The New England Patriots now know that they are "on to Denver" for Sunday's AFC Title game, after the Broncos beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 23-16 today.

Here are some initial thoughts heading into the game:

Road Time- The Denver win means that the Patriots will now have to take their act on the road and try to lock up the conference championship away from the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium. While playing on the road shouldn't be a huge factor with guys as playoff tested and prepared as the Pats, having to go to Denver is always problematic. The thin air up there and potential for inclement weather always seem to throw things off a bit.

The Boys Are Back- While playing in Denver isn't really what they wanted, the Pats should be feeling fine about the trip knowing that all of their key offensive weapons are back and playing well.

17 But Different- The game will mark the 17th time Tom Brady will square off against Peyton Manning, but if you're thinking of the game solely in that context, you're not thinking right. Brady is still on top of his game and a major factor in New England's success. Manning, on the other hand, is a shell of his former self and incapable of putting forth star-type outings anymore. To be honest, if the Steelers defensive secondary was better, the Broncos wouldn't even be here. They let a few opportunities for turnovers literally slip through their fingers. If you are willing to be more realistic, you could call this game Brady vs. the Denver defense and that's about it.

Struggling To Score- The Denver offense, whether it's being led by Manning or backup Brock Osweiler, is just not very good. I mean, they had trouble putting up points on a truly terrible Pittsburgh defense at home and will solid field position on multiple drives. The Patriots defense is leaps and bounds ahead of Pittsburgh. They will make Manning pay for some of his weak wobblers and will be able to handle the run better late in the game.

Different From Regular Season- Of course, the two teams played in a wacky game in the regular season, in which the Broncos came from behind and won in overtime. While that's all well and good, things should be different this time. For starters, like it was mentioned above, Brady has his full cavalry of offensive weapons for this game. During the regular season, New England had no Julian Edelman, a banged up Danny Amendola and no Gronkowski late. Also, the Patriots played poorly against the run in the second half, thanks to a knee injury that starting linebacker Dont'a Hightower suffered towards the end of the quarter which forced him out of the game. While he was nicked up a bit this week, he should be good to go for Sunday. His presence throughout the game should be a defensive game changer. Also, the Pats have their key punt returners back. The start of the breakdown in the regular season match was a muffed punt by rookie free agent Chris Harper.

Hands Full- The "vaunted" Denver defense will have their hands full trying to contain the multifaceted New England defense. Denver struggled to dominate a depleted Pittsburgh team that had neither its top running back nor its top receiver and had a quarterback playing with severe injuries and tears in his throwing arm. Actually, what killed Pittsburgh was some mental errors and a crucial fumble by their third string running back, who was fluxed into the starters role due to injuries. With the Patriots putting up 27 points on a solid Kansas City defense, in their first game as a complete unit in a while, you've got to expect good things from the New England offense.

 

 

 

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