Mile High Sports

Broncos force Tom Brady’s worst game of the season, can’t capitalize

Casey Light

The defense did its job against Tom Brady. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. Yes, the outcome was different, but the Denver Broncos defense actually had a better day Sunday against Tom Brady in some key areas than they did when they beat him in the AFC Championship Game back in January. And statistically, it was his worst game of the 2016 season, so far.

For the first time since Brady returned from his four-game “Deflategate” suspension to start this season, the Patriots were held below 22 points. Their 16 points in Denver on Sunday are their second-lowest total of the season (Buffalo shut them out with Jacoby Brissett at QB in Week 4) and two points less than they scored in the AFC title game loss.

Their 313 yards of total offense was their lowest with Brady under center this season and Brady’s 177 net yards passing were his lowest mark of the season. It was the first time he’s been held below 200 yards in 2016. Even in the AFC Championship Game he threw for 292 net.

Brady was 16-for-32 on Sunday, just 1.8 percentage points better than his 27-of-56 day back in January. On that day, though, he was picked off twice. He posted a clean sheet in December, although he did not find the end zone. Brady did fumble on a strip sack by Jared Crick, but New England recovered.

Brady’s 16 completions on the day were his lowest total in 2016 so far; his 50 percent completion rate was also the worst this year. His 68.2 passer rating was his lowest this season by 21 points. Only Seattle was also able to hold him to zero touchdown passes.

The real difference between the two games was those takeaways. Denver committed three turnovers on Sunday, leading to 10 points. Their lone giveaway in January led to seven, but they offset that with seven points of their own after an interception. Denver lost the turnover battle 0-3 Sunday.

New England also helped control the clock with an improved rushing attack in their win. They mustered just 44 yards on the ground in the AFC Championship Game, while on Sunday they pounded away at Denver’s defense for 136 yards – 67 in the first half and 69 in the second.

Brady also hurt Denver on third down in Sunday’s loss. Brady was 5-of-17 on third downs, with most of those conversions coming in the second half. The Broncos hurt themselves by giving him three by penalty. In January those numbers were 2-of-17 and four.

New England did a much better job of keeping Brady upright this time around, as he was sacked four times and hit as many as 20 times in the AFC title game. But he also dropped back 24 less times on Sunday.

Fans will remember the win back in January, and perhaps gloss over the fact that a missed extra point and failed two-point conversion were what decided that game in Denver’s favor. They’ll remember the loss on Sunday and forget that Denver’s defense, in several ways (including points allowed), was better against Brady this time around.

Here’s what the team at Mile High Sports and some of our favorite follows on Twitter had to say about the defense’s excellent performance on Sunday…

https://twitter.com/Tyler_Polumbus/status/810609430739976192

https://twitter.com/ToddRomeroTV/status/810610137530560512

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