Agree with this. In fact, I think if that gift interception is made in the first quarter, SD wins this game. I don't think Peyton looked great at all. He made a few significant mistakes.

Good point, that play is lost in the talk of the game, prob b/c it was early. Major lol at Denver fan in game thread who talked about all the breaks going against Denver. That dropped INT was a 7 point swing, and should have been a routine catch. Awful throw by Manning.

Not to mention Mathews playing hurt, then leaving.

I believe in this team, if they are able to play a game like SD did @ Den a few weeks ago, they absolutely can win this game.

Any word on an Edelman hand injury? The camera kept focusing on him appearing to be dealing with one. I feel like he could have a broke finger and we would never know about it because we are so tight lipped on injuries. Can WR's play well with a broken finger?

Also... I'm going to break out of character for a post just to say I agree this been a very successful season. We face a tough opponent on the road, and I think which ever of these two teams got HFA would have a small edge in this game.

That said, I still believe Brady is a better QB than PM under pressure/ in the playoffs, although I'll admit PM has better WR's and TE's than we do right now.

Nothing has come out about an injury, check back Wednesday for the practice injury report Id guess. Would be a sad lol if Edelman went down.

Another loss this close to the SB would be pretty devastating for me. The last 2-3 times we were this close I thought BB & TB had a great opportunity to cement themselves as the GOAT with a SB win. A lot of people would argue they've already done enough to be in the discussion as the GOAT, but I think the debate ends with another SB win, especially with the type of adversity they've had to face this year.

A loss this week would be tough, but at least it's against Manning and an offense who just broke most of our records from '07. I'm not sure I would be able to handle a win this week by the Pats and a loss in the SB..............


The window is closing on TB, making me want this one that much more! I'm going to have trouble waiting another 5 days until kickoff as well. Last week I wasn't able to start watching the game on my DVR until 1:30AM because I was working and had to avoid spoilers at all cost by turning my phone off, this week I made sure to have Sunday off!

Gayy

Too many injuries. Nice run.

Good season. Wish we were a little more competitive,mouth beSt team won

Yup. Only fitting to have Talib go down. Hopefully we don't get ravaged by injuries next year.

Rough day today, but they were clearly outclassed by Denver today. Bad play, bad coaching.

I wonder what they are going to do with Talib and Blount. Amazing that Talib basically followed the same script as last year's AFC Championship game.

I hated the game plan today. Instead of attacking Denver's weak pass defense, we tried to establish the run, the strength of their defense. By the time we abandoned that, they had a comfortable lead and all the momentum. Of course Talib going down, made it nearly impossible to get off the field.

The score doesn't nearly indicate the degree that Denver dominated us today. But I'm proud of the team and what they achieved with what they had.

We were still coinflipping if that INT after our first TD wasn't dropped.

Wasn't dropped I didn't think, throw was at the other side of the receiver. Weren't really flipping defense got one stop all day, wouldn't bet on two. Denver's OL killed the Pats front 7

Broncos were the better team today. Right away we lost our best defensive player for the game, and then we didn't get any stops, and then we got no pressure on Manning. Not going to win this game when that happens ever. I think we got outplayed, but I also think we ran bad.

So many 'what if's about this season. You would have to think Brady did an excellent job of leading this team and taking us this far. Another deep run. Great news is we have the 2nd youngest team in the league right now, and Brady has a few more years in him. This team is built to last. The future seems bright.

Brady is still plenty good to win a Super Bowl but no longer at that Manning/Rodgers/Brees level IMO. Pats should be in the mix again next year

Looking back I think this season was basically over when Hernandez got arrested. Assuming your goal is a superbowl win, that was basically the day it became a longshot. In lettting Welker walk i believe that the plan was for Hernandez to be the guy to play multiple positions and be a matchup nightmare, whether it be the slot, outside WR or even RB.

Pats clearly had a plan to build their offense on 2 TE sets. Hernandez arrest came at a time where it was near impossible to replace him. On top of that Gronk only managed to play 6 1/2 games this year.

To make matters worse I dont think Amendola was ever fully healthy after tearing his groin in week 1.

For me the worst part of the year was that to start the season it looked like we finally had a legit D. We were shutting down legit weapons and forcing punts/turnovers like I havent seen in a while and then injuries hit and it all fell apart.

What sucks is that i feel like they built a great team. If no team had any injuries/people arrested for murder I think pats are one of, if not the best teams in the league.

Probly hurts more because you see the BB and TB window closing.

Yeah that's the NFL, health matters a ton and some years you run bad. Less frustrating then the last three seasons where I thought the team missed real, real, good chances at a ring. This year they needed to run good in Denver and didn't. Not a sure bet they'll get as good of a chance as in 2010-2012 again, but very possible.

I do agree with that.

I may start praying now for a healthy Gronk for the AFCCG/Superbowl.

I'm hoping he's back as Gronk for 2015 realistically, but will join that prayer

I dont think we would have beaten Seattle anyways.

Meh.

That is some A+ posting. I appreciate that you take the time to read each one of them so carefully. Sheesh, my memory is so bad, I can't seem to recall even a single one of your posts!

Id like to watch the replay of that Welker/Talib hit again. Seems like a perfect opportunity to lay out an unsuspecting defender. That play was Welker's biggest contribution to the win.

If he's not in that class he's only a small notch below it. When Gronk and Vereen came back the offense looked really good. He didn't have much for weapons after Gronk went down and every one of the young receivers were in and out of the lineup with injuries so they never got enough reps to really click imo. Also the offensive line wasn't great at pass blocking most of the year.

I would say the biggest thing separating him from truly elite class is his deep ball: Its problem. Although to me it looked like Edelman had time to adjust to that one yesterday and must not have seen it in time.


This had to be a top 5% when it comes to injury run bad and I'm not just talking about the guys that ended up on IR. So many missed significant time and played injured as well.

I'm excited about the next couple of seasons. I think they're going to bink one.