The New England Patriots have been the most consistent team in the National Football League this decade. The team’s three Super Bowl Championships, four Super Bowl appearances, six division titles and NFL-best record of 103-31 can attest to that.
But if the Patriots are this century’s super team, then the Broncos are their kryptonite.
Since 2001, the year New England started its dominance by winning the team’s first Super Bowl, the Broncos have a 5-1 record against the Patriots. That mark includes the Broncos’ 27-13 win in an AFC Divisional Playoff Game during the 2005 season, making Denver the first team to beat New England in the playoffs since ’01.
Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick said the Broncos are a team that knows how to win.
“They are a good football team — that is number one,” he said. “It starts with Mike and the coaching, their program and their players. They have won a lot of games and championships, and they have beaten a lot of teams. They certainly have had a lot of success against us. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mike and the Broncos — they are always tough.”
Current Bronco and former Patriot Daniel Graham was a member of those New England squads that consistently fell short against Denver.
“Every time we played the Broncos they had our number when I was up there,” he said. “I recall just winning one time.”
“(Denver) is just one of those teams that has had the Patriots’ number,” he continued.
Belichick gave credit to Shanahan for his ability to conduct an offense by creating mismatches and utilizing his personnel to the best of their abilities. He listed that as one of the reasons the Broncos have been successful in their matchups against the Pats.
So what does Shanahan attribute as the secret to the Broncos success?
“I’ve got no idea,” he said. “I don’t think you really think about what you’ve done in the past. You just get ready for this game. You know what type of team they have had the last couple of years. It’s always a great challenge. Great coach, great players, great home record.”
It is safe to say that Coach Shanahan isn’t letting his squad linger on past achievements against New England.
Ebenezer Ekuban has been a part of several of the Broncos victories over the past couple years against the Patriots, and he too doesn’t quite know why the Broncos have been so dominant against them. But despite recent success, Ekuban said that the Broncos can’t dwell on the past but rather need to focus their attention on the present.
“I don’t know if it’s schematic-wise or what’s going on, but we take one game at a time and one year at a time,” he said. “We don’t look to the past — whether we’ve won four or five straight, it doesn’t matter. This is a new year and I’m sure they have added motivation because we’ve beaten them a couple games in the past. So we have to bring our best game going forward.”
-Jake Grilley, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Daniel Graham, Jake Grilley, Mike Shanahan, New England Patriots
WE WILL GET THEM ON MONDAY I FEEL IT
I agree, I don’t want the players to dwell on the past even if it is as good as our record against NE BUT I do want the players to continue that record. Thinking about it would only make them feel more pressure to make that WIN happen but instead they need to use it as motivation to be a better team and bring home another W.
I feel that this team is strong enough and talented enough to go up against the Pats and win. And I really was quite shocked to read that Belichick thought we were a good team. I don’t know why but he didn’t strike me as the kind of coach, especially being the coach of the Pats, that he would say something so highly of our team. For some reason it just really threw me for a loop, but I’m glad he said it. It should be a good game to watch because even with Brady gone for the season, they are a good team as well.
BUT come Monday Night, we’ll be the better team!!!!! I can fee it too. Can’t wait to watch it. I do, however, expect a stellar performance from our Orange & Blue. They’ve been weak the past 3 weeks even with a win in there but we have to a rock solid team in order to earn a win. There’s talking around that… we have to rock solid.
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!
There’s no doubt in my mind that the Broncos will defeat the Patriots going away Monday night. Even in the Pats’ success we have been their foil and without Tom Brady, we should take care of business. Keep up the good work, Broncos and pull out a win at Foxborough, Mass.
Denver owns the Patriots going back to 1983 when some guy named John played QB here. Since then the Broncos are 14-3 including playoffs vs. New England. Its not just the recent success but the long list of victories over this franchise. Elway was undefeated, and it wasnt until 1999 when the Broncos lost 24-23 at NE that the streak was snapped. I think this team will continue that success given the state of the Patriots, but make no mistake about it, here in New England the Broncos are the most feared opponent any time of the year because regardless who the Broncos have playing or who the Patriots have, they always come up with a W.
This game will rely heavily on the offense. If they take care of the ball and convert red zone visits into 7 and not 3 they’ll dominate like our first Monday Night Football appearance of the year. The defense is improving, and I believe they’re on their way to at the very worst being good enough to catapult this team to the top of the contender list.
I cant wait to continue my own undefeated streak at Gillette which is currently 4-0 and includes the 17-7 victory for the Broncos in week 3 of 2006. Here’s to Jay starting his own unbeaten streak against New England.
the key is protecting the ball. if we can get through the game without turning it over, we will win.
Well slap my backside and call me Sally, LOWRY IS GOING TO START! It’s not Barrett, but I’ll take anything at this point over McCree!
Lowry isn’t much of an improvement, we shouldn’t of let go of Hamza and foxworth.
Lets not get to excited over it is all I am concerned about, seems you tend to think you have someone’s number and you overlook something that tends to slap you pretty good!
Anyone remember the game where they didn’t trust the punter, and just snapped it over his head out of the enzone for the safety, did we end up winning that one or was that the 1 point loss? I just remember that and some deep passes to lelie when I respected him and thought he’d ammount to something.
Anyway, I would be more happy if it was McCree and Lowry. Manuel hasn’t been impressive to me at all.
I kinda mix back and forth about the foxworth trade, ya he played great but he deserved a better chance to start which he got, and I can see in Jack why we thought we could let him go. I just hate that all we got out of that trade was a lousy 6th rounder! He was worth way more than that. But the Hamza cut just flat out floored me!
That champ bailey play was amazing in 04′ I hope something similar happens on monday