[quote name='FriskyTanuki']If we're going to be making excuses for why the rankings are so low, then Denver has one as well. Champ has not been 100% for most of the season and there's 3 rookies busting their ass to do a good job and compensate for Champ's injury. Denver's got the #2 rushing D, with one of the best LB corps around and a pretty good DL with the so-called Browncos doing well in a better situation in Denver.[/quote]
I said that both teams had better passing defenses than the stats would lead you to believe.
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']When a team's passing offense is over 22 spots higher than their rushing D is ranked, then you've got a one-sided offense. Less than 100 yards a game averaged is not a good rushing game. The day you mentioned is part of that intangibles thing which where NE can scare the crap out of teams.[/quote]
Thats statistics again, injuries forced the team to rely on the passing game for a lot of the season. Corey Dillon, Kevin Faulk, and Patrick Pass were all injured for substantial periods of time, Heath Evans was the starter for 4 games, and was the only active RB on the roster for a few of those. They had to get it done without a running game for a while, but all 3 are at least somewhat healthy now.
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']That's because Denver uses the run to set up the pass. They don't pass for the sake of passing because that's what's gotten Jake into trouble in the past. When you take 6 less passes a game than the other guy, of course his passing game will seem better. I feel that Denver's depth and skill at RB will be their strength and their key to overcoming the tough NE defense.[/quote]
And the Patriots like to take away what you're good at, and make you do things you don't want to do. They'd like to force Denver to put the game into Jake Plummer's hands, we'll see if they're able to do that or not. The front 7 has been dominating the last 3-4 games, it'll be very interesting to see. Denver is Denver though, nobody really shuts down their run completely.
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']I've got to agree. It's a great game because neither team seems clearly better than the other. New England's ability to just win. Jake doesn't try to scare teams, he just tries to beat them. If a team feels like playing him like he's back in AZ, he'll make them pay. Of course it goes through Indy or Denver since their the top two teams in the AFC

, but yeah, the records don't mean crap once both teams take the field next week as it's "Put up or shut up" time.[/QUOTE]
Looks like it will be Pats-Denver next week, just saw Palmer get hurt. Bye bye Bengals. Denver would probably be a tougher game than Indy.