Tom Brady 10 - Peyton Manning 4
November 25th 2013 - Special K
I always find it quite amazing that most players and coaches can give
post-game interviews after loss like the Broncos had last night and don't react
like Dennis Green did. For those of you who want to see what I am referring to (click
here). Yes, I was extremely irate and very bitter that the Broncos spoiled a
perfect pick six for me this week. Even after being totally disgusted by last
night's football game, I still decided to torment myself some more and listen to
some of the post-game interviews.
I got to listen to Trent Dilfer talk about how great the Broncos offensive game
plan was. Listen Trent, it is NEVER a good game plan when your mediocre running
back out gains one of the greatest QB's of all time (224 yards on the ground for
Moreno vs 150 yards passing for Peyton). This would have been a great game plan
when Trent was QBing the Ravens back in the day, not for Manning and this loaded
Broncos offense.
I personally thought the Broncos game plan of run, run, pass was horrible. You
can't come out of the 2nd half with the wind behind your back and run the ball 5
times in a row. You have to take advantage of the weather conditions when you
have them. It looked like the Broncos were more concerned about trying to
protect their lead and milk the clock instead of going for the jugular. I
started having flashbacks during this game to when Jack Del Rio was head coach
for the Jaguars. The offensive play calling got so conservative and predictable.
The Patriots defense seemed content on allowing Moreno to beat them. When it
came done to the key 3rd down plays, the Patriots defense stepped up and made
the big stops.
During Del Rio's post-game interview, Jack spewed the typical BS responses "We
played a great team. We need to learn from our mistakes, blah blah". Wait a
second, did he really say, "learn from our mistakes"? Didn't the Broncos learn
from their Ravens loss last year in the playoffs? Remember when the Broncos had
a chance to run out the clock and ran the ball three times? Once again, the ball
was taken out of Manning's hands and given to the running backs at critical
moments (48 rushes vs 36 pass attempts). A Belichick coached team would have
buried their opponent with a 24-0 lead at the half. Wes Welker would have 14
receptions against his former team, not 4. If Bill Belichick were the Broncos
coach, we wouldn't even be talking about a comeback like this today. This game
solidifies and justifies my #1 rank for the Hoodie (click
here to see rankings).
This was the first time that the Patriots were an underdog at home since the
2005 season. This was a game that Manning and the Broncos were expected to win.
The Patriots came into this game with a majority of their defensive players
injured (Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo, Tommy Kelly, Steve Gregory all out) plus
Dennard, Talib, and Arrington were banged up. Instead, this game turned out to
be Tom Brady's greatest comeback as a QB and his legacy grows even more. Another
chapter has been written in the Manning vs Brady rivalry, one that Peyton
probably wants to forget as quickly as possible and so do I.
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