denver.

I dunno, I can see Denver scoring 14 offensively, but add a few FGs and another Matt Light "Ole!" block that results in a fumble... :shrug: It wouldn't shock me if the Broncos put up 24, 27 points.

The question, really, is going to be which Brady shows up (the off-target one of the first halves, or the more accurate Brady of the second halves). And which Patriots' O-line shows up. And whether or not the WRs catch all the passes or drop more of them. Depending on how all that goes, the Pats could hang 31 or 34 on Denver, or could only score 13.

Right now - things look pretty balanced on the production of both teams.

Ravens with #2 rated offense averaging 30'ish points and 430'ish yards of offense per game put up 21, only 14 of it by offense. I like Flacco more than Orton, and the Ravens' OLine more than Denvers. I also don't think any RAvens defender is nearly as good as Monsieur Suggs.

Finally, you're ignoring the fact that, unlike against the Ravens stellar defense, I expect the Pats to possess the ball for 35+ minutes against Denver, as they have against nearly every other team they have played this year. I think the Denver defense is performing over its head the first month here.

If Welker and Moss play, we'll be fine. Game 1 was pathetic, as the offense couldnt' find it's rhythm with Brady back, etc. Next two games we didn't have Wes Welker, who helps make everything go in a big way.

I'm expecting to see teh Pats offense improve steadily from here out, assuming no serious injuries.

OLine did fine last week against the Ravens, other than the Suggs disaster.

Yes. Both have one "lucky" win in their column from the first week of the year. I think the Patriots have played a higher caliber of opponent, however, though the Bengals are looking better this year than they have in the past, no doubt about it.

Any word on whether the teams are wearing their throwback uniforms? It would make some sense.

If it was later in the year, this game might get flexed to the night game, but I don't think they can do that until late Oct / early November.

Well, the funny thing about the NFL is you can't always use that logic...

Denver beat Cincy... Cincy beats Green Bay and the Steelers. So, Denver should beat those teams... Right?

I see where you're going, but surely you've seen enough football in your life that tells you just because the explosive Ravens failed to score more than 21 points as a team... that doesn't mean Denver can't hang 40 on the Patriots. Am I suggesting that happens? No, but it's every bit as likely as them struggling to just hit 14.

NE had the ball for 37 minutes vs the Bills...
NE had the ball for 39 minutes vs the Falcons ...
NE had the ball for just under 35 minutes vs the Ravens ...
NE had the ball for just under 30 minutes @ the Jets...

NE had nearly identical TOP vs the Bills and Ravens. What does it really mean?

The Jets played "lights out" defense and beat the Patriots ...

The Jets didn't put up flashy numbers, just focused on creating issues for Brady and limiting what they do rushing and with Moss. Sounds like the team in Denver.

Luck is what you make of it... Denver dominated that game for 59 minutes. Anyway, yes this is a "Legacy" game (I think that's the title). So get ready for some ugly UPS color unis in Denver.

On the other hand, Baltimore's numbers (like Denver's) might benefit from the opponents. The Ravens did play KC and Cleveland, and the schitzo Chargers.

If this were in Foxboro, it'd be a different story. But that thin air, and a few long drives... This might be the first game of the year the Pats don't have the time-of-possession edge in.

I'm not making excuses, because coaching is part of the game, just like D, O, and ST. But it was evident in that game that, for whatever reasons--lack of Welker, Brady being rusty, Belichick not taking the reins, I dunno--the Pats' coaching kind of sucked. The offense was vanilla, the gameplan had few adjustments, receivers weren't holding on to the ball, etc.,.

Don't get me wrong. The Jets deserved to win. But just because the Jets beat the Pats in game 2 doesn't mean the Broncos can do the same thing in game 5, even if they run the same plays.

All are very true... which is why I was saying just because the Ravens struggled to score more than 21 in total doesn't mean the Broncos will struggle to score 14, which is the picture he painted.

It's going to be a dog fight and a loss by Denver wouldn't shock me... I don't want anyone to confuse me for someone that thinks the Broncos have all of a sudden silenced the critics and are on the path to the playoffs.

Prior to week 1, I was pretty clear when I said that 3-1 was my expectation after 4 weeks. If they end this next stretch at 4-4... yes, it will be disappointing, but it won't be a shock to my system.

Denver still has a lot to prove... in part because of the Raiders and Browns being 2 of their wins.

I don't see this as an easy win for either team... and whether NE has Welker or not, they're formidable anywhere. I'm not taking anything for granted, but I don't think it's going to be easy for NE and it's more than just the location.