In last year’s AFC title game, the Broncos pass rush destroyed Tom Brady and his makeshift offensive line. The Patriots went into the game expecting to negate that rush by throwing quickly out of spread sets—a formula that had worked for years and continues to yield strong results this season. The Broncos countered that by rushing three and dropping eight into coverage, something they’d rarely done under coordinator Wade Phillips. In this they mixed their coverages, playing zone, hybrid concepts and, of course, their hallmark man-to-man. The eighth defender crowded the shallow passing levels that so many of New England’s aerial designs exploit.
When Tom Brady Faces Down the Broncos
