The Patriots defense has not played particularly well this season. Or for the last couple of seasons, to be perfectly honest. But the strength of a Bill Belichick defense has always been that they take away your greatest strength, essentially daring you to beat them with one hand tied behind your back. Last night, the Patriots D was able to do that to the Broncos, and as good as Tom Brady and Co. were, the play of the defense was why the Patriots so utterly dominated the Broncos.
The Broncos were a running team this season. Overall, they averaged 4.8 yards per carry (6th in the NFL) and 164.5 yards per game on the ground (1st in the NFL by 11.5 yards per game). Last night, the Patriots took away the run. The Broncos only averaged 3.6 yards per carry, and while they did pile up 144 yards, much of that was due to the fact that they refused to abandon the run in the second half.
Stopping the run stops all of the Broncos' offensive momentum, as they seem most effective at throwing the ball when they can utilize play action. With the threat of the run neutralized early, the Patriots were not fooled by the Broncos' play action. This was most notable when Gerard Warren came bursting through the line and went straight for Tebow, wrestling him to the ground before he even had a chance to turn around.
The Patriots put the game out of reach in the final two minutes of the first half, but up until that point Denver still had a chance. But the reason they weren't able to gain much traction is because the Pats forced them to win without their best weapon, and they simply aren't a good enough team to do that.
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