Snow, cold, two of the best teams in the NFL. The Denver Broncos and New England Patriots participated in a classic on Sunday Night Football.
Tom Brady and the undefeated New England Patriots jumped out to the 14-0 lead when Rob Gronkowski caught the first touchdown and Steve Chandler caught the second one. But the Broncos wouldn’t just roll over and die; they fought back, which made this game a true classic.
Down 14-0, Ronnie Hillman finished off a scoring drive for Denver with a 19-yard touchdown run. It brought the game to 14-7 Patriots at halftime and kept the Broncos in the contest.
In the second half, Brandon Bolden burned Danny Trevathan for a 63-yard touchdown and the 21-7 lead. Early in the fourth quarter, with Denver trailing by 14, Brock Osweiler led the offense down field with C.J. Anderson running the ball in 15 yards for the touchdown to bring it to a seven-point game once again. Then, with the Broncos facing a 4th and 3 from the New England three yard line, Brandon McManus kicked a 21-yard field goal and the Broncos trailed 24-20 with 6:08 to play.
The two teams exchanged three punts and the Broncos drive finally ended with another score, when Osweiler connected with Andre Caldwell on a back-shoulder fade in the end zone. Denver led 27-24 with 1:08 to play and the game seemed to be in the bag. Then, Tom Brady led his Patriots down the field for the game-tying field goal and the game went to overtime. That’s when the Denver defense finally stepped up and forced a punt, then Osweiler handed the ball off to Anderson, who ran 48 yards to the house for the game-winning score.
STARS OF THE GAME
The first star of the game is C.J. Anderson. Anderson ran for 113 yards on only 15 carries, a superb 7.5 yards per carry average. And his two touchdowns were clutch against the previously undefeated Patriots.
The second star of the game was Emmanuel Sanders with six receptions for 113 yards. Sanders once again was one of Denver’s most consistent playmakers Sunday night.
PLAY OF THE GAME
When the Broncos punted to the Patriots in the early fourth quarter, Cody Latimer hit the Patriots punt returner and forced a fumble, which Shaquil Barrett jumped on for the Broncos recovery. The offense scored four plays later to bring the it to a one-score game with 12:34 to go.
TURNING POINT
When Brady was sacked by Von Miller and then pressured again on third down in overtime, it was the turning point of the game. Denver turned around and scored three plays later to win 30-24.
BY THE NUMBERS
Both quarterbacks (Tom Brady and Brock Osweiler) went exactly 23-42 on their attempts and completions, with Brady throwing for 280 yards and three touchdowns, while Osweiler enjoyed 270 yards with one touchdown and one pick.
Denver enjoyed the only two players to go over 100 yards, with both C.J. Anderson (113 yards rushing) and Emmanuel Sanders (113 yards receiving) being the only two over the century mark in the game.
Denver out-gained New England 433-300 in total yards, with 23 first downs compared to 16 by the Patriots.
New England was held to a miniscule 39 yards rushing while the Broncos ran the ball for 179 yards.
LASTING IMPACT
This win is massive for the Broncos. It means they are now 9-2, handing the Patriots their first and only loss of the year, dropping their record to 10-1 overall. Denver could possibly still win the AFC now that they beat the Pats, plus Rob Gronkowski was injured during their loss. If he’s out a significant amount of time, it will severely hinder New England’s passing offense which has seen multiple receivers go down lately.
WHAT’S NEXT
Next up, the Broncos host the San Diego Chargers (3-8) with a 2:05 p.m. MT kickoff next Sunday.
