FanPost

A Pats Fan's Take on What the Broncos Got to Do



While trying to avoid the obvious...

Get effective pressure on Tom Brady.

He has a better passer-rating against the blitz and his pocket awareness dampens the effectiveness of pressure off the edge. If he has 2.25 seconds to step forward he will step into the throw and find one of his weapons. Ask Tim Tebow about his best-friend in college, Aaron Hernandez. Watch the film of Gronkowski. Welker is a shifty WR that loves coming back. The best pressure to place on this kind of QB is the kind that doesn't let him step forward; from right up the middle. The Patriots used their 4th Center against the Redskins and Logan Mankins has not been playing well at all despite what ProBowl voting may telll you. Matt Light at LT and Brian Waters at RG have been playing lightout while Marcus Cannon and Nate Solder may split duty at RT. The LG-C section is the one the Broncos should look to exploit while maintaining as much coverage as possible on whomever the Patriots are sending out there as potential receivers.

.Jam jam jam Gronk at the line.

This goes into the 1st key. The Patriots love running a timing-based attack and the best way to counter it is by trying to throw off the timing of as many Patriots receivers as is legal. Get physical with them, not just to throw off their timing but also incase Hernandez and Gronkowski are running not a route but a run-block. Especially Gronkowski. He's perhaps the second most important cog of the offense after only Tom Brady.

Dimes can be worth more than nickels.

Besides Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez there is also a WR named Wes Welker. The Patriots will run a lot of 2WR/2TE/1RB sets so count on another receiver(Branch/Ochocinco/Underwood) and a RB(Kevin Faulk, BenJarvis GreenEllis, Danny Woodhead, Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen) to be weapons for Tom Brady to unleash. Those guys need to be covered, and in perhaps two-cases(Welker/Gronk) they deserve to be double-covered. This always runs the risk of the Patriots switching to the no-huddle to start running the ball when the Broncos have smaller personnel on the field, but no guts no glory versus Brady and Co.

Throw the ball.

The Broncos will want to try and control the time of possession. Always try running down as much of that clock as possible. But they can't win by running the ball alone. With the Patriots secondary in such shambles they should have every reason to try picking on it and keeping Wilfork and Co. honest up front. If the Broncos plan to pass they better plan on making sure Andre Carter(93, RDE) is doubled-up in pass-protection as he's the most consistent pass-rusher for the Patriots. Also look out for Mark Anderson(95) who like Carter saw time at OLB vs. the Redskins.

Score Touchdowns, and start as early as possible.

A touchdown is worth over twice as much as a fieldgoal. Prater is great and we know he can reliably hit a FG. We also know Tom Brady and Co. will score touchdowns. If it's 4 and 1 then depending on field position it isn't always such a bad idea to go for it. The Broncos need to be as aggressive as they've been in the 4th quarter and in OT but they need to be doing it throughout the game. The Patriots will want to start off the second-half so they can try to end the game. The Broncos need to hang in and not let themselves fall too far behind at any point of the game because the Patriots will look to bury any chance for 4th quarter magic.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR.