(Yeah, you wre-eh-eck me)

Now that the NFL’s most annoying mullet-haired usurpers have begun their downward spiral to a wildcard appearance (and loss) and a barbeque-induced coma, our beloved Broncos can turn their attention to harsher trials:

The Foxboro Monkey on Peyton’s Back –  2-8 career

I’ll begin by extolling our coaching staff.  The Denver Broncos have a terrific set of coaches from top to bottom that have done an exemplary job developing unheralded players, making an extremely young team play consistently good football (teams this young are generally quite inconsistent, a testament to our coaches and veteran leadership), and have generally been utilized to their strengths and placed in position to succeed.

With that being said, the NFL is not about “You’re great!” in a vacuum.  The NFL is about “Are you better than the guy across the field from you?”  Against Billiam Belichick, the Denver Broncos largest hurdle to overcome will be their coaching disadvantage.

Banged up secondary?  Missing key players in their front seven?  Belichick will devise something new and something effective… respectively, at least.  After all, while Belichick’s genius may slow the offense, particularly in the first half, the talent level between the Broncos’ offense and the Patriots’ devastated defense will likely remain too insurmountable to stop, though Billip Seymour Hoffman’s crew is likely to get some assistance from near freezing temperatures.

And while it’s nearly impossible for me to speculate what Belichick plans to do to combat his talent disadvantage, we can speculate on the other matchups manifesting themselves as a team sport.

McDaniels versus Jack Del Rio: Round 3

McDaniels kicked off the end of his career as an NFL headcoach by losing the Denver Broncos 2009 season opener to Jack Del Rio’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

McDaniels battled JDR again early last year earning his first vsJDR victory.

Now McDaniels tries to break the tie while Jack Del Rio says, “Is this guy serious?  Is he even an adult?” and stoops wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy down to pat him on his head.

Gronkowski, Vereen and Amendola

All three of New England’s primary threats in this game are primarily midfield threats.  The play of Dominique Rogers-Cromartie and Kayvon Webster provide Denver with an exterior matchup advantage that makes the Patriots’ wide receivers an ancillary issue.

So how does Denver stress coverage in the middle?  They don’t change a thing.

Denver has a solid back 7 that strives and thrives on lining up against their opponent and playing their game.  For Denver, that’s primarily man coverage.  Amendola has been a very good player for New England, as has Chris Harris for Denver—and Wes Welker just might have some pointers for him.  Shane Vereen and Gronkowski are matchup nightmares for linebackers, while Wesley Woodyard and Trevathan have been giving offensive coordinators chills.  Nacho is physical enough to step to the line of scrimmage and run with any tight end, especially with help over the top—albeit missing Moore (Mike Adams likely to step into his starting role while Jammer or Bruton fill in with Adams in two-deep safety looks while Nacho is at the LOS lined up on the tight end).

Expect Miller to spend some of his focus getting hands on backs or tight ends as they try to release before pass rushing.  Expect Miller to also get more than enough pass rushing opportunities to get to the quarterback.

Expect an incredible matchup as Manning vs Brady always is.

And expect a win (by 7+).

Ultimately, Peyton has simply put his penis in even more professional football player’s butts than Kerry Rhodes.

Figuratively, of course.  In the literal sense, Brady definitely has him beat.

Free Money (If you thought I was gonna get this trainwreck turned around: guess again!)

Chargers +4.5

Carolina -4

Dallas +2.5

Denver -2.5

Cumulative Record: 14-25 (0 right the week before and 1-4 last week.  Anyone betting against me, you owe me a new car.)

 That’s Good Broncos (This week’s episode featuring a dirty joke by me)