NFL Preview - Denver Broncos - New England Patriots

Written By: admin

January 19, 2014

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NFL

This Sunday we have the pleasure of viewing the AFC Championship game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots. The Broncos finished the regular season with a 13-3-0 record which was enough for the number one seed. The Patriots weren’t far behind with their record of 12-4-0 which qualified them for the number two seed, so we definitely do have the two best teams from the AFC.

Last week the Broncos hosted the San Diego Chargers and managed to win the game 24-17 due to their excellent defence during the first half of the game. They managed to keep the Chargers without a score for the first 3 quarters, something truly remarkable. The Patriots faced the Colts and pleased their home crowd with a 43 – 22 win. Their main weapon, quite surprisingly, was their running offence which managed to advance over 200 yards and score all of their 6 touchdowns. Needless to say that both teams have earned their place in this AFC Championship game. The winner will have two weeks to rest before heading to New York to play in Superbowl XLVIII against the winner of the NFC Championship game between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers.

Offensively this will be a very interesting match-up. While both teams are renowned for their effective passing offence, last week they decided to play it safe and keep the ball on the ground. The Broncos’ quarterback Payton Manning threw for 230 yards while his average for the season was an astounding 342. The Patriots’ Tom Brady was also behind his average of 270 yards with only 198 thrown last week. It will be the 3^rd time that these two elite quarterbacks meet in the playoffs, so far Brady has the lead with 2 victories.

On the rushing side the Broncos will surely by relying on both Knowshon Moreno and Montee Ball. Neither had a great game last week, Moreno ran for 82 yards and Ball managed 52 yards. The Patriots answer is Stevan Ridley and LeGarrette Blount. Last week Blount did the majority of the work and scored an incredible 4 touchdowns with his 166 yards while Ridley also ran for 52 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

When we take a look at the defensive statistics for the season we can say that it’s a very even match-up. The Broncos have the lead in yards allowed with their 356 yards per game against the Patriots’ 373. However, the Patriots have a lead of 3.8 points in points allowed per game.

Last week the Broncos defence was better both in yards and points, though we shouldn’t forget that the Patriots managed to create four turnovers while the Broncos had none.

The NFL is known to be very unpredictable due to most teams being roughly on the same level and often games aren’t decided until the whistle has been blown for the last time. With two amazing quarterbacks and everything at stake, I would be surprised if this wouldn’t turn out to be a real thriller. This game could honestly go either way so guessing the winner is almost like flipping a coin. Seeing as Pinnacle is offering to give us a handicap of +5.5 points for the Patriots, I wouldn’t turn down this generous offer.

Alex Lucken

Best Bet:

Back the Patriots +5.5 @ 1.952 with Pinnacle

Alternativaly on the exchanges you can back the Patriots +5.5 @ 1.98 with Matchbook

Alex Lucken 2013-2014 Season - Hit Rate 57.1%- Staked 2100.0 Returned 2267.10 ROI 7.9%

January 12th : Back the Chargers +9 @ 1.95 with Sbobet Won

December 29th : Back the Panthers -5.5 @ 1.917 with Pinnacle Lost

December 22th : Back the Dolphins ML @ 1.787 with Pinnacle Lost

December 15th : Back the Eagles -6.5 @ 1.952 with Pinnacle Lost

December 7th : : Back the Chiefs -3 @ 1.926 with Pinnacle Won

November 30th : Back the Giants ML @ 1.89 with Sbobet Won

November 24th : Back Panthers -4.5 @ 1.98 with Pinnacle Lost