On the frozen, snowy tundra of Mile High Stadium, the Denver Broncos ended the New England Patriots' quest for a perfect season with a 30-24 win. It was a sloppy game that featured plenty of punts, but the Broncos will gladly take the win that improves their record to 9-2. The Patriots fall to 10-1 with the loss.
The Patriots punted on their opening possession of OT, and Denver marched down the field and scored on a long C.J. Anderson TD run.
QB Brock Osweiler struggled in the poor conditions early, but led the Broncos back with a fourth quarter comeback. He completed 23 of 42 passes for 270 yards, a TD and a pick. Denver was down 14 in the fourth.
The two teams punted a combined 18 times, and there were 11 penalties. The Patriots were the victim of several questionable calls late in the game, which helped Denver comeback. There wasn't any bigger than a holding call that gave the Broncos a first goal on a play that the Patriots recorded a sack to force a long third and goal. The Broncos scored on the next play, giving them a 24-21 lead. The Patriots tied the game as time expired, but Denver still picked up the win.
The Denver running game had another strong performance, picking up 179 yards and three scores on 32 carries. Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson split carries, with each posting similar numbers before Anderson busted a 48-yard run to win the game.
Brady completed 23 of 42 passes for 280 yards and three TDs. His stats would have been better if not for a few flags that eliminated out big gains. Brady was not happy, and berated the officials.
New England had little success on the ground, picking up just 39 yards on 16 carries.
With Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman out, Brady ignored his wide receivers. The position had just five catches, with TEs and RBs doing the damage. Unfortunately for New England, Rob Gronkowski left the game with a knee injury.
The Broncos visit the Chargers next week with a chance to win three straight games. The Patriots will try to bounce back when they host the Eagles.
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