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Did Shawn Payeyton go for it on fourth
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and one out of desperation,
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out of aggression, or out of ego?
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Unfortunately, I think it was the
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latter. And I'll explain why coming up
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here next. Just a reminder to subscribe
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including throughout the off season.
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I am reminded of a conversation I had
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with a friend of mine, Brandon
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Crystalall, who covers the Broncos
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earlier in the season. And this was
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following the Broncos win in London over
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the Jets in which once again the Broncos
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offense did not look good at all. But
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they got the victory because of the
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defense. Here's the clip. Today is the
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first time really since the season
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started that he called Vance Joseph out
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by name and praised the work the defense
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did. Despite having the best defense in
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the league, at least an acknowledgement
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of, okay, Vance really is scheming up a
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good defense. They keep getting creative
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with ways to get to the quarterback. I
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have to lean into that and embrace it.
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They really are keeping us afloat and
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are the reason that we're not only four
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and two, but we're in those two tough
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losses to the Chargers and and the Colts
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earlier in the year. They both have
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immense respect for each other as
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coaches. It was just interesting to me.
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This is the first time that he's
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mentioned Vance's name in a while.
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And I thought how interesting that is
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that the head coach might purposefully
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not mention his defensive coordinator by
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throughout the early part of a season.
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And why would that happen? Well, it
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might happen because Shawn Peyton really
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likes Shawn Peyton and really likes that
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Shawn Peyton is known for his offensive
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acumen. I just wonder for a guy that
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that side of the football earlier in the
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season, then had to kind of come around
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to doing so, was he resistant to letting
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them be the stars of the show? the fact
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might resent the success of the other
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side of the football because it meant
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that his offense wasn't the reason the
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Broncos were winning really stuck in my
2:23
crawl all season long. And when I saw
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that fourth and one, I had to think, is
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this because Shawn Payeyton wants to
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make sure he gets credit
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if the Broncos get to a Super Bowl? I am
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really upset that a great defensive
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effort and a really good defense all
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season long was robbed had stolen from
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them a chance to singlehandedly win an
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AFC Championship game. You know, after
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the game, you could see the pain on the
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faces of the Broncos players
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specifically on defense. Nick Bonito
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saying that he still didn't feel like
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the best team won that game. How can you
3:07
blame him considering that you go into a
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championship game with a backup
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quarterback and you know that backup
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quarterback not only can't move the
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football after the first two drives but
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also a snowstorm comes in and you have
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to defend a 12yd field after a terrible
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turnover. It just feels really unfair
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that a great defense like the Broncos
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had a chance ripped from them to be the
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heroes. They should have been allowed
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the chance with a 10-point lead at home
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to do their damage and defend full
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fields. Just keep punting the ball away.
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Just keep forcing the Patriots to go the
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length of the field against that defense
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in that stadium with those conditions
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and let the defense eat. And if it was
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the 85 Bears or the 86 Giants or the 92
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Cowboys or the 2000 Ravens or the 2013
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Seahawks or go down the list if you
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would have given them a 10-point lead in
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a playoff game and said, "You guys go
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win that game." They all would have
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grabbed that opportunity and run with
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it. That's all they would have wanted. A
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unit playing together aggressively,
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finishing off plays, hitting hard,
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getting after the passer. They had five
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sacks of Drake May yesterday. Did Drake
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May even throw five passes? Did he even
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draw back the pass five times? Of
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course, that's hyperbole, but the
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Broncos defense did so much right. So
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much right. And they were robbed of a
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chance to win it themselves. And what
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could have been more beautiful than a
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defense pitching a shutout against an
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MVP caliber quarterback who had M.
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Collins back healthy. Stfan digs in that
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lineup. His running game on point. What
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could have been more beautiful? It's not
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the same as the Patriots defense
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shutting down a backup QB that hasn't
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thrown a pass in three years. It would
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have been a stand. Let's see what you
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got. You've been staked a double-digit
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lead and now you got to hold it. And the
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Broncos defense would have taken that
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and loved playing that way. We were
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robbed of seeing what that would look
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like if you gave them a 10-point lead
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and just didn't screw it up. They might
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singlehandedly win you an AFC
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championship. And I realize that's
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oversimplifying things because there's a
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lot of football to be played after 10
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nothing. But let's face it, once the
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storm rolled in, nobody was doing
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anything at that point in time. So it
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a countdown to the storm. And Shawn
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Payeyton should have known when the
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storm was coming in. Should have known
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that it was gonna be really hard to
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score in the second half. So you have a
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10 nothing lead in the first half and
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you've basically got to find your way
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through three or four Patriots offensive
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drives before the storm rolls in. The
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Patriots have to score and score soon or
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else they're going to be the ones
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desperate in a blizzard to move the
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football and be forced to do it through
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the air, which causes a lot of problems
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for the offense and potential turnovers
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and big plays for the defense. It's
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exactly where you want Drake May and the
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Patriots offense having to move the
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football quickly in the middle of a
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snowstorm. I think there's a possibility
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that Payton looked at a situation at 10
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nothing and said that won't be enough to
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win this game and I'm not going to score
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much more because the effectiveness of
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Jared SDM is going to wear off soon and
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he would have been right. The first
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couple of drives, Stiden was very good.
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Effectiveness waned every single moment
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after that. And so he might not admit
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it, but I think internally you could you
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could understand him saying, you know
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what, if this is the last time we're in
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scoring position, we got to get 14 cuz
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10 ain't going to cut it today. And
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that's admitting that your backup
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quarterback is just not get going to get
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the job done the rest of the way. It
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could be sheer aggression where you go,
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"Hey, fourth down. Let's go for it
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because we've got momentum and because
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I've got the play and because we can do
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this right now. Keep the pressure on the
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Patriots. We want to be up 14 nothing,
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which is what Payton did admit to after
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the game that he wanted 14- nothing.
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That 10- nothing do for him. 14 nothing
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Okay. But in the Seth Wickerssham
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article where he detailed how Shawn
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Payeyton prepared for the week, Payton
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watched last week's Rams and Bears game
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and said, "Why don't they just kick?"
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When it came to going for it on fourth
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down instead of taking the points. So
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while as a spectator Shawn Payeyton
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would say take the field goal there,
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when it was him in that role, he didn't.
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was it that he wanted to be the reason
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that the Broncos were in a Super Bowl?
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And that's going to haunt me. That's
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going to haunt me because I love a great
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defense. and had you given the Broncos
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defense a 10-point lead
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and just told Jared Sidum, "Do not cough
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the football up." And so maybe you just
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go run punt run punt run punt just to
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make sure that Sidum can't screw it up
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because the turnover that he committed
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on his own 12 yard line is inexcusable,
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absolutely inexcusable and ruined the
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entire day. So that the Broncos defense
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gives up one legitimate scoring drive.
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One in which the Patriots drove 68 yards
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and kicked a 23-yd field goal. Also got
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a controversial fourth down and one,
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which they said was a first down, but
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replays would suggest that maybe Drake
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May didn't get it. The Broncos defense
9:27
did everything they possibly could to
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actually pitch a shutout. everything
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except they had to defend a 12yd field.
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So they give up the seven on the 12-
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yard field and then one more drive that
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included a controversial fourth down
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If you gave the Broncos a 10- nothing
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lead and even when Jarrett did him on
9:52
third and four drops back to pass, you
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go, you know what, it's a draw. On third
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and anything, it's just a draw. We are
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not throwing this football. You're not
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going to fumble this football. We're not
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going to put it in harm's way. The
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Broncos are probably in a Super Bowl.
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But if winning a playoff game
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does Shawn Payeyton feel vindicated in
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his his expertise? Or would that be a
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shut out from Vance Joseph's defense
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that got all the credit? Never going to
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sit right. Never going to sit right with
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me. Never going to sit right. Just kick
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field goals and force the other team to
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have to make plays. Vrabel ultimately
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did that in the fourth quarter.
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Snowstorm came and he said, "We're just
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going to punt it away. We'll run three
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times, punt it away. You do it. You do
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the hard work." Shawn Peyton should have
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said the same thing about the Patriots
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offense. We'll take 10-point lead and
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you do the hard work. Now, thanks for
10:53
watching everybody. Click on this button
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