Broncos’ CB Tony Carter Ready For Bigger Role Against Patriots

Dec 29, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Andre Holmes (18) is unable to gather the ball against Denver Broncos cornerback Tony Carter (32) during the fourth quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Denver Broncos defeated the Oakland Raiders 34-14. (Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports)

With Chris Harris done for the year, the Denver Broncos will need their other cornerbacks to step up. It’s still unknown if the team will move Champ Bailey to the outside or if they’ll keep him in the nickel so he doesn’t have to take on as many plays.

One guy who is expected to take extra reps is four-year veteran Tony Carter. Carter has played in 12 games this season, but the last time he stood eye-to-eye with the New England Patriots, he ran into Ryan Allen’s punt in overtime, which allowed the Patriots to kick in an easy 31-yard field goal to end it.

“We’ve moved past that,” Carter said. “That doesn’t really matter now. Both teams are where they want to be. So this is a big game for us and we’ve moved past what happened weeks ago.”

Okay, so Carter and his teammates have moved past it. Still, Carter is going up against a different beast in Tom Brady, who now has a strong run game supporting him. That means that there’s less pressure on Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola.

Carter, who was inactive last week against the Chargers, had 12 tackles, one interception, and six passes defensed in the regular season.

Brady didn’t throw for a touchdown last week. You don’t really think he’s going to go two weeks in a row without doing so, do you? Carter and the rest of the Broncos defense has a tough job ahead, and one where success will be determined by how much they can limit Brady.

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