Everyone knows that stopping the opposing team on third down, making first downs, and winning the turnover battle are three of the most important things a football team should do to win the game. I'm going to write about some of the smaller details
the Patriots need to take care of to win in Denver.
The first thing the Patriots need to do is avoid wasting timeouts. The defense will be going against a high octane, no huddle offense in some thin air and may need to use some timeouts to either put the brakes on Peyton Manning or get some air. Either way, the Patriots offensive unit can't be burning timeouts because they didn't get the play call in on time. Josh McDaniels is going to need to get the plays in quickly and Brady is going to need to go with it. Although Brady is often revered for his ability to adjust to what the defense is giving him on the fly, a playoff game is Denver is probably not the place to be calling out changes at the line of scrimmage.
The second thing the Patriots need to do is give the Broncos bad field position. The longer field Peyton Manning has to work with, the better. To do this all aspects of special teams need to get their job done and avoid penalties. Last week we got flagged multiple times for blocks in the back. We can not afford that this week. We also need to help out punter Ryan Allen by getting down field in a hurry and not misplaying balls inside the twenty. Downing it inside the five is certainly better than getting a touchback because someone was trying to be a hero.
The last little detail the Patriots need to focus on is knowing where the ball is at. While we were "giving them the run" when we last faced them, the fact that Knowshon Moreno got 145 of his 208 yards before contact is a bit out of control. Once the ball is handed off to Moreno the defense needs to get to him. If Manning runs the flea-flicker for a touchdown pass then I'll tip my hat to him.
The first thing the Patriots need to do is avoid wasting timeouts. The defense will be going against a high octane, no huddle offense in some thin air and may need to use some timeouts to either put the brakes on Peyton Manning or get some air. Either way, the Patriots offensive unit can't be burning timeouts because they didn't get the play call in on time. Josh McDaniels is going to need to get the plays in quickly and Brady is going to need to go with it. Although Brady is often revered for his ability to adjust to what the defense is giving him on the fly, a playoff game is Denver is probably not the place to be calling out changes at the line of scrimmage.
The second thing the Patriots need to do is give the Broncos bad field position. The longer field Peyton Manning has to work with, the better. To do this all aspects of special teams need to get their job done and avoid penalties. Last week we got flagged multiple times for blocks in the back. We can not afford that this week. We also need to help out punter Ryan Allen by getting down field in a hurry and not misplaying balls inside the twenty. Downing it inside the five is certainly better than getting a touchback because someone was trying to be a hero.
The last little detail the Patriots need to focus on is knowing where the ball is at. While we were "giving them the run" when we last faced them, the fact that Knowshon Moreno got 145 of his 208 yards before contact is a bit out of control. Once the ball is handed off to Moreno the defense needs to get to him. If Manning runs the flea-flicker for a touchdown pass then I'll tip my hat to him.
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