Patriots 2025-26 Season

[Neurotic Guy]

Pats open up as -4.5 point favorites next week on the road

Not much belief in Stidham.

Surprises me. Home field is huge there. Denver defense is very good.  Pats lost to a backup in the SB - let?s hope Stidham doesn?t pull a Foles.

Denver just can?t ask Stidham to do too much. They need to rely on their defense and run game. Jarrett has been with Sean Payton for 3 years, so he should be really comfortable in that offense.

Pats won?t be over confident. And shouldn?t be. Probably a tight game in altitude.

[Vermont Green]

DEN run game?  Check the stats from the BUF game. Their backs had 10 carries for 41 yards.  Pats should be able to stop their run. Force them to pass.

[Phantom255x]

Sean Payton likes to manage the QB similar to what he's done with Bo Nix, so I don't imagine much will change on that end. But unlike Foles, Stidham just hasn't had that much experience on the actual field and he's being thrown into the fire. Foles won some playoff games before going off on us in the SB against a Patricia-defense. I don't think Stidham has actually taken real snaps this season.

I'm sure Vrabel and the defense will scheme some stuff up and confuse Stidham the best they can. Denver's O-Line though is pretty solid, so we might need to hope the secondary can hold up and our linebackers like Spillane can make the tackles.

Ultimately, I do think you can move the ball against Denver and probably put up some points. But the key is literally not turning it over. Maye has honestly been lucky a lot of these fumbles are being recovered, but it could doom them next week even against Stidham. Like the saying goes, "let every drive end with a kick, even if it's a punt". Don't give Stidham and the Broncos free points, make them earn it.

Magic number is probably 23 or 24. I don't see Stidham getting them to more than 21 points but again, if the Pats offense commits multiple turnovers and gives DEN 7+ free points then they could get there.

[Vermont Green]

I agree that the overall approach for DEN does not need to change all that much.  Vs. BUF, Bo Nix had 46 pass attempts and 12 carries.  That is 58 out of a total of 68 plays.  308 yards out of a total of 349 yards.  I expect they will run many of the same passing schemes, Stidham will scramble plenty, and they will try to have running backs run the ball more 10 times.

Knowing this, the Pats need to stop the conventional running game first and foremost.  They should be able to take that off the table.  DEN's OL is good but I think the Pat's D is good enough that if they want to, they can take the running game away.  Stidham can be an efficient passer and can scramble, we all saw that.  He reads the game well, steps up in the pocket well.  He can be "OK", decent, but he is probably not going to make big plays.

What an opportunity for the Pats.  The Pats have been fortunate.  They have been good too, but they have been fortunate.  They need to clean up the turnovers for sure.  5 in 2 playoff games, and could have been more.  It may be that simple.  HOU (1), DEN (2), and LAC (5) were 3 of the best defenses in the regular season (in terms of total yards, 2, 3, and 9 in terms of points).  This game will be nothing new for the Pats.

[Amonkey]

I agree that the overall approach for DEN does not need to change all that much.  Vs. BUF, Bo Nix had 46 pass attempts and 12 carries.  That is 58 out of a total of 68 plays.  308 yards out of a total of 349 yards.  I expect they will run many of the same passing schemes, Stidham will scramble plenty, and they will try to have running backs run the ball more 10 times.

Knowing this, the Pats need to stop the conventional running game first and foremost.  They should be able to take that off the table.  DEN's OL is good but I think the Pat's D is good enough that if they want to, they can take the running game away.  Stidham can be an efficient passer and can scramble, we all saw that.  He reads the game well, steps up in the pocket well.  He can be "OK", decent, but he is probably not going to make big plays.

What an opportunity for the Pats.  The Pats have been fortunate.  They have been good too, but they have been fortunate.  They need to clean up the turnovers for sure.  5 in 2 playoff games, and could have been more.  It may be that simple.  HOU (1), DEN (2), and LAC (5) were 3 of the best defenses in the regular season (in terms of total yards, 2, 3, and 9 in terms of points).  This game will be nothing new for the Pats.

I think playing against a new and unexpected player always has that element of surprise, so for the first half, Denver may have a slight advantage of having the upper hand on what they want to do with Stidham. If the Patriots can stop the run and sustain those surprises, the defense can control the second half of the game.

Maye has been playing against extremely good defenses that pressures the QB the last couple of games. It would be interesting if Maye can have more time and make those throws that we are more used to. If he can do that, perhaps he can control on the offensive side of the ball a little more.

The X factor is the altitude. That may play a big factor of the Patriots. Would they go to Denver extra early to get acclimated?