Miles
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- Mar 18, 2019
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The question mark:
How will Drew Lock fare against the Patriots' defense?
New England lost in the wild-card round of last year's playoffs, but the Patriots' defense was among the best in the league. Through the midway point of the season, New England positioned itself as one of the top scoring defenses of all time. While they slipped a bit to end the year, they still finished first in the league in both total defense and scoring defense. Opponents averaged just north of 14 points per game against New England.
The Patriots were particularly dangerous against the pass, as they ranked second in passing yards allowed. Belichick, who has built a reputation for flummoxing young quarterbacks, could have quite the plan dialed up for Drew Lock and an incredibly young Broncos offense.
If Lock can play mistake-free football and distribute the ball to his host of playmakers, the Broncos' offense should be able to put up more points than a potentially limited Patriots offense.
This game, though, has the makings of a defensive struggle.
An opposing view:
Megan O'Brien, a team reporter for the New England Patriots, on how she views the team's quarterback competition:
"There seems to be a perception that Stidham is the guy, but in my opinion, I think they brought back Hoyer for a reason. Especially given the circumstances of this offseason, I think we could see a situation where it very well might be Hoyer to start the season and perhaps as Stidham gets comfortable, we could see a switch. I do believe it is an open quarterback competition. I don't think the job is Stidham's. I think Hoyer's definitely in the mix, and depending on how all of this offseason goes with training camp, we could see a different situation — perhaps it's Hoyer starting. What I do think about Stidham is being around for a year, he's earned the trust of a lot of his teammates. Go back to some of the press conferences with Devin McCourty this offseason, and they just spoke about the way he carried himself as a rookie. I think that means a lot coming from a guy like Devin McCourty who's been around for quite a while. It will be interesting to see. If you go back and look at the fourth-round picks who have ended up having a career as a quarterback, there's not too many in recent years. It will be interesting to see what Stidham looks like. Looking back at last year throughout training camp and throughout the preseason, all you could say really is that he improved. But there wasn't a lot to see."
For more from O'Brien on the Patriots team the Broncos will see in Week 5, click here.
The last meeting:
The Broncos and Patriots played on an annual basis from 2011-2017 thanks in large part to both teams finishing at the top of their division on a regular basis. In addition to their seven regular-season matchups during that time frame, the Broncos and Patriots also met three times in the playoffs.
The Broncos, though, haven't faced New England since a 41-16 loss in Denver in 2017. Brady threw three touchdowns in that win, and the Broncos struggled to put points on the board as they mustered just one touchdown. That loss came in the midst of an eight-game losing streak and pushed the Broncos to 3-6 on the season.
Denver last played at Gillette Stadium in 2014.