Patriots vs Broncos

[keasley45]

How were their games similar?

The Broncos defense held the Pats to 12 total first downs. They won the TOP battle. And despite being given ample opportunities on the Pats side of the field, their offense only managed to score on 3 of 14 drives. Worse, they had six three-and-outs.

Meanwhile, Seattle's defense gave up 23 first downs, couldn't get off the field, and lost the TOP battle by 8 minutes. Yet Geno and the gang scored on 4 of 7 total drives, including the game-winner. And Seattle only had one three-and-out.

There's a reason Geno's QBR was 25 points higher, and he doubled Russell's passing EPA.

But Russ completed 25 of 37 attempts. So there's that.

Oh. Wait...

 

[keasley45]

How were their games similar?

The Broncos defense held the Pats to 12 total first downs. They won the TOP battle. And despite being given ample opportunities on the Pats side of the field, their offense only managed to score on 3 of 14 drives. Worse, they had six three-and-outs.

Meanwhile, Seattle's defense gave up 23 first downs, couldn't get off the field, and lost the TOP battle by 8 minutes. Yet Geno and the gang scored on 4 of 7 total drives, including the game-winner. And Seattle only had one three-and-out.

There's a reason Geno's QBR was 25 points higher, and he doubled Russell's passing EPA.

Yup. Everybody was back on the Russ bandwagon when they won 5 straight or whatever it was. But truth was their D was playing lights out and putting up ridiculously turnover margins and even with THAT, they were near worst in the league in average yards per play, could barely score enough to win, and were prolific in 3 and outs.

The part of that recipe that worked was that their O with Russ rarely commits INTs. But in terms of sustaining drives? It's no different than when he was here. Worse in fact because where Pete allowed him to go off script, Payton won't.

I said it when they hired Payton - there was no way that he would allow his offense ( and reputation ) be hijacked by an improv king. Pete allowed Russ to make a joke of whatever gameplan he was given. Payton is offended when he draws up plays that work and Russ just does what he wants. In Pete's eyes, discarding the perfectly fine play was ok if Russ made up for it. Payton won't stand for it. Ever. I wager Schotty didn't stand for it either, given how solid his plays often were, to no effect.

You honestly think that Payton, the offensive guru, is going to stand up in front of the room on Tuesdays during film review and watch his wrs open over and over again, and be ok with it just because Russ ran around and eeked out a 1st down conversion scrambling or finding a wr after 5 seconds? No way. No more than Pete would be ok with Jamal improvising plays he should have made within the scheme just because he occassionally does something spectacular outside of it.

 

[Scout]

I watched the game in its entirety (Pray for me) and I can say that while R. Wilson looked improved from last season he is still the same Wilson. SP is a better coach in understanding on how to play to his strengths by focusing on vertical go routes and play action feeding off of the running game.

Fundamentally the Broncos even with a different offensive staff last season had no problem moving the ball downfield and scoring points in the first half of games. Where they faltered was the opening quarter of second half games where they sputtered out and the defense would wear out by the 4th quarter. And last season the defense was playing at a Super Bowl level which just goes to show that the offense was a big hindrance. This season the defense was really, really bad to start out and the offense was not doing enough to carry the bad defense. They started to click midway during the year on both sides of the ball and started to win games that were close in the 4th quarter.

But last nights game was a repeat of what we have seen before. This is because the Broncos tried to slow down the rush with using a horizontal game which R. Wilson is not used to because it requires precise timing. The Patriots were ready for it and they were making sure to disguise a lot of zone blitzes and dropping players underneath to stop any of that. Barimore was unstoppable on the inside and at some point SP and Wilson had to make adjustments. They did make adjustments right before the 4th quarter and they were able to neutralize Barimore to score 16 points. They also started to press the ball downfield more to have the Patriots back off a bit and then they were able to run some crossers underneath to Jeudy for example.

The Broncos inability to move the ball and score points in the third quarter has been THE issue dating back to last season. Stop the Broncos run game and play zone and shell over the top. And the Broncos offense just can not do anything to move the chains. With Sutton you could beat that with some vertical jump balls but you can't really build an offense on that.

What is really interesting is that normally when the Broncos offense sputters in the third quarter of games this season and last season is that they end up losing ToP.

But the Broncos had an edge by nearly three minutes (Broncos - 31:18 vs Patriots - 28:42). So the Broncos defense wasn't completely worn out but at the same time Zappe did a better job dealing with pressure and bltizes by going to his correct reads. Wilson had trouble with any pressure sent his way.

This game just reveals how important it is to be able to make the correct throws at the right time. Zappe did that throughout the game and that kept the Patriots in it. Wilson made some good throws late in the game but his inability to have the offense move the ball in the first half and especially in the third quarter was his downfall.

Granted the play calling in the third quarter was very conservative by SP standards. But Barimore was unstoppable and the Broncos needed to hold onto the ball as much as they could with screens and runs to give their defense a breather.

That is where SP is an upgrade as a HC because he recognizes you need to play complimentary football and to help out RW from taking a beating.

Truthfully if the Broncos moved the ball in any way in the first half of the game and put some points on the board the Patriots would have had a hard time making a come back.

BB of the Patriots found a way to slow down the Broncos offense in the first half of games where they have been red hot the last two seasons. Given that the Patriots are down to starting CBs very down on their depth chart and no Gonzalez/Judon that was a master game plan defensively by him. The Patriots defense of this season looks very similar to what the Broncos defense looked like last season as both were hindered by inept offensive play.

 

[IndyHawk]

I watched the whole game as well and I saw the same things Me3 does
poor at- Not calling correct protections, holding the ball too long and taking
sacks (5).
The end of the first half Denver had 7 points against a poor NE team!
I didn't see much from Me3 till the 4th when he got to play hurry up and try
to be a h e r o.
So this is a guy who claimed to carry the Hawks? What has he done lately?
Carrying a team to 2 years of NO playoffs and 3 years of no playoffs for
himself.
For a guy who named his kid "Win", the dog "Bronco" and bought the biggest
Bronco truck on earth.
He's brought all this negative attention to his Me3 self! No doubt about that.

He will be fine though thanks to all the overpaying him that his teams have done
and the merchandise that he's sold to his blind flock in form of what else?
TEAM #3 which includes books, charity fronts, clothes and the miracle water scam.

I don't hate the guy really..It's just really hard to like him in any way.

 

[Ozzy]

How were their games similar?

The Broncos defense held the Pats to 12 total first downs. They won the TOP battle. And despite being given ample opportunities on the Pats side of the field, their offense only managed to score on 3 of 14 drives. Worse, they had six three-and-outs.

Meanwhile, Seattle's defense gave up 23 first downs, couldn't get off the field, and lost the TOP battle by 8 minutes. Yet Geno and the gang scored on 4 of 7 total drives, including the game-winner. And Seattle only had one three-and-out.

There's a reason Geno's QBR was 25 points higher, and he doubled Russell's passing EPA.

I just deleted a massive response because it’s Christmas and I don’t feel like arguing this Stuff for the 25th time. Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[James in PA]

Russ was being Russ. Playing like $hit for 3/4 of the game and trying to be the HERO in the 4th. He tied it late, but $hit the bed when they got the ball back with 1:30 left and couldn't do anything. That game should've never gone to overtime in the first place. New England dropped an interception in the endzone that would've sealed it. Peyton is so ready to move on from Me3.

 

[pmedic920]

The weird obsession with Russ on this forum is truly bizarre. He actually had a couple of clutch touchdowns late but his defense didn’t hold. Similar game to Geno who the same people clowning Russ used as evidence for Geno being great tonight. Well done guys.

Come on Bro.

It’s really not all that serious, more like chuckling at your ex when you hear she got Herpes.

 

[Scout]

Wilson is not playing bad overall when compared to other QBs this season. He is right there with Mahomes, Purdy, Mayfield, Geno Smith, Stafford, Jackson, etc

The problem is the amount of money Wilson is being paid and how it impacts what the Broncos can do moving forward to improve the roster. Mims has been sensational throughout the year as a rookie and I think they will move on from Jeudy as he is hit or miss. But overall the amount of money Wilson is receiving he needs to deliver a lot more. Same can be said with Mahomes and other QB with a large contract that they have received recently. The more money and resources involved the higher the bar is raised for Wilson.

Broncos miss the playoffs again and that will put pressure on SP and Broncos FO to make some hard decisions.

 

[Ozzy]

Come on Bro.

It’s really not all that serious, more like chuckling at your ex when you hear she got Herpes.

Some are this way but some are way over the top. Granted it’s only a couple of posters but it’s non stop. Time to move on

 

[LastRideOut]

Some are this way but some are way over the top. Granted it’s only a couple of posters but it’s non stop. Time to move on

It's really not that hard to not open a thread that will get you agitated. Life is simple, if you let it be. If you complicate things needlessly, than you end up where you are, which is irritated, agitated, and all sorts of feels, like the kind you are experiencing right now.

 

[LastRideOut]

The Sean and Russ show this year has I think, shown the genius of PC's coaching. While I do agree that it might be time for PC to move on, I can also recognize PC for his coaching skill, which I'll do now.

Sean has Russ on a very short leash this year, and it shows up in the games. Russ has the highest check down percentage, particularly throws that are at or behind the LOS, at 19% of Russ' total snaps. It's plain that Sean doesn't allow Russ to go off script, or to run an offense because, well, Russ can't do that, as evidenced by last year's sample size of 17 games.

PC's genius lies in the fact that he actually created an offense around Russ by incorporating the play after the play scramble drill in practice, so that ball catchers know what to do after running a route, instead of giving up like the WR's did in Denver last year when they realize the ball isn't coming in on time like the play calls for. Do I see Sean doing that? No I don't. I see Sean keeping Russ on an extremely short leash, instead of designing an backyard-style offense around Russ's brand of football.

What I've seen this year, has caused me to consider that Sean Payton may be somewhat overrated for his offensive savvy. However, I can see the argument being made that designing an offense the way PC did around Russ isn't sustainable and not predictable enough to actually devise a game plan around. I can also see Sean's perspective that he likes to design a game plan and stick with it, and that just isn't possible with how Russ likes to run his style of football because an offense, he can't run.

 

[djb28]

Russ was being Russ. Playing like $hit for 3/4 of the game and trying to be the HERO in the 4th. He tied it late, but $hit the bed when they got the ball back with 1:30 left and couldn't do anything. That game should've never gone to overtime in the first place. New England dropped an interception in the endzone that would've sealed it. Peyton is so ready to move on from Me3.

So he's playing Hawks football?