***SNF IN THE SWAMP - WEEK 12 - NE @ DEN***
***NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS @ DENVER BRONCOS***
Tonight we have another epic battle between Brady and Manning except the Sheriff will be ruled out of this one due to benching or ah, injury...whatever the case is, Denver finally made the necessary move to give the old man a breather and let the talented youngster take the reigns over in the meantime. Enter QB Brock Osweiler. I used to watch this kid in late night games at ASU and was always impressed with how mobile he was for being so tall. He stands at 6'7 and can move, he is accurate and has a high football IQ as they like to refer to it as, and has now learned under Peyton Manning for a couple of seasons. I think last week when he made his first start against Chicago, we got to see that the Pony's future is in good hands. Da Bears are also no slouch as we also are starting to realize after they beat Green Bay in Lambeu on Thanksgiving night. Denver went on the road to Chi-town last week and held on in a close game for the win which provides this kid with the confidence he will need heading into tonight to take on the best team in the league in an attempt for an upset win. The Broncos are now able to run Head Coach Kubiak's offense through Osweiler as we also got a glimpse of last week. That being said, everything they've done this season is subject to change so the Pats may have somewhat of a hard time predicting what style of offense Osweiler and the Bronos may run tonight. It is hard to utilize film off a single game. With Osweiler at the helm, I think the Denver passing game is actually more dangerous and will be more effective with the weapons at his disposal. The Patriots are banged up and have been juuuuustttt getting by these past couple of weeks but now with no Amendola and no Collins on defense, it is a very big hit to this team and I expect Brady to struggle with forcing passes into guys he isn't used to depending on. Especially under the Denver pass rush, I think Brady will get frustrated early on the road here. It will be cold and snowy, and Tommy is going to get lit up with that wounded offensive line if he holds onto the ball too long. The Bronco defense has shown at times that they are the best in the league. No DeMarcus Ware is a big deal. When he is in the game, he and Von Miller makeup arguably the best pass rushing tandem in the game. Without him they're not as strong but rookie LB Shane Ray also helps fill that void. In a nutshell since it is almost game time here, I think the great undefeated run of Belicheck and Brady finally comes to an end tonight due to lack of weapons and running into a buzzsaw in the Bronco defense at home in cold Colorado weather. The energy will be Mile High and the Pony's will feed of it, and Da BrockWeiler will be an instant hero in Denver. BRONCOS +2.5
