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Broncos vs. Patriots: Takeaways from 34-31 Overtime Win over Denver

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Broncos vs. Patriots: Takeaways from 34-31 Overtime Win over Denver

My takeaways piece from a mind-boggling win over the Broncos. There were just so many storylines, it’s hard putting it all into context. Brady-Manning, Welker, the defense, the turnovers, it’s so much…

But the big picture? When the Pats are on, they’re just about unbeatable. The problem is getting and keeping the on for an entire game.

Patriots’ New Defensive Alignment Has Improved Run Defense and Other Thoughts From Panthers Film Review | New England Patriots | NESN.com

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Patriots’ New Defensive Alignment Has Improved Run Defense and Other Thoughts From Panthers Film Review | New England Patriots | NESN.com

Good stuff from Doug Kyed breaking down the Pats 3-4 evolution post-Wilfork. We’ll probably see mostly sub-package this weekend and that will raise some questions.

Likely will be Hightower with Fletcher/Harmon/Collins/Ryan as the Money spot. I’d bet this is where BB gets creative. Maybe something like this:

50-72-94-95

54-91

31-30-25

28-32

Though I think Arrington might be the best bet on Welker since he has a lot of experience against him in practice. The trick-down of that then has Talib on Demaryius and then either Harmon or Ryan on Decker.

What about Julius Thomas? Who’s best on him? Collins? Hightower? Even Harmon or Gregory? Will be interesting to see how BB matches up, and I’m sure he’ll have some kind of twist we’re not expecting.

Armond Armstead/Mark Harrison’s Seasons are over for Patriots

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Per Jeff Howe’s tweets below, it looks like it’s now official, no Armond Armstead or Mark Harrison this year. 

On Harrison it’s probably good to give him a red shirt year. He was never healthy coming into camp and as we all know it takes time for receivers to pick up the system. He’ll be one to watch in camp as no other receiver has his size and speed on the roster.

Armstead is a real disappointment and no one seems to know what happened. Most were penciling him in as the top sub-rusher next to Wilfork this season, and everything looked okay until he suddenly was put on the PUP for what was called an “infection”.

How did he get the infection? Was it related to his heart issues that caused him to miss time in college? Nobody seems to know. 

It’s even more disappointing because after the injuries to Wilfork and Kelly, the Pats really could’ve used some reinforcements along the defensive line. Hopefully the real story comes out eventually. It’s probably more likely to now that his season is over. 

So yeah, more bad news. Anyone getting used to this yet?

An itsy bitsy bit of good news

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Well, despite “minor meniscus surgery” Alfonzo Dennard was at practice today, though he’s still expected to miss a few games. Steve Gregory returned with a cast over his broken thumb and Aqib Talib was also present, though he didn’t finish the game on Monday and could still be iffy.

All in all it might be a bit of gamesmanship going on here, because all three of those guys could miss the game on Sunday and it wouldn’t surprise me. But they’re at practice and that’s the most you can hope for at this point. And now we’ll take any bit of positive news we can get.