5 Broncos strengths the Patriots have to contend with
A week after defeating one rival in the Baltimore Ravens, the Patriots will head to Denver and square off against the team that has handed them their past two season-ending losses.
Here’s a look at five areas the Broncos excel in:
1. Making quarterbacks look bad
Fantasy football players are familiar with the feeling associated with seeing their quarterback matched up with Denver: disappointment followed by swiftly moving that player to the bench. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple for real-life NFL teams, who have to watch their quarterbacks struggle for four quarters whenever the Broncos come to town. QBs have completed 54.1 percent of their passes against the Broncos, more than four percentage point worse than the second-ranked Giants. Last week they held Marcus Mariota, who had thrown for 811 yards and 8 touchdowns in his previous three games, to an abysmal 6 of 20 passing, for just 88 yards. It’s unlikely Tom Brady will look his best Sunday, but knowing him there’s still a chance he’ll dominate.
2. Putting pressure on quarterbacks
The Broncos secondary is certainly dominant, but opposing QBs can’t spend too long looking for receivers or else Von Miller will arrive in the backfield. The team’s 38 sacks rank second in the NFL to the Panthers’ 39, but are made more impressive by the fact that quarterbacks have dropped back just 451 times against Denver compared to 497 for Carolina. Tom Brady has been sacked very rarely this year (his 3.41 sack percentage ranks third lowest in the NFL), but chances are the Patriots offensive line will have its hands full Sunday.
3. Neutralizing receiving backs
With the exception of their Week 5 loss to Atlanta, in which Tevin Coleman broke out for a few big receptions, the Broncos have allowed 33 catches for 246 yards to running backs this season. That’s an average of 2.8 receptions and 20.5 yards per game, essentially eliminating the threat of pass-catching backs. James White and Dion Lewis are important cogs in the Patriot offense, so their ability to get free for receptions could be key against the Broncos.
4. Forcing turnovers
The Broncos have forced 23 turnovers this season, good for a top-five mark in the league. What’s impressive is the different ways they do it: all four of their main defensive backs have at least two interceptions, and six different players have forced fumbles. The Patriots showed that they weren’t immune to turnover-forcing defenses last week against Baltimore, as Tom Brady threw just his second interception of the season (not to mention two special teams fumbles by New England), so Denver will be another tough test in that regard.
5. Stepping up in the second half
Describing a team as a “second-half team” is sort of a backhanded compliment, since ideally they would be an “all-four-quarters” team, but the Broncos do play significantly better in the second half of games. They have 16 second half TDs this season compared to 11 in the first half, and their quarterback play in particular makes a leap: Broncos QBs go from a 58.7 percent completion percentage to 63.6 percent, and a remarkable 11 of 18 passing TDs on the year have come in the fourth quarter alone. The best bet for the Patriots would be to grab an early lead, because the Broncos are a team that knows how to hang around late in games.
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