Patriots Comeback to Win In OT Over Broncos 34-31

FOXBORO, Ma- Tom Brady and the New England offense came out slow putting up a goose egg in the first half. The team scored 31 in the 2nd half and Stephen Gostowski kicked a game winning field goal in overtime to lift the team to a victory over the now 9-2 Denver Broncos.

The first quarter was as Skip Bayless called it “A Nightmare” for the New England Patriots as they fumbled 3 times. Stevan Ridley fumbled and was benched, and LeGarrette Blount fumbled and was benched, and Tom Brady was strip-sacked. The Ridley fumble went for a touchdown and Marcus Cannon starting right tackle went down for the game with an injury. Things were not looking good in Foxboro as the Bronco’s jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead scoring 17 points off of turnovers and with Knowshon Moreno running all over a banged up Patriots front 7. Moreno finished with 224 yards rushing and a touchdown on the teams first drive of the game after Von Miller scored on a fumble recovery on New England’s first drive. The Bronco’s Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie their top cornerback was injured on the last play of the first half and the Patriots took advantage.

With Ridley and Blount on the bench runningback’s Brandon Bolden and Shane Vereen shouldered the load for the Patriots. Bolden doing most of the running and Vereen catching passes. Bolden ran for a touchdown and Vereen caught 8 passes as Brady’s safety option. Tom Terrific opened the game up in the 2nd half though finishing with 3 touchdown passes(2 to Julian Edelman, 1 to Rob Gronkowski) and 344 yards as he outplayed Manning and stayed undefeated at home. Edelman finished with 9 catches for 110 yards and Gronkowski notched 7 catches for 90 yards and was a serious matchup problem for the linebackers of the Broncos.

Peyton Manning finished with just a 70.4 QBR and 150 passing yards, his leading receiver being Jacob Tamme for only 47 yards and a touchdown. Shutdown was former Patriot Wes Welker who caught 4 passes for 31 yards. Aquib Talib at corner locked up Demaryius Thomas of the Broncos for 41 yards and a tough to cover touchdown pass. Von Miller finished with 2 sacks and a fumble recovery for a touchdown while Wesley Woodyard led the game with 15 tackles but the Broncos defense could not stop Brady and the Pats offense.

In overtime the teams traded possesions several times after coach Bill Belichick elected to defend first so the Patriots would have the wind for overtime. Late in the OT the Patriots punted and Welker called off the ball very late and Tony Carter nudged the ball making it live and Patriot Nate Ebner recovered. The Gostowski hit an easy 31 yarder with the wind to close out the game. Tom Brady with yet another comeback, and I cannot wait to see these two teams in the playoffs. The Patriots move  to 8-3 and have a favorable schedule facing no winning teams in their final 5 games, while the 9-2 Broncos face the 9-2 Chiefs yet again.

Follow Shane Wellman on Twitter: @ASAPwell

facebook.com/FullScaleSports   Twitter: @FullScaleSport

Photo Cred: AP Photo

Related Posts

• 
  Dan Haren signs one-year deal with Dodgers
• 
  GIF: Tom Brady gets animated with Rob Gronkowski
• 
  Romo With a Clutch Game Winning Drive