savinnie

My thoughts on the Patriots/Broncos game, Bo Nix’s injury, and Jarrett Stidham: Sean Payton has been highly successful with backup QBs in the past. He went 5-0 with Teddy Bridgewater as the starter in 2019 after Drew Brees got hurt. Not to discredit Bo Nix, but the Broncos offense is driven by Payton’s play-calling, an elite offensive-line, and a clean/efficient brand of football. Losing your starting QB isn’t as detrimental for Denver as it would be for other teams in the NFL (i.e. Bills, Patriots, Chiefs, Bengals, etc.). Jarrett Stidham is also a highly respected backup who has been mastering Payton’s system for the last 3 years. And frankly, it’s almost certain he’ll be playing at a higher-level than CJ Stroud was last week. At the end of the day, the Patriots are still travelling on the road to Denver — a notoriously tough environment to play. Between the altitude, the road noise, and a defense who finished the year 4th in PPG and 5th in YPG, this is still going to be a very formidable test. Before the injury to Bo Nix, I thought the Patriots would win this game regardless, so my prediction remains unchanged. However, I don’t think the QB swap is nearly as much of a limitation for the Broncos as many perceive it to be. The Patriots will still be going on the road against an extremely well-coached opponent who is designed to succeed irrespective of its QB. With that being said: 27-17 Patriots