Week Six Live Blog: New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos

After a forced Week Five bye, the Patriots and Broncos will finally face-off at Gillette Stadium today, a beautiful and crisp fall day in New England. With that comes the return of FPC with our Week Six Live Blog. Cam Newton returns from his Covid-forced absence, but some others (Shaq Mason, Derek Rivers) are on the Covid list for today, so the Patriots are still impacted by the seemingly never-ending virus. Even with these losses, the return of Newton is a game-changer in a must-win game for the Patriots. The Broncos, although talented, are a very young team that the Patriots should have the upper hand against, but Denver has always given the Patriots trouble, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they did again today.

With six minutes to go before kickoff, now is the time to hit the bathroom, grab a drink and some food, and open up that tab with the Week Six Live Blog on auto-refresh. Enjoy the game!

FIRST QUARTER

15:00- Lindsay runs for four on 1st down; 2nd & 6…

14:21- Patrick with the catch and of 40 on the big play; 1st & 10 from the NE 30…

14:00- Gain of three by Lindsay; 2nd & 7…

13:12- Awful DPI call averted; 3rd & 7…

13:07- Pass to Juedy is incomplete; McManus in for the 45-yard attempt…which is good. One big play gives the Broncos three and the lead to open the game. Broncos 3, Patriots 0

12:57- Newton hands off to Damian Harris and he runs for six; 2nd & 4…

12:11- Harris for two; 3rd & 2…

11:28- Newton gains 12 on the bootleg; 1st & 10…

10:51- Harris runs for six more; he runs hard. 2nd & 4…

10:13- Harris tripped up after a gain of two; 3rd & 2…

9:33- Interception, Broncos. Great play on the deflection. Remember, and I tried to point this out- the Broncos ALWAYS give the Patriots trouble. 1st & 10 from the NE 33…

9:22- Lindsay for a gain of four; 2nd & 6…

8:48- Lindsay runs for four; 3rd & 2…

8:10- The Broncos continue to attack Jonathan Jones with no luck; McManus again hits the field goal, this time from 44 yards out. Broncos 6, Patriots 0

7:59- Olszewski with a return out to the 32; 1st & 10…

7:49- White with the catch on the screen and a gain of 13; 1st & 10…

7:05- Harris with another strong run; 2nd & 4…

6:26- Harris for no gain; 3rd & 4…

5:40- White with the catch and gain of 10; 1st & 10…

5:00- Burkhead gains two on the run; 2nd & 8…

4:17- Newton holds onto the ball after getting hammered but he fell into Eluemanor, who looked like he was hurting pretty bad. 3rd & 18…

3:50- Shovel pass to White for a gain of seven; the Patriots will punt…fair catch at the nine. 1st & 10, Broncos…

2:51- Gain of seven through the air; 2nd & 3…

2:23- Freeman runs for two yards; 3rd & 1…

1:39- Freeman runs for 11 on the counter; 1st & 10…

:57- Gain of three; 2nd & 7…

:16- Lindsay runs for nine and another first down, and the first quarter has been officially DOMINATED by the Broncos. It’s not surprising when a team can barely practice for almost two weeks; That is the end of one. Broncos 6, Patriots 0

SECOND QUARTER

15:00- Gain of 18 on the catch as the Broncos move at will; 1st & 10 from the NE 40…

14:13- J.C. Jackson with the nice PBU on the deep pass to the end zone; should have been picked. 2nd & 10…

14:08- Lindsay runs for two tough yards; 3rd & 8…

13:28- 27 more for Cunningham; 1st & 10 and the Broncos are at the Patriots 12…

12:46- Freeman runs for three; 2nd & 7. Adam Butler is down and it doesn’t look good. That would be a huge loss for the Patriots defensive line…

12:22- Incomplete pass; 3rd & 7…

12:17- Incomplete and once again the Patriots hold the Broncos to just three points. Red zone defense has kept the Patriots in this game; Broncos 9, Patriots 0

12:07- Bad decision to return that kickoff by Olszewski; 1st & 10 from the NE 19…

11:59- Byrd with the catch and fumble; gain of seven; 2nd & 3…

11:13- Izzo makes the catch and gain of 10, but on the tackle he got his knee buckled badly; that does NOT look good. 1st & 10…

11:00- Burkhead loses one; 2nd & 11…

10:15- Izzo with the catch; he got LUCKY to be not hurt; 3rd & 1…

9:30- Newton gains two on the sweep; 1st & 10…

8:46- Newton runs for two; 2nd & 8…

7:59- Zuber with the catch and run for 15; 1st & 10…

7:27- Harris with the catch and run for 14; 1st & 10 at the Denver 23…

6:52- Bad snap, loss of 15 yards. That is a killer right there. 2nd & 25 from the 38…

5:57- Byrd gains 12; 3rd & 13..

5:24- The Patriots can’t handle pressure right now, there is simply no protection.

5:20- Field goal, Patriots! They get on the board with a 41-yard field goal by Folk cuts the Denver lead to six. Broncos 9, Patriots 3

5:13- Denver will start at their own 15 after the bad decision to return the kick; 1st & 10, Denver…

5:01- 20-yard run by Lindsay; 1st & 10…

4:20- Lindsay runs for two; 2nd & 8…

3:36- 17 more through the air to Patrick; 1st & 10…

2:56- Pass is thrown out of bounds; 2nd & 10…

2:51- Jet sweep for nine; 3rd & 1…

2:17- Run for three by Freeman; 1st & 10 as we hit the two-minute warning. The defense needs to stop the run or this is going to be a long day. 1st & 10…

2:00- Lindsay gains six even when the Patriots have seven guys up; that is not a good sign. 2nd & 4…

1:16- Same exact thing. Seven guys up and Denver just pushes them back from a gain of five. 1st & 10…

:35- Incomplete pass as the Patriots defense looks alive on that play; 2nd & 10…

:29- SACK! Simon makes the play and pushes the Broncos back 13 yards; 3rd & 23, timeout, Broncos.

:24- No gain after a great play by Adrian Phillips; 4th & 23…

:19- Field goal, Broncos. McManus hits from 52 yards out; Broncos 12, Patriots 3

:18- Newton takes a knee and we’ll head to halftime. The Broncos dominated, but they only lead by nine. The Patriots passing game and run defense need to come to life if they expect to win this game. Denver 12, New England 3

HALFTIME

15:00- Harris runs for four yards; 2nd & 6 from their own 28. Go to Harris!

14:19- No gain by Burkhead; the line is an issue. 3rd & 7…

12:39- Newton gets hammered and this offensive line is becoming a problem. Truth is they are missing three starters, which is hard to overcome. 4th & 12…

11:53- Jeudy gains 16 on the crossing route; 1st & 10, Jeudy got dinged up…

11:12- Gain of one by Lindsay; 2nd & 9…

10:33- SACK!! Bentley gets to Lock on the blitz and it’s a loss of 12. 3rd & 21, Patriots need to get this stop…

9:46- Yuck. A gain of 35 by Patrick. The Patriots can’t put it together today. 1st & 10…

1:47- Sorry for the technical difficulties. We return with a catch and fumble by Ryan Izzo. Rough day, I can’t say that enough.

:37- The Patriots defense held again, but McManus connected again for the 6th time today. Broncos 18, Patriots 3

:28- Interception, Broncos. Another tipped pass, another possession ended. Just a really tough day for the New England offense.

FOURTH QUARTER

13:40- White runs for one on 2nd down; 3rd & 4…

12:46- Terrible spot on the run by White. That needs to be challenged. 4th & 1 and the Patriots will punt again. Yuuuuuck.

11:30- No gain on the run sets up another 3rd & long for Denver…

10:48- Good spot for Denver but it’s 4th & 1…

10:14- It appeared to be roughing the punter and there was interference with the returner, but Slater avoided the punter. The Patriots offense will have decent field position as they start from their own 35.

10:00- Gain of 19, Patriots moving…

9:36- Newton runs for 37 and the Patriots are finally in the red zone. 1st & Goal from the eight…

9:15- White for one, 2nd & Goal…

8:45- Newton for five, ball at the one; 3rd & Goal…

8:33- Newton looked like he extended the ball over for six, but they called him down. It SHOULD be reviewed…and it will be.

8:33- Touchdown, but instead of kicking the one, they went for two!?! Bad mistake by Belichick. Sorry, that was wrong. That can’t be argued, that was a mistake. Broncos 18, Patriots 9

8:08- Lindsay runs for nine; 2nd & 1…

5:15- INTERCEPTION, PATRIOTS! J.C. Jackson caught it at that time, and the Patriots are set up at the Broncos 25.

5:07- Newton is swarmed and sacked for a loss of five; 2nd & 15

3:52- Newton runs for 12 on 3rd & 17 and Folk will come on the attempt the field goal…

3:23- FIELD GOAL, PATRIOTS! Folk connects from 38 to make it a one-score game. Belichick’s mistake doesn’t matter. Broncos 18, Patriots 12

3:!4- INTERCEPTION, PATRIOTS!! Jones with the play and the Patriots actually have a chance.

3:09- Incomplete, scary pass. 2nd & 10…

2:57- Throwback from Edelman to White for 22 yards…

2:30- Incomplete, 2nd & 10…

2:25- White gains six on the reception; 3rd & 4 from the Denver 44…

2:17- White looked like he had it but he simply does not break tackles; 4th & 1…

2:00- Newton gains FIVE on the QB sneak. Holy crap. 1st & 10 and the Patriots appear ready to steal this game from the young Broncos. Two-minute warning…

1:55- Loss of two by White; 2nd & 12…get it down the field!

1:17- Cam Newton makes the catch on the end around throw from Edelman; this is interesting. 1st & 10 from the Denver 24…

1:14- Incomplete, 2nd & 10…

1:09- Newton sacked again because he held the ball; 3rd & 16…

1:03- White gains six on the jet wheel route; 4th & 10…

:59- Incomplete to Harry, who appeared to be wide open, but Newton had no room to throw and he wasn’t accurate. That’ll essentially end the game. The offense simply didn’t do enough for the Patriots to win this game.

FINAL SCORE- DENVER BRONCOS 18, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 12

Please join us again next week when the Patriots take on the talented but banged-up 49ers. Have a great week!