Denver Broncos at New England Patriots Week 6 preview
By Tylor Walden
Key Matchups
Phillip Lindsay vs. Patriots front seven
Phillip Lindsay will be making his return to the starting lineup for the first time since suffering a turf toe injury in the first game of the season. His abilities as a runner will be needed. While the Patriots do have a solid defense, the Broncos can exploit one weakness. That being the run defense.
New England allows an average of 115.2 yards per game on the ground. Those numbers are good for 18th in the league. If the Broncos can find a way to exploit that and chew up some clock, it could get interesting.
Jerry Jeudy vs. Stephon Gillmore
The thought is that the Patriots will want to put their best cornerback on a rookie that is looking good in his first few games. Gillmore is one of the most well-known shutdown corners in the league. Jerry Jeudy will look to beat you with his speed.
The question is will the speed win out? My hope is that it does for this game. Denver is going to need all of the help they can get to win this game.
X-Factors
Broncos: Jake Butt
The Broncos will be without Noah Fant for this game due to an ankle injury he suffered a few weeks ago against the New York Jets. While Nick Vannett will look to get the start, I could see Jake Butt getting a few passes thrown his way as well.
He has been one of the feel good stories in Denver as he has tried to return from one injury after another. With Jeudy and Tim Patrick getting most of the attention from the Patriots secondary, it could help Lock as he returns from his injury.
Patriots: Devin Asiasi
Denver has struggled defending against the tight end. Over the past few years, the Patriots have had Rob Gronkowski to become that security blanket. Not to mention he can bully his way to a first down or a touchdown. Now that he is no longer in Boston, the team needs a new tight end to help out. Enter the UCLA Bruin rookie.
Asiasi has a good chance to break out and become a solid contributor to the team. This would be a great game for him to do so. Let us see how he does. With Ryan Izzon starting, it might take some time. But there is a chance he can be a supporting cast.