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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Patriots make a statement with victory over Broncos

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Tom Brady and the New England Patriots came out on top in the latest episode of the Brady versus Manning rivalry.

On Sunday, the Patriots honored former players who had been part of the three Super Bowl winning teams from a decade ago. Among them was fan-favorite running back Kevin Faulk, who donned a hoodie emblazoned with the words “University of Belichick.”

It proved fitting, because coach Bill Belichick and his Patriots took the Broncos to school. The Patriots outcoached, outclassed and outplayed Peyton Manning and company en route to a 43-21 blowout.

As the Patriots enter their fall break (bye week), this showdown served as their midterm exam, an indicator of where they stand about halfway through the football semester. And they passed with flying colors.

Entering Sunday’s matchup, the Patriots' standing in the power rankings of the NFL was somewhat unsure. They started the season with a meager 2-2 start,including an embarrassing beat-down at the hands of the Chiefs on Monday night five weeks ago.

But they followed that with a four-game win streak, regaining confidence and composure and finally starting to round into a quality football team. They entered Sunday at 6-2 and atop the AFC East, though these standings came without beating a truly high quality opponent.

The Broncos came into Foxborough at 6-1, having 10 days to prepare for the matchup. They were widely regarded as the best team in football, commanded by Peyton Manning, who recently broke the NFL record for career touchdown passes.

The biggest storyline, of course, was the meeting of the quarterbacks. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are the two best quarterbacks of this era and likely of all time. The barstool debate over which is the superior player has gone on for years and will rage for decades to come. Because of these two players, there was more hype for this game than for any other regular season game this year. All of this set the stage for a game as important as a Week 9 game can be.

This was a chance for the Patriots to prove their merit against an impressive foe, and they took it.

Manning got his stats, as he always does, throwing for 438 yards and two scores. However, he threw two interceptions that both led to Patriots touchdowns. Brady racked up 333 yards through the air and four touchdowns. His one interception came off a throw deflected by Patriots receiver Danny Amendola, which Amendola should have caught.

As the game drew to a close, the Patriots faithful at Gillette Stadium deliriously chanted “Brady’s Better” over and over. In his postgame press conference, Manning said that he “stunk.”

With the victory, Brady’s teams improved to 11-5 in matchups with Peyton.

Belichick deserves heaps of credit for designing defenses that seem to consistently befuddle one of the smartest and most cerebral quarterback to ever play the game. Perhaps Manning’s greatest strength is his ability to decipher what the defense is doing before the play and adjust his offense to beat it. All afternoon long, the Patriots disguised their coverages and masked rushers, not giving Manning a clean look at what they were doing. All this served to throw Manning off his game slightly, especially on third and fourth down. The Broncos converted only three out of 11 third down opportunities, going 0-for-5 in the first half. They were 0-for-4 on fourth down conversions.

The result was a victory in a game that was never close. Moreover, it drastically affects the playoff picture in the AFC.The win gives the Patriots the tiebreaker over the Broncos should they finish with the same record. Holding the tiebreaker and the current best record in the conference, the Patriots have the inside track for the top playoff seed. That means that they would possess homefield advantage through the playoffs, and that in a hypothetical rematch, the Broncos would have to come back to Foxborough.

This was a statement game for the Patriots. After faltering slightly at the beginning of the season, New England has regained its form and established itself as a top flight team once again.

Though midterms are not worth nearly as much as the final exams of January and February, it’s always satisfying to ace a test.