Could the Broncos be the next 2003 Patriots?

[Arkie]

September 7, 2003 - The Patriots travelled to basement dwelling Buffalo to get their asses handed to them 31-0. Buffalo finishes the season in last place again while New England finishes 14-2 beginning their record setting winning streak and ultimately having back-to-back championship seasons.



ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (Sept. 7, 2003) -- Bledsoe and Milloy combined to stick it their former team, the New England Patriots, sparking the Bills to a dominating 31-0 victory in their opener.

The game was effectively over when the Bills went up 21-0 with 10:14 left in the second quarter. The lead was built on Travis Henry's 1-yard plunge, Dave Moore's 7-yard reception, and defensive tackle Sam Adams' 37-yard interception return.

The Patriots had nothing in response, looking nothing like the team that outscored Buffalo by a combined 65-24 in two games last season.

New England's offense, in particular, never got going, managing a mere 51 yards in the first half and six first downs, two by penalty.

How bad were they? Six minutes into the second quarter, the Patriots had minus-4 yards of offense.

Tom Brady, who replaced Bledsoe as the Patriots' starter in 2001, had an abysmal outing. He finished 14-of-29 for 123 yards and was intercepted four times, tying a career high; he also suffered four against Denver in 2001.

Brady summed up the loss: "From the first play on, it was Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo."

Brady wasn't alone among the blundering Patriots, who twice had drives stall after they got within the Bills 2. That included two tries from the 1 in the final 20 seconds, the game ending when Antowain Smith was stuffed for no gain.

As season openers go, it was Buffalo's largest margin of victory since a 40-7 victory against the Los Angeles Rams in 1992. It was also the second regular-season opening shutout, and first in any game for the Bills since a 26-0 victory against Philadelphia in 1999.

Most impressive was a revamped defense, whose newcomers include Adams and linebacker Takeo Spikes.

Spikes had two interceptions and six tackles, while Milloy didn't look like he lost a step when he helped force an interception.

With Brady attempting to hit David Patten on a deep post route, Milloy closed quickly and got his hand up to deflect the ball at the goal line. The ball bounced up and was brought down by Bills cornerback Nate Clements.

It was a strong showing from a unit that gave up an average 25 points and managed a league-low 19 turnovers last year.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap/NFL_20030907_NE@BUF

[Raiders Rock]

LOL rofl LOL rofl LOL LOL LOL

[Mile High Shack]

in a word

No

[Meck77]

Sure we could. All we need is Tom Brady and Bill Bellicheck.

[BritBronco Maniac]

It does go to show you can't write the season off after one game, which a lot of posters seemed to be doing last night

[Rohirrim]

Nice sentiment. Pure dreamland, but nice sentiment.

[CBF1]

Hey Brit... Have you watched the past 5 regular season and last 2 playoff games by our Broncos? This team could not hold the patriots jock straps.

[Arkie]

The Patriots were even worse. They missed the playoffs the previous year, and the 2001 Super Bowl was considered a fluke. The Raiders really did get screwed in that snow playoff game more than once. Their recievers were getting tackled before the ball arrived. The Pats should have never even been in that Super Bowl. They are no more a dynasty than the '96-'98 Broncos.

[LT teh ghost]

Not with Plummber as your QB

[Garcia Bronco]

All of that is possible Bosko..I haven't read any posts on this thread...but this season ain't over and really....only a complete loser would think so.

[Rascal]

Good point.

I'll yell, scream, kick the cats, and punch the boxing bag till my hands bleed but until we are eliminated from the playoffs there will always be hope.

[kent156]

look at it this way too the last five or so times the broncos won the season opener they either lost to indie in the playoffs or had grieise at QB.

[fdf]

No.

[Garcia Bronco]

look at it this way too the last five or so times the broncos won the season opener they either lost to indie in the playoffs or had grieise at QB.


And the last time we lost a season opener....we were an exciting football team to watch.

[Crushaholic]

Shanahan has a stellar record in Week 1 games. We just aren't used to losing right out of the gate. I'm not ready to call us the "2003 version of the Patriots", but I think we'll be fine...

[ludo21]

No.

But we are far from being out of it. We arent out till we are mathematically eliminated.

There are 16 games in a season, not 1, everyone settle down. WE got flat out destroyed, as did the PAtriots, but i think we are a MUCH better team than the one that showed up.

[Sideburn]

It's also possible that a blimp crashes on the field and kills the entire opposing team but one guy (the kicker) and we win by forfeit. Not likely, but possible.

[watermock]

It's also possible that a blimp crashes on the field and kills the entire opposing team but one guy (the kicker) and we win by forfeit. Not likely, but possible.

It's more likely an angry fan will take a private plane and crash it on Shanahan...or maybe the coaching booth.

[24champ]

hey guys homeland security is now monitoring the board.....

[Sideburn]

It's more likely an angry fan will take a private plane and crash it on Shanahan...or maybe the coaching booth.
It's also more likely that ringling bros could field a more competitive team.

qb - A seal
oline - The bearded lady, the fattest man, the tallest man, that guy that swallows knives, and to stick with the theme for the broncos oline, that little midget that scoops up the elephant crap.

rb - to stick with the broncos theme of rbbc, all of those damn clowns that get out of one of those shriner cars.

wr - those guys that juggle flaming bowling pins or knives or whatever...great hands

dline - the ticket booth guys. No one gets buy them without a ticket

secondary - the acrobatic families that haven't fallen to their death yet. Agile, wirey, and great hands...(if not for great hands they'd all be dead)

linebackers - I dunno, maybe the remaining freaks from the freakshow.

[PatsWin2002]

Could the Broncos be the next 2003 Patriots?

Sure, but first you have to stop looking like the 1991 Patriots.

[Sideburn]

Could the Broncos be the next 2003 Patriots?

Sure, but first you have to stop looking like the 1991 Patriots.
ouch.

[PatsWin2002]

ouch.

Sorry.

But, you know as well as I do that a 34-10 Bronco win next week will cure all. :)

[Mile High Shack]

Sorry.

But, you know as well as I do that a 34-10 Bronco win next week will cure all. :)

LOL

if we win 34-10 I will come in and post everyday how much I love Jake, Shanny and Paul Ernster

but I'm pretty sure that isn't gonna happen

[Sideburn]

Sorry.

But, you know as well as I do that a 34-10 Bronco win next week will cure all. :)
bah I agree with you. We look like crap. Sure winning 34-10 would be wonderful, but at some point it would all come crashing down again. It's the norm for the broncos under shamaplan...and adding the fake into the mix just creates more instability.

Shanny is living in the 90's while everyone else has updated and adjusted to the new NFL.

It's kind of like in HS when my football coach ran the vaunted Wing T offense. Sure it hasn't been used since 1947, but it's just too hard to actually adjust to the game.

[watermock]

The LB's looked like the 3 stooges.

[Predaphin]

LOL rofl LOL rofl LOL LOL LOL

couldn;t have said it any better.....

[ROYC75]

With Jake as your QB, the Browns castoffs, IMHO, you have a better chance looking like the 2004 Chiefs, lose the 1st 3 games and finish 7 - 9 .

[ROYC75]

And the last time we lost a season opener....we were an exciting football team to watch.

Problem is , you had a better team then than you do now. No Elway, No Davis, no OL and Brown's castoff DL's...... you guys might be in for a tough season.

[Sideburn]

Problem is , you had a better team then than you do now. No Elway, No Davis, no OL and Brown's castoff DL's...... you guys might be in for a tough season.
We didn't have Elway the last time we lost an opener.

[orange 4 life]

September 7, 2003 - The Patriots travelled to basement dwelling Buffalo to get their asses handed to them 31-0. Buffalo finishes the season in last place again while New England finishes 14-2 beginning their record setting winning streak and ultimately having back-to-back championship seasons.



ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (Sept. 7, 2003) -- Bledsoe and Milloy combined to stick it their former team, the New England Patriots, sparking the Bills to a dominating 31-0 victory in their opener.

The game was effectively over when the Bills went up 21-0 with 10:14 left in the second quarter. The lead was built on Travis Henry's 1-yard plunge, Dave Moore's 7-yard reception, and defensive tackle Sam Adams' 37-yard interception return.

The Patriots had nothing in response, looking nothing like the team that outscored Buffalo by a combined 65-24 in two games last season.

New England's offense, in particular, never got going, managing a mere 51 yards in the first half and six first downs, two by penalty.

How bad were they? Six minutes into the second quarter, the Patriots had minus-4 yards of offense.

Tom Brady, who replaced Bledsoe as the Patriots' starter in 2001, had an abysmal outing. He finished 14-of-29 for 123 yards and was intercepted four times, tying a career high; he also suffered four against Denver in 2001.

Brady summed up the loss: "From the first play on, it was Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo."

Brady wasn't alone among the blundering Patriots, who twice had drives stall after they got within the Bills 2. That included two tries from the 1 in the final 20 seconds, the game ending when Antowain Smith was stuffed for no gain.

As season openers go, it was Buffalo's largest margin of victory since a 40-7 victory against the Los Angeles Rams in 1992. It was also the second regular-season opening shutout, and first in any game for the Bills since a 26-0 victory against Philadelphia in 1999.

Most impressive was a revamped defense, whose newcomers include Adams and linebacker Takeo Spikes.

Spikes had two interceptions and six tackles, while Milloy didn't look like he lost a step when he helped force an interception.

With Brady attempting to hit David Patten on a deep post route, Milloy closed quickly and got his hand up to deflect the ball at the goal line. The ball bounced up and was brought down by Bills cornerback Nate Clements.

It was a strong showing from a unit that gave up an average 25 points and managed a league-low 19 turnovers last year.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap/NFL_20030907_NE@BUF

im quite happy to see someone mention this.
ive mentioned it in a couple different posts already.
are we that team?
i dont know. we'll find out soon enough.

what i DO know is that we have the pieces.
we have the qb, we have the runners, the receivers.
we improved the line, have outstanding linebackers, and have some depth at defensive back with the young corners excelling.
we have solid special teams.

the pieces are there.

some games you can analyze and see exactly what caused the loss.
in this game (as in that pats game) the ENTIRE team on both sides of the ball simply collapsed.
they can take it and learn from it (better to fall apart early than late as we've done the last 4 or 5 years) or they can crumble.
we'll know which one it is in two weeks.