Nice analysis of the Denver and New England run games

[dogfish]

bucky brooks at NFL.com breaks down the respective rushing attacks (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000313233/article/patriots-and-broncos-will-fight-to-establish-run-in-afc-title-game)

[Joel]

New England's running by choice, because the genius that is Belichick knows he won 3 Super Bowls entirely on the legs of elite RBs like Antowain Smith, not Bradys arm.

Denver, on the other hand, is running of necessity to relieve pressure on Manning, and because Fox has an unhealthy fetish for Martyball similar to Lennie Smalls fetish for soft things.

That makes sense given Brooks noted that NEs two starting RBs have ALMOST as much production COMBINED as LeSean McCoy has ALONE: Why wouldn't a team constantly run if all they needed to (almost) match a Pro Bowl back is AN EXTRA EXTRA PLAYER? Like the article says, Ridley and Blount have 1545 yds and 14 TDs; Moreno and Ball only have 1597 yds and 14 TDs; there's no comparison. Er, wait, no: It's almost identical, except our backs had 52 MORE yards (though, admittedly, on 30 more carries.)

The reality is the team that's shifted to the run to take pressure off its beleagured HoF QB is NE, which has NO great WRs and only ONE good one. Manning has THREE Pro Bowlers who EACH caught 10 TDs from him, plus Decker has 11 more of his own. If Manning's under "pressure," Brady should be a diamond by kickoff. Oh, but maybe Brooks meant pressure from the pass rush, since Denvers offensive line's given up a whopping 20 sacks this year (that's >1/game!) while NEs line has only give up exactly TWICE that. Despite 30 LESS pass attempts.

Rounding things out, Brooks apparently felt obliged to note that Denver "nearly cracked the top 10 in attempts per game (28.8). Sure, some of this can be attributed to Denver running the clock down with big leads," yet NEs rushing accomplishments merit no such qualifier. "Sure," they outscored opponents by just over 100 pts this year, but it's not like they ever ran the clock down with big leads. And their 470 rushing attempts is SO much more than our 461 that "nearly" cracked the top 10 the same way NEs 2 starting RBs "almost" matched McCoy.

I guess it's not surprising; since everyone seemed to think the 13-3 #1 seed was an underdog at home against the 9-7 #6 seed, naturally the Pats should destroy us. Seriously, I'm not saying we're going to annihilate them, or even necessarily win (though I do think we're the better team and SHOULD win,) but is it really as hopeless as we're led to believe?

[PatriotsGuy]

I think you need to get a hobby.

[WTE]

This guy is a total dweeb. He's all yours Broncos fans.

[Buff]

I think you need to get a hobby.


This guy is a total dweeb. He's all yours Broncos fans.

I like how you guys are posting as a duo these days. Solidarity!