After rewatching the 16-3 win over the Broncos, we don’t quite agree with Mr. Harris’s assessment.

Denver cornerback Chris Harris didn’t seem all too impressed with the Patriots’ game plan on Sunday, calling it “probably the simplest Patriots offense they ran.”

Julian Edelman matched up against a linebacker? Denver’s Corey Nelson (52) had no chance on this reception in the second quarter.

The Patriots’ passing concepts were pretty basic, and Tom Brady hardly took any shots down the field or toward the sidelines. But we were impressed with the way offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels exposed a flaw in the Broncos’ defense that enabled the Patriots to start moving the football and put more than enough points on the scoreboard.

Early second quarter, the game is tied 3-3, and Brady still hasn’t completed a pass, starting the game 0 for 6. That’s when McDaniels and the Patriots got creative and took advantage of one aspect of the Broncos’ defense: The Broncos weren’t moving around Aqib Talib and Harris. No matter how the Patriots lined up, the Broncos had Talib at left cornerback and Harris at right cornerback.

So McDaniels found a way to take them out and get favorable matchups for Julian Edelman. McDaniels brought in the heavy personnel, yet lined them up in a spread formation.


On one play, the Patriots had LeGarrette Blount split out wide opposite Talib, blocking tight end Matt Lengel split wide opposite Harris, and Edelman in the slot, matched up against linebacker Todd Davis. Blount and Lengel were obvious decoys — Lengel has not even been targeted on a pass this season, let alone catch one — yet the Broncos were using their best defenders against them. Meanwhile, Davis was no match for Edelman’s speed, and Edelman made an easy catch-and-run over the middle for 12 yards and a first down.

The Patriots also used fullback James Develin split out wide on several plays, drawing Talib out of the action and opening the middle of the field for Edelman.


Edelman caught three passes for 47 yards on that drive, with all three coming against a linebacker. The Patriots drove down the field and punched the ball into the end zone for a touchdown, and the Broncos didn’t make an adjustment until the next defensive series.

The Patriots’ offense didn’t have a whole lot of firepower on Sunday, but it definitely outsmarted the Broncos’ defense.

Other observations:

When the Patriots had the ball

■ The Broncos play a lot of man coverage, and with Brady looking to get rid of the ball before the pass rush got to him, almost every pass was a quick slant, shallow cross, or in-out cut over the middle.

■ Malcolm Mitchell and Chris Hogan played the most snaps (67 and 52, respectively) of the wide receivers but were total decoys, combining for just three targets, and were out there only to take Talib and Harris out of the play. The quick-passing game was enough to keep the chains moving in the second half, and it helped Brady in that he took only five hits all day.

■ The Broncos eventually adjusted by matching up and moving defenders around, putting Harris over to Edelman, Talib on Martellus Bennett and Mitchell, Bradley Roby on Chris Hogan, and T.J. Ward on Dion Lewis and James White. The Broncos also started putting frequent double-teams on Edelman, although he still converted tough third downs against Harris and Talib.

■ This day was all about the little guys. Edelman played 44 snaps and received 12 targets. Lewis was on the field for 28 snaps and had 21 touches and targets. White played 24 snaps and had 11 touches and targets, while Blount played 23 snaps and had 17 touches. Lewis had a tremendous day running between the tackles, picking up 72 yards on 12 carries. And he only had a long of 14, meaning he consistently churned out nice runs.


■ The unsung hero of the day was Develin, who played a career high 43 snaps and was a beast in the run game, taking on defensive linemen and clearing lanes for Lewis and Blount.

The Broncos were often backpedaling at the snap, expecting a pass play, only to have Lewis and Blount hit them with some nice runs. Develin also caught a 13-yard pass when he was supposed to be a decoy, but Edelman was double-covered.

■ Marcus Cannon was excellent at right tackle, keeping Von Miller away from Brady all day.

Cannon often used a technique in which he kept his arms down while blocking Miller, which prevented Miller from grabbing onto Cannon’s arms and launching himself around the right tackle, one of Miller’s common moves. Cannon also handled Shane Ray a few times and did a great job of pushing Miller and Ray downfield past Brady. Cannon had a clean day and drew praise from the coaches.

■ The Broncos also took Miller out of the play.

They had him dropping into coverage nearly a dozen times, as the Broncos rushed three (nine times) more than they blitzed (eight times). Miller is an excellent athlete, but he’s not the best in pass coverage, and he committed a holding penalty. When the Patriots got inside the red zone, the Broncos had Miller drop off and cover Develin instead of chasing after Brady, and Brady found Mitchell for 14 yards. Using the NFL’s best pass rusher to cover a fullback is perhaps not the best use of his skills.


■ Nate Solder was mostly excellent against Ray and DeMarcus Ware, allowing just one pressure by Ware. And Shaq Mason had another great day in the power run game, pulling through the hole with some nice blocks.

But rookie left guard Joe Thuney really struggled. He allowed both sacks, letting Jared Crick twist him into a knot on an outside rush for a strip-sack, then getting beat to the inside by Ray.

Thuney also allowed a run stuff and three pressures, really struggling with the Broncos’ stunts and twists. Center David Andrews also allowed a couple of pressures and a run stuff and had a tough time with Sylvester Williams.

■ Did you see the Patriots’ formation with about 5:40 to go in the first quarter? Yup, they ran the same eligible-ineligible play that they did in the Ravens playoff game two years ago (it just happened to come in a game officiated by Walt Anderson, the Deflategate referee). And it was legal, too.

The Patriots put linebacker Shea McClellin in the “Shane Vereen role” as the ineligible player, took Thuney off the field, put Solder at left guard and Lengel at left tackle, who was eligible. At the snap, McClellin ran backward because he was ineligible, but he still drew Miller over to cover him, taking Miller out of the play.


Meanwhile, Lengel streaked down the field, and the Patriots were hoping he would be wide open, like Michael Hoomanawanui was two years ago. But credit Broncos linebacker Corey Nelson for recognizing the play and covering Lengel, forcing Brady to throw incomplete to Bennett instead.

Why did the Patriots use McClellin in that position? The NFL rule that came in response to the Patriots’ formation makes it illegal for an offensive player with an eligible number to line up outside the tackle box as an ineligible receiver. So a running back, receiver, or tight end couldn’t do it.

But the rule doesn’t say anything about defensive players. And McClellin, a linebacker, does not wear an “eligible” jersey number (No. 58).

■ As an aside, that snap was the first one all year that Thuney has missed. The rookie has now played in 978 of 979 offensive snaps this season.

When the Broncos had the ball

■ Interesting game plan from Matt Patricia. The Patriots have been calling more cornerback blitzes in recent weeks, and Patricia went nuts with five in the first quarter — two each for Logan Ryan and Jonathan Jones, and one for Eric Rowe. They didn’t always work, as Trevor Siemian hit Jeff Heuerman for 31 yards on Rowe’s blitz. But it gave the Broncos something to think about for the rest of the day.

Patricia stopped doing it after the first quarter, settling into a pretty basic two-deep coverage. The Patriots would switch between man and zone coverage, but the premise was the same — take away the deep pass and force Siemian to piece together long drives. The Broncos went five consecutive drives in the second half without gaining a first down. Patrick Chung has improved greatly as a rangy zone safety.

■ The Patriots took advantage of a shaky Denver offensive line, particularly left tackle Donald Stephenson.

Jabaal Sheard owned Stephenson, tossing him aside once for a run stuff and plowing through him three times — once for a sack, once for a holding penalty, and once for an intentional grounding call. Trey Flowers beat Stephenson and Matt Paradis for sacks and should’ve had a third sack after beating Max Garcia off the snap (Malcom Brown cleaned it up).

■ Alan Branch also tossed Paradis around for a run stuff and a batted pass. And the Patriots were creative again with their twists and stunts.

Chris Long got a key pressure on the interior, forcing Siemian to dump off to running back Justin Forsett, who was tackled by Kyle Van Noy for minus-6 yards, knocking the Broncos out of field goal range in the second quarter.

■ On Ryan’s key interception, he and Emmanuel Sanders collided briefly at the top of the route, forcing Sanders to stumble and temporarily lose his concentration. Sanders never saw the ball coming when Ryan stepped right in front of him.

■ Jonathan Jones started the game as the third cornerback but played only 11 snaps, compared with 48 for Rowe, who had an up-and-down day against Demaryius Thomas. The Broncos picked on Rowe a bit, hitting him for two key third-down passes to Thomas, but Rowe also had a beautiful break-up on a deep pass to Thomas that could’ve been a touchdown.

■ Dont’a Hightower was questionable to play with a knee injury, and he didn’t look quite right, getting dominated several times at the point of attack and looking a bit slow. He played 42 of 62 snaps, a lighter workload than usual. And Elandon Roberts played 11 snaps to start the game but was awful in coverage and eventually replaced by Van Noy, who played 51 of 62 snaps and finished with a tackle for loss and a forced fumble.

Special teams

■ Just a solid all-around day. Edelman cleanly fielded all seven punts and had a nice return that moved the ball from the 9 to the 26-yard line. Stephen Gostkowski hit all four kicks (including two field goals of 40-plus), and Ryan Allen had two punts downed at the 7 and one at the 12. And Jonathan Jones did a great job of fighting through Roby to come up with the fumble recovery in the first quarter.