5 takeaways from the Patriots’ 30-24 loss to the Broncos
COMMENTARY
The next 48 hours should be very interesting in New England.
The Patriots lost their first game of the 2015 season, 30-24, to the Denver Broncos in overtime. There were many factors working against the Patriots in Denver on Sunday night: a hostile environment at Sports Authority Field, inclement weather, poor officiating and yet another potentially devastating injury.
Even after the defeat, the Patriots are still in the driver’s seat in the AFC. Even with all those factors working against the Patriots, the conference’s second-best team needed overtime to topple them. There aren’t many moral victories in football, but the Patriots can take pride in their place in the standings as well as the fortitude displayed in their first loss of the season.
Here’s some more of the takeaways.
1. The Patriots’ defense held its own: New England’s defense knew it would have to step up with the offense missing so many key pieces. While many would have preferred the Patriots have held the Brock Osweiler-led Broncos to fewer than 30 points, the defense did about as much as could have been asked, especially in the first three quarters.
The Patriots forced the Broncos to go three-and-out on their first two drives. After the Broncos built some momentum on their next drive, a big sack by linebacker Jonathan Freeny on a 3rd-and-2 play knocked them out of field-goal range. Pressure from defensive end Jabaal Sheard forced a Brock Osweiler throw to pop up in the air on the Broncos’ next possession, allowing teammate Chandler Jones to make an interception.
After forcing four punts and snagging that interception to start the game, the Patriots’ defense allowed the Broncos drive 77 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown before halftime. The defense continued to perform at a high level into the second half, holding the Broncos scoreless in the third quarter. With a muffed punt gifting them terrific field position on one drive, the Broncos put up 17 points in the fourth quarter before scoring the final touchdown in overtime. Of the Broncos’ four scoring drives after halftime, only two of them were longer than 55 yards.
2. Tom Brady is the engine: Regardless of the final score, Sunday’s game was another reminder that the Patriots’ offense can still perform at a high level without some of its most important pieces. Without Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman for the first time in 47 regular-season starts, Brady went to tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Scott Chandler, wide receiver Brandon LaFell and running back Brandon Bolden for the majority of his passing production.
The Patriots’ offense built a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter by capitalizing on good field position for two touchdowns, traveling a total of 62 yards in seven plays on the combined drives. With the offense then stalling out against the Broncos’ formiddable defense (it converted just two of their 13 third down tries), Brady turned to the deep ball. His attempts eventually paid off when a 63-yard touchdown pass to Bolden on a wheel route staked the Patriots to a 21-7 lead early in the fourth quarter. After the Broncos surged ahead later in the fourth, Brady led the Patriots on a scoring drive capped by a Stephen Gostkowski field goal that forced overtime.
3. Injuries continue to mount: The Patriots just can’t seem to escape a single game without a significant injury. Linebacker Dont’a Hightower exited the game against the Broncos in the second quarter with a knee injury. He later came back from the locker room with a wrap on his thigh. With Hightower out, Jonathan Freeny and Darius Fleming saw their playing time increase.
Then came the one injury that Patriots fans were hoping would never arrive: Gronkowski, knee. After the All-Pro tight end went down in the fourth quarter, the Patriots inserted Asante Cleveland into the game. There are other tight ends, but there’s no replacing Gronkowski.
4. Ryan Allen might be the Patriots’ secret weapon: The Patriots may be losing offensive firepower at an alarming rate, but the team still has one special piece of weaponry in its artillery: punter Ryan Allen.
With 36 punts as a team, the Patriots ranked 30th out of 32 teams headed into Week 12. Allen finished Sunday night with 10 punts for 450 yards. He had five punts that forced the Broncos to start drives inside their own 20-yard line. He had one that forced the Broncos to start inside their 10-yard line. Win or lose, Allen should get at least five game balls for the night. He played a huge part in helping the Patriots keep the lead as long as they kept it.
5. That officiating was … just … wow: There were phantom holding calls, phantom offensive pass interference, missed calls on late hits and missed calls on holding on Sunday night. And if it felt like just about every one of those dubious decisions worked going against the Patriots, that’s because just about all of the important ones did.
The Patriots can overcome injuries. They can overcome bad officiating. They can overcome a hostile road environment. But they could not overcome all three at the same time against the Broncos.
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