Patriots vs. Broncos: 6 Sources of Worry

2. Lack of a ground game

It sounds a little odd at first, but it’s true: a good way to beat the Patriots is to make Brady carry the entire offensive load with his right arm. Forcing Brady to throw the ball upwards of 50 times in a game means that the Patriots are struggling to run the ball, allowing defenses to key up incessant blitzes. And we all know that Brady is a mortal quarterback when under duress.

To slow the fierce Denver pass rush, the Patriots must get some momentum via Steven Jackson, Brandon Bolden or James White, or some combination thereof. Since Bolden is normally relegated to special teams duty and White is stronger as a pass catcher out of the backfield, that leaves Jackson to carry the load.

Broncos are trash talking Pats, which is stupid

Strangely, the Patriots were reluctant to run the ball deep in the fourth quarter against the Chiefs last Saturday afternoon. It’s not exactly comforting when the Pats aren’t able to milk the clock with the run game, so hopefully they have a better go of it in the AFC Championship Game.

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