Patriots Set a Franchise Record by Rallying from 24-0 Deficit, Beat Broncos 34-31 in OT

Sunday night's game at Gillette Stadium between the Patriots and Broncos defied explanation. Denver (9-2 overall, 3-2 away) stormed out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and led 24-0 at halftime. New England (8-3 overall, 6-0 home) began by fumbling time after time before playing like a whole different team in the second half. Stephen Gostkowski's 31-yard field goal in overtime was the game-winner as the Pats beat the Broncos 34-31, a victory that will live forever in team lore since it set a record for the largest comeback in franchise history.

Tom Brady (34 of 50, 344 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs) improved to 10-4 in his career vs. Peyton Manning (19 of 36 for 150 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT). It was a throwback to the championship days of the last decade for the Patriots as Brady performed so well in frigid conditions while Peyton wilted in the spotlight. We can only hope that same thing happens in the postseason since these two teams looked destined to meet again come January.

New England's gameplan on defense was obviously to let Knowshon Moreno (career-high 37 carries, 224 yards, 1 TD) run it all the time and contain Denver's lethal passing game. In that sense, mission accomplished. Rookie Logan Ryan even had an interception of Manning.

Stevan Ridley and LeGarrette Blount fumbled on consecutive drives in the first half to they were benched for the rest of the game. Shane Vereen (60 yards receiving, 31 yards rushing) is making a case to start although you have to worry about his injury history. It makes you wonder if Ridley will ever get over this terrible affliction? Wes Welker's (4 catches, 31 yards) return to Foxboro was mostly forgettable save for the fact that the game was basically decided by his mistake. Fielding a punt in OT, he didn't yell at teammate Tony Carter enough so the ball bounced off him and was recovered by Nate Ebner at the Broncos 13. Game over.

After being a non-factor for weeks, Von Miller (8 tackles, 6 solos, 2 sacks, 3 QB hits) is definitely back on his proper "training regimen" (cough, cough). He returned Ridley's fumble 60 yards for a score then forced a Brady fumble that Denver turned into a 2-yard TD run by Moreno. Matt Prater added a 27-yard field goal and Jacob Tamme caught a 10-yard TD in the second quarter for a truly stunning 24-0 Broncos advantage.

With so much hype around Welker and Danny Amendola (3 catches, 17 yards), wouldn't you know the best slot receiver in the game turned out to be Julian Edelman (9 catches, 110 yards; 3 punt returns, 39 yards). He got the rally started with a pretty 5-yard TD catch. Brandon Bolden cut it to 24-14 with a 1-yard TD run. That was set up by Montee Ball's fumble, caused by Dane Fletcher and recovered by Brandon Spikes.

As usual, nobody on the Broncos could contain Rob Gronkowski (7 catches, 90 yards) who caught a 6-yard TD with 19 seconds left in the third quarter. The Pats ended up with 31 unanswered points as the injuries piled up for the Broncos secondary. Edelman put New England ahead 28-24 with a 14-yard catch and run then Gostkowski hit a 31-yard field goal.

The only time Peyton ever looked comfortable was on Denver's final drive of regulation when they tied it on a beautiful 11-yard catch by Demaryius Thomas. Denver lost the coin toss in overtime but the always clever Bill Belichick chose to take the 20+ mph wind, trusting his defense not to allow a TD on the Broncos' first drive (thus ending it).

As of right now, there isn't another team over .500 remaining on New England's schedule. To use Dan Shaughnessy's favorite phrase, it's one tomato can after another. This means that the Patriots will win the AFC East for the millionth time in a row (duh), get the No. 2 seed and go from there. Truthfully, in the AFC who do you fear besides the Broncos? I say nobody. Tonight's incredible win, especially the way it played out should go a long way for this team (and hopefully have the opposite effect on Denver).

Next Sunday (1, CBS), New England visits Houston (2-9, 3rd in AFC South) who have lost their last seven games in a row including 13-6 today at Reliant Stadium vs. similarly hapless Jacksonville.

UPDATE 11/26: The Patriots made a bunch of minor roster moves today. They signed tight end D.J. Williams and released defensive tackle Marcus Forston. Defensive tackle A.J. Francis was claimed by the Dolphins from New England's practice squad. Finally, the Pats waived cornerback Justin Green but he has practice squad eligibility so he should be back there and they tried out former offensive lineman Nick McDonald. Got that all?

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Patriots Get Up Big (31-7), Hang On For 31-21 Win Vs. Peyton & The Broncos

The bottom line is that Tom Brady and the Patriots improved to 9-4 all-time against Peyton Manning. New England (3-2, 1-1 home) beat his new team-Denver (2-3, 0-2 away) 31-21 this afternoon at Gillette Stadium in a contest that went from blowout to somewhat of a nail biter thanks to two TDs by the Broncos.

For everything that the Pats did right, building up a 31-7 lead late in the third quarter, they had to sweat it out a bit in the fourth quarter after Stevan Ridley (28 carries, 151 yards, TD) ruined his perfect day with a costly fumble. Thankfully, Willis McGahee (51 rushing yards, 51 receiving yards) was in a giving mood as well, Rob Ninkovich forced his second fumble of the game and Jermaine Cunningham fell on it to wrap it up.

Manning (31 of 44, 345 passing yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT) and Brady (23 of 31, 223 passing yards, 1 TD, 0 INT) had solid performances but Denver overshadowed it with three costly fumbles and New England put up 251 rushing yards as a team. When's the last time the Patriots had more rushing yards than passing yards in a game?

Brandon Bolden (54 yards rushing) and Danny Woodhead (47 rushing yards, 25 receiving yards) were sprinkled into the playcalling wisely by Josh McDaniels. Wes Welker (13 catches, 104 yards, TD) scored his first touchdown of the season with his mortal enemy Julian Edelman still sidelined with a hand injury.

Demaryius Thomas (9 catches, 188 yards) is a beast and Peyton is helping him become one of the NFL's top receivers but he needs to cut down on his fumbles. Today's fumble after a 43-yard catch and run was his third consecutive game with a fumble. Props though to Patriots cornerback Sterling Moore who chased him down (after getting beaten deep), knocking it loose then recovering it.

The other fumble was from Manning and Vince Wilfork recovered it after Ninkovich drilled Peyton. Jerod Mayo (13 tackles, sack) also played well for the Patriots defense that was superb, until the last quarter or so. Broncos linebacker Von Miller had eight tackles, two sacks, five tackles for loss and a pass deflection.

Welker's 8-yard touchdown catch were the only points of the first quarter. Denver tied it at seven early in the second quarter after Devin McCourty's standard pass interference (not turning his head at all) penalty put the ball on the 1-yard line. Joel Dreessen caught the 1-yard score from Manning.

Of course with all the weapons New England possesses in the running game at the moment, Shane Vereen would be the one to get a 1-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter that made it 14-7. It was his only touch of the game and first score of the season. The Pats could have gone up two touchdowns heading into halftime but they were stuffed twice on runs at the goalline and had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski.

In the third quarter, Brady got in on the fun with a 1-yard sneak and Ridley's touchdown had everybody thinking about the two Patriots blowouts vs the Broncos last season. If nothing else, Peyton is not Tim Tebow which means Denver still had some hope to rally. Eric Decker made an amazing 2-yard touchdown catch late in the third quarter and Brandon Stokley (yes, he's still in the NFL) cut it to 31-21 with a 5-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

The Patriots' tour of the NFC West continues on Sunday (4:05 p.m., CBS) with a game at CenturyLink Field against the Seahawks (3-2, 2-0 home). Seattle has a big homefield advantage although we all know they should have lost to the Packers in Week 3's debacle that was the swan song for the replacement refs. Pete Carroll's team doesn't have many weapons on offense and rookie quarterback Russell Wilson has struggled but their defense is legit and their home crowd makes a ton of noise so that game won't be easy by any means.

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