>>>>I just went back and looked at both teams records and who they played. New England didn't play nearly as many tough opponents as did Denver and their conference wasn't as tough either. Denver, KC and San Diego all beat New England and Denver is 8-0 this year at home. The last time they played, Denver had them down 21-3 at the start of the third quarter, 28-6 at the start of the fourth. The game ended 28-20. Denver's run game should be too tough for NE and the pass should get opened up because of that. Denver has Smith (72 yard catch last game with NE) and Lelie (55 yard catch last game with NE) as deep threats and NE has injuries in the secondary. I smell blood in the water!<vbg>
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>>>A lot of teams were smelling New England's blood in the water halfway through the season, when they were banged up and losing as many as they won. They have been cruising since. I was not dissing the Broncos; they have had an excellent season. Just saying I don't think anyone is looking forward to playing the Patriots at this point. (The same could be said of the Steelers, who had a similar regular season -- shaky start, scary finish).
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>>I agree. I just went back and looked at the teams the Pats played and their schedule was pretty weak. The games they lost were to good teams like KC and San Diego. They beat:
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>>The Bills twice, the Saints, the Jets twice, the Bucs, Raiders,Pittsburg, Atlanta and Miami. They lost to Indy,Denver, KC, San Diego,Carolina and Miami. Most of the games they won were by a touchdown or less, except the Bucs and Bills. I think their division schedule put them in the playoffs. If they had to play KC and San Diego twice, they wouldn't have made it.
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>Keep whistling past the graveyard ;-)

Nah, walking through the middle of it and looking closely at the names of the dead: Bruschi, Tom Wasshisname, etc.<g>