Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Last year the Broncos amazed both hometown fans and those of other loyalties by racking up eleven straight wins to close the season. That doesn’t mean a whole lot when you choke away your first playoff game but nevertheless that was one of the best regular season runs in the history of the franchise.

Many at the time said the finish was mostly attributable to a weak schedule. Maybe. The AFC West has certainly become the new NFC West (notably the NFC West has become a powerhouse division since 2010) and the Broncos did lose games to eventual playoff teams early. Still, eleven in a row?! In the NFL? That’s really hard to do. The best streak by a Bronco team ever was the 1997-1998 run that saw John Elway finally win a Superbowl and then rattle off 13 straight regular season wins en route to his second championship.

When it comes to regular season wins Peyton Manning lead the Colts to the longest streak in history back in 2008-2009. The Colt’s won 23 straight. Is it possible that he could do something like that again this year in a Broncos’s uniform? Probably not, but he doesn’t need to.

Last year the Broncos opened the first six games of the season against three playoff teams and lost to each one. This year the Broncos have an easier road early, a heightened sense of urgency and a year with Peyton already in the books.

The first four games of 2013 are the Broncos for the taking. A revenge game in Denver against the Ravens, a road game against little brother, Eli Manning in New York, the lowly Raiders at home and then a bout with the Eagles, a team in the middle of a complete overhaul. Sure, the Giant game is the one that most people are pointing to as the potential stumble and that is not a surprise. The Giants are dangerous, plain and simple. No team relishes seeing that unit come up on a schedule. Still, the Broncos are the better team here and though road games are tough, this is one Peyton and the boys need to bring home to set the proper tone going into a must win season.

The next four should be gems! The Cowboys, Jaguars, Colts and Redskins will make for some incredible viewing. On paper, the Jaguars at home shouldn’t be too much work but sandwich them into this line up of four and it gets interesting. Preparing for the Cowboys and then looking ahead at Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III could distract any team. Still, the Broncos SHOULD get that win. It’s getting through the rest of this line up that’s going to be difficult. I wouldn’t expect perfection but would be ecstatic with a 7-1 or 6-2 record at this point in the young season.

Games 9-12 feature a healthy dose of the AFC West. Coming out of a week 9 bye this should be a recipe for success. Denver goes on the road to face the Chargers and gets the mildly improved Chiefs twice in three weeks. However, caught up in the middle of this is a trip to New England. By week 12, both the Broncos and the Patriots should be at full speed and looking at the possibility of having home field throughout the playoffs. This may well prove to be one of the greatest chapters in Peyton Manning’s career long battle with Tom Brady. This match up comes at such a crucial time in the season and both teams are going to need this victory. Win or lose it’s safe to assume the Broncos will stand at 9-3 after this stretch. Anything better will simply be an indication of how sharp this team has become.

The final four games of the 2013 schedule should be the games that once again propel the Broncos into the post season on a hot streak. The Titans and Chargers at home and the Texans and Raiders on the road. The Texans are going back to the playoffs this year but the Broncos need to dispatch this team late in the season. Beating playoff caliber teams in the regular season is the perfect preparation for doing it in the playoffs and we know the Broncos were unable to do that last year. Don’t expect a repeat in 2013.

13-3, again. It looks like a reasonable expectation for a team that has the personnel the Broncos have and the absolute need to win now! It’s certainly a different path to 13 wins but this path should prepare the Broncos to finish what they started in 2012.

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Tom Brady (12) walks off the field after losing to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game at Gillette Stadium. (Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports)

Imagine Tom Brady’s reaction to the news that his favorite receiver is now a Denver Bronco. Stop. Now we don’t have to imagine.

According to Tom E. Curran who covers the New England Patriots for Comcast Sports Net New England, team sources say that Brady is livid.

Remember, Brady took a pay-cut this off season so that the Patriots could re-sign a guy like Welker.

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Demaryius Thomas (88) catches a pass while being defended by New England Patriots safety Sterling Moore (29) during the first quarter at Gillette Stadium. (Stew Milne-US PRESSWIRE)

It was a run-and-gun type of day for the New England Patriots as they hurried up into cutup mode against the Denver Broncos. It wasn’t the 45-10 playoff loss that the Broncos endured last January, but it was a chilling 31-21 loss that was highlighted, for the third time this season, by a fourth quarter comeback fallen short.

Too little, too late has been the name of the game as the Broncos tried to rally back after being down 31-7 until there was 1 minute, 8 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Broncos got to that point because they were unable to stop the Patriots on third down. The Patriots went 11-for-17 on third down with plays of 25 yards on 3rd and 14, 24 yards on 3rd and 1, and 25 yards on 3rd and 12. They also set a franchise record with 35 first downs in the game.

Believe it or not, Peyton Manning had a better game than Tom Brady, statistically. He went 31-for-44 for 345 yards and 3 touchdowns, but fumbled the ball once. That’s good enough for a 116.2 QBR. Brady went 23-for-31 for 223 yards and one touchdown for a 104.6 QBR. He also added a 4-yard rushing touchdown.

This season, Brady hasn’t had to have 300+ yard passing games and three or four touchdown games. That’s because for just the second time in his career, Brady has a legitimate running attack behind him. The Patriots had 111 rushing yards by halftime and 251 rushing yards when all was said and done. Stevan Ridley went of with a career-high 151 yards on 28 carries and a score. Talk about turning a new New England leaf.

While the Broncos couldn’t get points up on the scoreboard in the first half despite crossing the 50-yard line multiple times, it was the ineffectiveness of the defense that really stood out. Wes Welker made second year cornerback Chris Harris look like a dog toy as he got open in the underneath routes multiple times and had 13 receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown.

Jack Del Rio and the Broncos’ coaching staff simply couldn’t come up with an effective game plan for the Patriots passing or rushing attack. We saw linebacker Joe Mays trying to cover Welker, we saw three man blitzes that looked like a walk in the park with Gisele for Brady, and we saw a defense that simply looked run over, worn out, and beat over the head with a musket.

Not all was sour for the Broncos, however. After Demaryius Thomas fumbled for the second week in a row after catching a deep ball, he rallied for 188 yard and 9 catches. He seemed to be the go-to man for Manning down field as the Patriots simply didn’t have an answer for him.

The Broncos were effective on third down also going 7-for-13. They simply just didn’t have the ball in their hands enough. The Patriots dominated the time of possession 35:49 to 24:11.

Von Miller had a huge game with 2 sacks, 4 tackles, and a pass break up. He’s a guy that brings it every game, and on Sunday he seemed to be the only one on defense to show up to play.

Another AFC loss is in the books, but remember despite the 2-3 record, the Broncos are 1-0 in the AFC West. No game is bigger than the next with the team traveling to San Diego for a Monday Night game before getting to their bye week.

This is a loss that needs to be highlighted Sunday night on the 4+ hour flight back from Boston, but it needs to be laid to rest after. There’s too much preparation that needs to go into the next one. A calamity on one coast doesn’t need a sequel on the other coast.

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