W2W4: New England Patriots at Denver Broncos

What? He’s not playing? He went an entire week without practicing because of a hamstring injury last month, but still managed to play that week’s game against the Browns.

Brady is having another MVP season, but the Broncos present possibly his toughest test this season. “We don’t pay much mind to it, we just worry about winning and losing, and that’s going pretty well so far. That’s all that’s important to him right now”.

Here’s what we’ll be watching for when the Patriots and Broncos square off Sunday night. The harsh reality is that this rivalry might just be over. You can watch all the game film you want, but if you are a green quarterback, Belichick will throw many defensive schemes to mess with the QB’s head. If Gary Kubiak decides that screen passes and bootlegs from his 6-foot-8 quarterback isn’t the way to beat the Patriots, he could turn the keys over to his duo of running backs in C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman.

Sunday’s total is set at 43.5 points. The combo of Cannon-Shaq Mason-Bryan Stork- Josh Kline-Vollmer got the most run, and will likely be the line that is tasked with stopping a Denver pass rush that has accumulated 34 sacks this season.

Unfortunately for the Broncos, their defense is still a bit battered and as a result, they will be without star defensive end DeMarcus Ware, meaning that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady should have a little bit more time to throw this Sunday, not that he needs it. No one in the National Football League makes quicker reads than Brady, which is why he has been so successful for all of these years. Gronkowski weighs in on Denver defensePatriots tight end Rob Gronkowski didn’t shy away from praising the Broncos defense during his media session Wednesday morning.

Daniels and Davis were the Broncos’ leading receivers against Chicago, providing the weapons Osweiler desperately needed with wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders out because of an injury. This week, a victory will not come on the arm of their young quarterback, but it will come through the overall strength of the team. It lacks the punch of Manning-Brady, but this one will still be a fantastic matchup.

Tune in to Patriots-Broncos on 98.5 The Sports Hub – the flagship station of the New England Patriots. It’s a simple formula, really: The Broncos have lost five straight games at New England, but they’ve won four of five against the Patriots at Mile High.

Meanwhile, the Vikings are coming off a crushing loss of their own and have a turnover to blame for it as well. But Denver isn’t giving opposing offenses much to work with, letting up just 284.3 yards per game – tops in the league.

Depending on what transpires over the course of the next few weeks, the meeting between the Steelers and Broncos could be critical for both teams and especially if the Broncos let the Kansas City Chiefs draw even closer to them in the AFC West division race.

“The chemistry is good”. However, things have changed considerably since then and so have the circumstances of this game.

The Bills tried it last Monday, and found more success than others, holding him to only two catches and 37 yards as Brady completed only 28.6 percent his pass attempts to Gronkowski, well below his 62.1 percent on the season.

The importance of this game can’t be overstated for either team. That list of decisive victories is topped by the 45-10 win in the 2011 divisional playoffs.

Give the Bills some credit, they hung with the defending champs on Monday night.

Bengals (-8) over Rams: Well, it’s a marquee opponent in a game they shouldn’t win, so this is just the type of game the Rams get motivated enough to win.

Bryan Altman is, for some reason, an unabashed fan of the Rangers, Jets and Mets. Matthew Slater is a leader on special teams and will play at wide receiver only in the event of an emergency.