Predicting how the Patriots will fare the rest of the 2023 season

Week 16: Broncos vs. Patriots

On Christmas Eve, the Patriots travel to Colorado for a festive meeting with the Broncos. And there isn’t much to celebrate from a New England perspective. Russell Wilson had a minor meltdown in Houston when he threw three second-half interceptions in Week 13.

But Sean Payton’s men seem to have put that firmly behind them; they rolled over the Chargers this week. A fractured index finger took Justin Herbert out of the game, but his departure wasn’t why the Broncos scored points in every quarter of that game.  

Wilson ended that game with a very unimpressive 37.5 QBR, the same as Easton Stick, who replaced Herbert! But the Broncos defense only allowed the Chargers to gain 4.2 yards per play. And Brandon Staley went for it six times on fourth down.

The Chargers would only convert one of those six attempts! The Chargers weren’t very good in Week 13, but they still beat the Patriots. There’s no way the Patriots can beat a team that demonstrated more resistance than Ohm’s law.