The Broncos have made a living recently late in games. During their six-game winning streak, Denver was trailing in the fourth quarter in four of those games.
“We’ve been involved in some comebacks that were in the fourth quarter,” Head Coach John Fox said. “It wasn’t like we designed it that way. A lot of these games are won and lost in the fourth quarter.”
Many players and coaches will point out that it’s more about how you finish games than start them, and rightfully so. However, with the New England Patriots — who have scored at least 31 points in each of their last five games — coming to town this week, the Broncos know they might have to strike early and often.
“We came in today and our offensive coordinator (Mike McCoy) was saying we need to help our defense out more by scoring,” receiver Demaryius Thomas said. “Last week we had a couple chances to score, but we just missed some plays. I feel like as an offense we need to come out and play four whole quarters instead of just the fourth quarter.”
Indeed, the Broncos offense has scored 50 points in the fourth quarter or overtime during the six-game win streak, almost double of what they have put on the board in the first halves of those games (27 points total).
“I always say we can’t start slow in whatever game we’re playing,” running back Willis McGahee said. “For some strange reason we come out slow and sluggish and then come the second half we tend to pick it up. Hopefully that can change this week. It’s something the coaches have been stressing — we need to start fast. I’d love to get out early on a team but it doesn’t work like that. I just roll with the punches.”
GETTING TO BRADY
The Broncos go up this week against one of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL in New England’s Tom Brady.
Brady has won three Super Bowls in the last decade and continues to put up numbers among the league leaders. He’s currently second in the NFL in passing yards, touchdowns and passer rating.
The Broncos know they have a tough task in trying to limit the veteran quarterback, but they’re up for the challenge.
“Oh, it’s a big challenge,” linebacker Joe Mays said. “The guy, he knows what defenses that have been run against him. He knows every single look out there. It’s going to be important for us to give him different looks, different disguises. Just try to do our best out there to get him jumbled a little bit so we can get some quarterback pressure on him.”
Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen will no doubt try to dial up pressure on Brady as he has done with other quarterbacks. The Broncos are fourth in the NFL with 37 sacks on the season and hope to pressure Brady into some errant throws.
“I’m going to have a fanatical pursuit to the ball, relentless effort,” said linebacker Von Miller, who leads the team with 11.5 sacks. “I’m going to try whatever it takes to get there. He’s a great quarterback. Hats off to the whole Patriots organization and they’re a great team. I’m just looking forward to going against them.”
INJURY REPORT
Here is Wednesday’s injury report.
For the Broncos:
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: Safety David Bruton (Achilles), safety Brian Dawkins (neck), cornerback Andre’ Goodman (concussion).
LIMITED: Wide receiver Eddie Royal (concussion).
FULL: Fullback Spencer Larsen (hamstring), linebacker Von Miller (thumb).
For the Patriots:
DID NOT PARTICIPATE: Safety Patrick Chung (foot), offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer (back/foot).
LIMITED: Cornerback Kyle Arrington (foot), quarterback Tom Brady (not injury related), wide receiver Deion Branch (groin), center Dan Connolly (groin), wide receiver Julian Edelman (back), linebacker Dane Fletcher (thumb), safety James Ihedigbo (shoulder), cornerback Devin McCourty (shoulder), wide receiver Matthew Slater (shoulder), linebacker Brandon Spikes (knee), running back Shane Vereen (hamstring), wide receiver Wes Welker (knee), center Ryan Wendell (calf), defensive lineman Vince Wilfork (not injury related), running back Danny Woodhead (abdomen).
Below are some photos from Wednesday’s practice.
-Kenny Legan
Tags: Injury report, New England Patriots, Notebook, Week 15
Blog is on fire today! Hopefully the server can keep up…
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!
Decker can catch again…So happy
good broncos
That NFL replay thing just started
Both Brady and Wilfork limited in practice but not injury related???? So that basically means those two guys are good enough to take part of the practice off? That’s the only thing that makes any sense, unless they both came up with a bad case of the runs, mid practice, LMAO!
Anyhow, real glad to see McGahee isn’t listed on the injury report anywhere, we need him 100% for this game real bad!
Replay thing is pretty good so far.
Brady did not practice?maybe Bill sent him to spy on the team today for himself today!!!!
Yeah, we need McG to have a really big game if we are going to keep TB on the bench, and keep our D fresh for 60 minutes+
Here the stats I think we need for a win.
At least 10 QB hits (sacks are nice, but hitting brady will get him rattled fast).
At least 150 yards out of mcgahee.
win the turn-over ration.
I think that if we can do those three things, we win this game.
ratio*
DJ VONDOOM creating havoc in Brady’s world.
McGahee running the TOP in our favor.
We win!
And if Brady gets his way and our running game does not.
We lose.
It’s pretty much that simple.
Yeah, re watching this game shows the rookie safety’s arm tackling instead of wrapping up. This week we will need fundamental tackling, especially on Gronk.
Gronk sounds like Newt for President, LOL. We’re in deep trouble, LMAO!
The Bears D was FAST especially to the outside, with McGahee back (hopefully) and Tebow’s option we may have a good chance at controling the clock.
Does the team typically practice on Saturdays? If not, will they this week since they had Tuesday off?
There was a particular play — where Tebow broke to the sideline on a 2nd and 1 and, even though TT managed to get outside of Peppers, Peppers was still able to chase him down and make the play for no gain (would have gotten the strip if the play didn’t go out of bounds) — where there was some conversation between Peppers and and Tebow — where I really wanted to know what was said.
Turns out it is what I expected:
Julius peppers, “You got me last time.”
Tebow, “Hey, nice play.”
Watching the Chi defense, I did not think, ‘oh no, this is the blueprint to beat the broncos.”
I thought, “OMG this bears defense is incredible fast, disciplined, talented and physical.” I HOPE other teams try to emulate that plan. They don’t have a HoFer at DE that is fast enough to stop Vick, fast/strong enough to stop Tebow. etc
Chi has Peppers and okoye, on the line, Urlacher and Briggs as backers, and Tillman in the backfield. Not to mention quality depth everywhere else.
That is not a scheme thing. The bears didn’t change their scheme for us. That is just an incredibly good defense. And mind you, especially if you take the drops out – whatever your opinion is, DMT clearly thought that he DROPPED that td – our O got the better of that amazing D.
Their was something very informative in that mic’d up show. Just before the first TD drive, Tebow was apparently sitting next to McCoy on the bench, clapping his hands and bouncing up and down like a child, saying, “we can’t just wait for our opportunities, we have to go for it NOW!!!!”
I meant, “like a child” in a good way. Think about it.
Man that Bears D was fast and physical. swarming … it was amazing … so disciplined too.
Just watched replay and the sounds were awesome … Chris Harris saying we have been here before, The excitement on champs face when we tied, Rahim Moore telling Tebow after the fumble that this is his quarter, Tebow comforting Bay Bay and telling him he will catch the game winner and be a hero … man it was fun to watch. And then the soundfx right after … with Tebow praying, singing songs, pepping people up, chatting it up with bears defenders … was pretty cool.
Lets put these patriots away.
TRB
yea i remember that point too alex
I couldn’t stop laughing when Tebow was singing haha. After the fumble as he was singing “Comes from Heaven above” made me laugh so hard lol. Dude is so grounded and positive. Love the passion he has too.
At this point I think Tebow has the passion and the general football intuition to be the next peyton manning type. Someone that has a lot of say in calling their own plays and being able to audible effectively.
I would love to see them start this game against the Pats in the no-huddle and see what happens.
Think about it. If not for the drops and the blocks, our O put themselves in position to score 20+ points against the 9th ranked scoring D.
Just gotta tighten up the execution a little, especially when it comes to catching.
I’d like to tout my season prediction a little. 10-6 looks pretty darn good right now.
Some naysayers will point to how surprising this season has been and say I must have just been lucky. But I made my prediction based on three things: Our run game would be good, our Von DOOM led defense would be good, and Tebow would be a gamer and a winner. (check the blogs if doubt me).
All three of those things have panned out. The only reason it was ever in doubt was because Orton started (he played far worse than I would have expected and got to start far more losing games than I would have expected), and Doom was out several games early in the season.
Here is my prediction going forward.
As someone mentioned in the blogs earlier, this Pats game is not a must win game.
It is kind of a statement game in that it is a preview of just how we match up against an afc elite. But I never considered the Pats to be a favorite for the SB this year. They have the offense, but the team as a whole is not championship material.
Having said that, there is a good chance we lose this game. But Buf and KC should be wins in our pocket if we show up to play. And even if the raiders or the Chargers tie our record, I think we currently hold the tie breakers.
I haven said this in years past and ended up heart broken, but I am pretty sure we make the playoffs and play either the Steelers or the Ravens,
Both those teams have had our number over the past decade, and both of those teams are very bad match ups for us.
If we can make it to the playoffs, and IF we can escape the divisional round, I expect us to reach the SB this year.
How amazing would that be.
I’m just hopin’ Mr. Brady gets introduced to Dr. DJ VonDoom QB.D.(Quarterback Destroyer) ALOT this Sunday.
Of course the good Doctor DJ VonDoom Qb.D. will have to have to have all his operating staff on hand and working well.So come Bunkley,Mays,Hunter,Dawk,Champ,Carter,Harris and company step it UP!!!!
LOL @ Dr. DJ VonDoom, QB.D
Read this on the NFL message boards – got a pretty good kick out of it, haha:
“Tom Brady, after living a full life, died. When he got to heaven, God was showing him around. They came to a modest little house with a faded Patriots flag in the window. “This house is yours for eternity Tom, said God. “This is very special; not everyone gets a house up here.” Tom felt special, indeed, and walked up to his house. On his way up the porch, he noticed another house just around the corner. It was a huge 3-story mansion with Orange and Blue sidewalks and drive ways, a 50 foot tall flagpole with an enormous Broncos logo flag waving, a swimming pool in shape of a horse, a Broncos logo in every window, and a Tim Tebow jersey on the front door. Tom looked at God and said “God, I’m not trying to be ungrateful, but I have a question. I was an all-pro QB, I won 3 Super Bowls, and I even went to the Hall of Fame.” God said “So what’s your point Tom?” “Well, why does Tim Tebow get a better house than me?” God chuckled, and said “Tom, that’s not Tim’s house, it’s mine.”
i loved seeing jeramiah johnson sitting next to tebow when barber fumbled he stands up and starts freakin out i about choked on my dinner laughing at that one.
tebow singing our god is an awsome god was pretty funny to.
im watching tebows “everything in between” on espn 2 right now and wow i just heard todd mcshay say tebow shouldnt go till the third round of the draft. what a doink i bet he feels like an idiot with all the success tebow is having right now
If you haven’t watched Willis McGahee on NFL total access, you’ll find this fun. MgGahee is funny and you can see the confidence that inspired his teammates to vote for him as a captain.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-total-access/09000d5d8250d55c/Open-Locker-Room-QB-surprises
“Watched” the game again … sure is fun when you know the outcome … it’s fun also to watch and listen to what goes on on the sidelines … these guys are really giant kids at heart …
One thing bothered me, though … I thought during the game, and I’m sure of it now – when Tebow let go of the TD pass to Thomas, he was over the line of scrimmage … it was the 11 yard line, and when he let the pass go, he was on the 10 1/2 … surely it was close enough to wonder about it, but the announcers didn’t say anything, and nobody has questioned it, to my knowledge … anybody have any comment on that?? …
Yeah. When I watched it live I was a little concerned. replays show is wasn’t even close. Even if the QB’s trailing foot is behind the scrimmage line, the throw is ok. Tebow’s entire body was behind the line.
Definitely behind the line when he made the throw.
His foot was behind the line of scrimmage once any part of the body is behind the line it is ok
Here is how good a leader Tebow is. Even Cutler seemed classy when they talked.
I know that I have expressed so much excitement and optimism about Tebow that a lot of bloggers have started to thing that I am one of these bandwagon broncos fans that is really a Tebow/Gator fan.
I assure you that is not the case. I did not care about Tebow before we drafted him. And while his history at that point got my pump pretty well primed, my sheer excitement about tebow is purely based on what he has done as a Bronco.
At this point, many people have underestimated Tebow, but it is impossible to say at this point that anyone has over-estimated him. Nothing in his play has even suggested a ceiling.
All u need is one leg … 1 pinky one part of your body behind the line of scrimmage u are fine. Any part of the body and u are good … one of the Olinemen was holding tho but they werent payign attention … they missed a couple facemasks on our players so its all good.
Well said Weimin … truly big kids … im the same age as some of them (23) … and I can imagine … growing up tho … I thought football players were so old … nope big kids until maybe into the 30s. Now I can understand why some do alot of knuckle head stuff lol. TRB
I like how they say can we score can we keep up with the Bradys … WE ALL ALREADY PROVED WE CAN HANG … just cuz its patriots is no different … Vikings D is actually better than Patriots … and we scored high and kept up so who the QB is … isnt the question. Even the Raiders who have way better D than Patriots … we ran up the score …we are capable. TRB
This is part one of a 5 part series (tim tebow; the chosen one):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HOUMIgfhJA
it was informative way back then. But it is epic now that he is doing the exact same thing at the highest level.
Von Miller is gonna win this game for us against they patriots, perhaps more than any other single player.
Does anyone really thing the Viks would have scored so high if Miller had been playing?
Think*
With all the stuff surrounding Millers high sacks its easy to forget that Doom has 7.5 even tho he missed a couple of games. Man still doing his thing.
DJ not too shabby either with 5 sacks 3 fumbles forced and 75 tackles … one of the better OLBs in the AFC … looking at pro bowl ballots that is … between him and von … got a pretty great tandem.
TRB
Alex you do sound in love lol… Just being playful but you got into DB mode there rattling off posts as no one else could get blogs in lol. The guy is a natural leader and a great person and athlete. He proves that it isnt fair to look at him conventinally