that was awesome to hear about the game and the old timer feel. I bet the intensity was just off the charts at Mile High. I just love those kind of games. I would love to had seen the cat and mouse games in action. Gotta love this team…

Which I personally like quite a bit :)

Thet had to call a time out as Hillis was coming in with just a few seconds left. Don’t know what that was all about.

That sequence was awesome. However, after the running in to the kicker penalty, New England got at least one first down. The same thing happened after the encroachment penalty. They would not have been able to get near midfield without a couple first downs since they started on their own 3 yard line.

Thanks for your thoughts from the stadium. I am looking forward to my first game there later this year!

 and I noticed #9 a lot. In fact, I commented on that in Bronco Bears post, which also answered bfrees question.

1. I really dug that.
   Going to the game= Priceless.

It seemed effective at first, then it seemed effectively countered after the timeout. When they went back to it in the 2nd half, there were a couple times when Orton came back under center and hit a wide open TE on the right side for good gains.

As John Bena noted (on MHR Radio after the game), however, this Wild Cat formation is easy to counter. The Patriots didn’t have to cover Kyle Orton as a WR. Moreno’s never going to throw it to him. Not due to his arm, but because it would give defenders free shots at our QB. We can’t have Kyle getting knocked into the stands for minimal gains and the defense knows it. I hear Royal used to be a QB, though.

I wonder what would happen with Kyle on the sideline, Moreno in the direct shotgun, an extra WR on the field, and Royal in motion to take the snap from center if he likes the coverage. That could be interesting.

Oh, great post btw. Thanks for the inside perspective. Rec’d

One question. Were the cheerleaders hot?

wow, great feedback……really enjoy hearing about the cat/mouse on subs….thx

9. I don’t know whether you could see it on television, but the cat and mouse game being played by both sides with respect to situational substitutions was very intriguing. The Denver D had a pod of players stationed about 10-15 yards inbounds from the sideline and would shuttle combinations of players (or fake it occasionally) in and out of the defense in response to various Patriot offensive personnel groupings. The head games were extraordinary today.

It cost the Pats a time-out when they couldn’t get their players on / off the field in time, and had too many guys on the field. VERY sneaky stuff!

I was going to mention that our special teams definately did not play very well yesterday. You mentioned the kickoffs, which I agree were pretty bad, but our punt return and KO return teams also made some bonehead plays, McKinley taking it out 5 yards deep in the endzone, Eddie Royal fair catching at the 7 with no one within fifteen yards of him. I agree the defense definately made some great adjustments at halftime, but having Matt Light go out of the game definately changed what NE wanted to do, you could see they had no want to have Brady pass much after Light left the game, and most of the passes were quick hitters or screens, when Brady did drop back is when Doom made the strip play.

One other thing that I don’t know if TV picked up or not, but Graham was open all day long, no one was covering him. Orton did have a very good game, but he also tended to lock onto a primary reciever a lot and not get off him much, but I think McDaniels had some good plays to get those guys open pretty quick. I also noticed they lined Schefler out wide a lot. I also was confused as to why Hillis wasn’t in there more. I don’t get how he gets in the doghouse for one fumble and Moreno has had two and definately needs to work on his ball security more.

that while grateful to pull off the game winning kick, he didn’t have a very good day. So, I’m thinking it wasn’t intentional.

The adjustments this staff makes at half-time and the way we play the second half is just greatto see. The last few years, we were good at going into the half with the lead, but the 3rd quarter was just dreadful, game after game. Now, we get stronger as the game goes on. Playing hard in the second half really helps keep the crowd in the game, too – and the noise has been wonderful.

Hillis is pretty deep in the doghouse.

Prater was having a "not good" game until the game winner. That showed me as much as anything. For the 1st time as a Bronco, he didn’t fall apart while having a rough game. Instead, he was nails when he had to be. That should really boost his confidence. But his kickoffs must improve. I’m starting to wonder if the cold weather is his problem. He was amazing last Sept as well before trailing off big time as the season wore on.

The Pats kicker was booming the ball out of the endzone so wind was not a factor.