Broncos secondary, John Fox with his idiotic/conservative play calling, and then perhaps Manning should take the blame, in that order. Let's not forget, he has never played well in cold weather, and today was no exception.
A NE-GB SB is still a possibility, so all is not lost yet.
If Denver had defeated the Rwanda Ravens, I’d have been rooting for New England to edge out Houston tomorrow and then to defeat Denver in a high-scoring affair next week.
As Don mentioned, the Patriots and Broncos have the whitest offenses the league has seen in 25 years of play, with the only difference being that New England’s offense features an all-white offensive line, while Denver has bookend sumos at tackle.
The Texans may have been sleep-walking for the past few weeks, but a New England victory is far from assured. Since winning the final championship of their “dynasty†in 2004-2005, Brady and New England have generally played poorly in the playoffs, even during their undefeated 2007 season. Thankfully, even if the Patriots lose tomorrow, Houston remains a team loaded with white offensive (Daniels, Walter, Graham, Casey) and defensive (Watt, Crick, Cody, Barwin, Reed, Ruud, etc) talent. As long as one of these teams defeats the Ravens, it’ll be a positive development for our cause.
As for the NFC…Green Bay is a team far removed from their 2010 Championship roster, which was the most white-friendly in the NFL. The all-white offensive line has been “sumo-ized,†Brett Swain, Spencer Havner, and Korey Hall have been purged and John Kuhn isn’t permitted to run the ball as he did that season. Defensively, Matt Wilhelm and Brady Poppinga have been purged, and Frank Zombo is no longer a starter. That said, Green Bay is still miles ahead of San Francisco, Atlanta, and Plantation Pete’s Seattle-based squad.
Best case scenario in the NFC – Green Bay vs. Atlanta