Mile High Sports

Broncos lead Patriots 17-9 at half on two Owen Daniels touchdowns

MHS Staff

Jan 24, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos tight end Owen Daniels (81) makes a touchdown catch in front of New England Patriots outside linebacker Jamie Collins (91) during the first half in the AFC Championship football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

All the Denver Broncos have to do is avoid the second-half letdown that has plagued them as a team for much of the season. Denver is playing inspired football against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, dominating nearly every aspect of the game. If not for a huge mental lapse by running back Ronnie Hillman, Denver could be looking at a two-score lead. Instead, they take a 17-9 lead into the locker room and will receive the ball to start the second half.

Denver got the exact start it wanted. Bill Belichick, untrue to form, won the toss and elected to receive. Perhaps he wanted to get his offense rolling and make a statement early. That didn’t happen.

After forcing New England to punt on their first drive, Peyton Manning took his team 83 yards on 11 plays for an opening touchdown. Manning was 4-of-6 on the drive, connecting with Owen Daniels who had split the safeties for a 21-yard score.

The defense fed off a raucous Sports Authority Field crowd on the Patriots’ second drive and forced a three-and-out. On third down, Rob Gronkowski was pleading for a pass interference on T.J. Ward, but the refs appeared willing them have get physical. Denver, unfortunately, couldn’t answer and went three-and-out on their ensuing possession.

Danny Amendola took Britton Colquitt‘s punt 28 yards, giving the Patriots the ball at their 40-yard line. Bryan Stork put the Patriots in a hole, though, with a personal foul after the whistle on first down. On a third-and-14, the Broncos had great downfield coverage and Derek Wolfe got to Brady and the Patriots were forced to punt again.

It was the first time all season that New England had punted three times in the first quarter. But Denver made the game’s first mental error when Manning threw a lateral pass at the feet of Ronnie Hillman and the running back did not cover up the ball. New England recovered and, after a challenge by head coach Bill Belichick on the ruling on the field, took over at the Denver 22.

Brandon Bolden took the next play 20 yards and another yard was tacked on for a late hit by T.J. Ward to give New England a first-and-goal at the one. Steven Jackson powered his way into the end zone on the next play and New England had pulled within one. But Stephen Gostkowski missed his first PAT of the year and Denver maintained the slimmest of leads, 7-6.

On the ensuing drive, Emmanuel Sanders went up for a jump ball on the third play and made a spectacular catch for a 38-yard gain that got Denver into Broncos territory as the first quarter came to an end. After flipping the field, Manning couldn’t connect with Demaryius Thomas on a third-and-nine and Denver was forced to punt.

Brady and the Patriots took over at their 14-yard line. Good pressure from Von Miller forced Brady to throw away first down. He came up even bigger on the next play in coverage. Miller dropped back and picked off Brady for Denver’s first turnover, giving the ball back to the Broncos at the 16-yard line.

Manning and Daniels connected again on the ensuing possession, this time in the corner of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown drive that put Denver up 14-6 after the PAT by Brandon McManus.

Brady got some help from the refs and his receivers on the next drive, converting third downs off a clutch catch by Gronkowski and another by penalty. Brady even ran for one himself, an 11-yard gain, but he took a big hit from Aqib Talib on the play. On a third-and-three that followed, DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller both got to Brady for the second sack of the day. Gostkowski kicked a 46-yard field goal to bring the Patriots within five.

Denver couldn’t get anything going on the next drive, although Manning deftly scrambled to avoid a sack on third down, and Denver was forced to punt after a three-and-out. Kayvon Webster took a silly penalty on the punt, staying out of bounds on the return. As a result, New England took over on their 41-yard line with just over 5:00 to play in the half.

But the Denver defense was not done punishing Brady. Malik Jackson absolutely leveled the Pats quarterback on third-and-five, causing an errant throw that Darian Stewart picked off and returned to the Denver 44-yard line.

The Broncos offensive line failed the defense miserably on the next drive, however, taking a false start penalty, then allowing a sack of seven yards. Demaryius Thomas had his first drop of the day on third down and Denver had to punt again.

As the clock hit the 2:00 warning, Brady and the Patriots were facing a long field and appeared content to run out the clock to maybe get into field goal range. A false start backed them up even further and on a third-and-13 the Patriots couldn’t convert a draw and had to give Manning the ball back one last time.

Denver went right to work after a poor punt, converting a long run and two passes on the first three plays to get to the New England 33. Emmanuel Sanders nearly got open for a touchdown, but stumbled just a little on a double move and Manning overthrew him. Brandon McManus nailed a 52-yard field goal to put Denver up 17-9 with only 0:33 remaining in the half.

Brady and the Pats took a knee to end the half, heading to the locker room with some bumps and bruises and a lot of questions to answer in the second half if they hope to repeat as Super Bowl champs.

Denver on the other hand, took a lead and plenty of confidence into the locker room. Their biggest need? Avoid the second-half letdown that has plagued them through much of the season.

As always, the team from MHS was on hand to assess the action. Here’s there take on how the first half unfolded, along with some input from some of our favorite follows in the Denver press.

New England started mixing things up early…

But so did the Broncos…

After a first down for the Pats, Denver forced the punt on a big third down…

Emmanuel Sanders took a big hit to avoid a three-and-out…

Denver went a bit off script on offense themselves on the first drive…

A bootleg got the Broncos inside the red zone…

Two plays later, Owen Daniels was walking into the end zone…

The defense fed off the energy and forced a three-and-out…

But the Broncos went three and out themselves and struggled in punt coverage…

Strong pass coverage on the next drive allowed the Broncos to get to Brady…

Ronnie Hillman failed to fall on an incomplete lateral, giving New England the ball and enraging Broncos fans…

Two plays later, New England had momentum in their favor…

But it wasn’t going to be a tie game…

https://twitter.com/Raj_Sharan/status/691361535801761794

Emmanuel Sanders saved Peyton’s bacon with a huge catch on an third-down jump ball…

After a punt, Von Miller came up huge for Denver with an INT inside the Patriots’ 20-yard line…

Owen Daniels was there for Denver’s second touchdown of the day…

On the next drive, Denver started seeing some laundry…

But in the biggest moment of the half to that point, the OLBs came up big…

After a field goal by the Pats, Manning had to escape a blitz on third down…

https://twitter.com/davidlukeramsey/status/691369870512902144

The next big mental error went the way of the Patriots…

Denver responded just moments later with another interception…

But penalties and a sack derailed things and Denver had to punt again…

Brady wanted to run out the clock on the half…

Denver turned around and put more points on the board…

The Broncos dominated the half, but with one of the best offenses in football opposite them, at least one observer wasn’t quite content with only an eight-point lead…

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