by Dakota Antelman
Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are two of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. But after Brady’s Patriots rolled out a 43-21 demolition of Manning’s Broncos, the debate was at least temporarily settled; even Manning acknowledged that much.
On a cold afternoon in Foxboro, Brady threw for four touchdowns and 333 yards while Manning’s proneness to weather initiated mistakes was highlighted by 23 incompletions and a pair of interceptions.
“I don’t normally stink but I stunk today.” Manning said glumly after the game.
The Patriots shut down Manning from kickoff on. Bill Bilichick started the attack by sending Manning throwing into the wind.
As the game went on, the Patriots continued to break the backs of the Broncos. Most notably, a huge hit by Devin McCourty on Wes Welker resulted in one of Manning’s passes being deflected up in the air by Welker and eventually intercepted by Patriot linebacker, Rob Nincovich. With multiple similar turnovers limiting Denver’s time on the field, the Patriots churned out a 24 point second quarter and thus effectively ended the game.
"The quarterback stinks, usually you're not going to win many games," he said.
Beyond Manning’s blunders though, the Patriots offence was once again rolling. Rob Gronkowski caught nine passes for 105 receiving yards and a touchdown grab. Behind him, Julian Edelman put up an 89 yard receiving day. He also scored a touchdown during the second quarter offensive explosion.
His most impressive play though came roughly three minutes after the touchdown catch when he ran a Denver punt 84 yards into the endzone. Edelman was the beneficiary of strong blocking by the Patriots kick return unit but also contributed to his own cause with a mid-field cut back rout that threw him into a vast wealth of open space.
"Minitron can do so many things, he's so quick," Brady said of Edelman. "What he did on the punt return was incredible."
New England has now scored 94 total points in the past two games with Tom Brady throwing for 9 touchdowns. The team is rolling and has long since distanced themselves from their worrisome 2-2 start to the season.
Needless to say though, this win carries a whole new kind of momentum boost. Knocking off the Broncos to take over control of the number one seed in the AFC east has the Patriots riding high going into their bye week.
"[Brady’s] playing unbelievable right now, and so is the team," Gronkowski said after the game. "Everyone, we’re just coming together. We’ve got team chemistry all over and we’re all playing well…”
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