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We have established at this point that patriots are good at a few things.
They have a maniacal attention to detail when it comes to special teams. They like to spill it on their backs and ends in their passing game. And they do not need a lot of help.
The Patriots scored the Broncos 41 to 16, effectively putting the game to bed in the first half due to an avalanche of Broncos' mistakes on special teams.
But that's how quickly they took advantage of those mistakes that were so alarming.
The longest of their first four touchdown tests (the fact that there was more is telling) was a walk of three minutes and 18 seconds. This one actually took seven pieces to cover 75 yards. Making people pay in haste was their main activity, but the same goes for what is given to them.
With Broncos' defense for tight end Rob Gronkowski early, quarterback Tom Brady continued to pitch him to the alternatives, with nine different players catching passes, the little trick that does not make any good moments but remains effective. He finished 25 of his 34 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns, and was able to let Brian Hoyer finish.
Their statistics did not seem overwhelming (they had 350 yards of total offense when Brady called him one night), but they dominated the Broncos throughout this match.
As they often do, to many teams who do not play cleanly against them. They can be beaten, but not by bad teams that are so sloppy.
Here are five other things we learned during Sunday Night Football :
1. The Broncos have now lost five in a row, and it's not hard to say why.
They are incredibly slow since their break week, while they still looked like a decent team.
Since then, they have been dominated 55-6 in the first quarter and 106-24 in the first half.
With a troubled quarterback situation (it's hard to blame Trevor Siemian or Brock Osweiler), the Broncos are unable to return from such holes every week, regardless of their defense.
And even though they dropped 92 points in the last two weeks, it's hard to throw stones at the defense, given the short fields and deficits they've had to face. This was not the problem Sunday.
2. There was a bright spot for the Broncos. Other than the fact that they live in Denver, which is charming.
Emmanuel Sanders received six passes for 137 yards, most of the 221 yards passing through Osweiler.
So they have that for them. The good thing is.
3. The tight end of the new Patriots Martellus Bennett looked pretty healthy.
He played only twice in the first half in his debut with his former team, but captured a pair of passes for 32 yards
.The Packers will not be very happy after getting out of the city saying that he was too hurt to play.
4. Speaking of the tight ends of the Patriots, it was good to Dwayne Allen to arrive this year.
Allen had not caught a pass this year, and having missed one in the first half was 0-for-7 on the targets this year.
But his first account, since he caught a touchdown pass of 11 yards.
Dealing for him seemed to make sense to the Patriots, considering that he was replacing Bennett and that they were using so many tight final games. But until Sunday, they had not gotten much in exchange for the fourth round of 2018 that they sent to the Colts (they also got a sixth rounder of Indianapolis in the trade) .
5. It takes work to be a less popular Brock in Denver than Osweiler.
But special teams coach Brock Olivo may have done that.
Watch his units drop a punt, allowing a kick return from sending 103 yards for a touchdown, and handling a kick to lead to the first point was a nightmare for Olivo.
All this happened in the first half, while the Broncos had outclassed the 189-184 Patriots, which illustrates how overwhelming these mistakes are. Giving the Patriots a first free withdrawal in the fourth quarter instead of clearing them was just accumulating, and deserved a penalty beyond five yards
.Olivo, the former Lions back, is in his first year of work after working at Dave Toub in Kansas City for the past three years. He might need a reference soon. Or at least some tips.
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