New England Patriots: Loss to Broncos Good for Team?

While it is certainly a tough pill to swallow, the New England Patriots loss to the Denver Broncos a good thing for the team.

The New England Patriots lost their first game of the season on Sunday night, a 30-24 overtime defeat to the Denver Broncos. Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler made his second career start, and managed to squeak out a win over Tom Brady and company. The officiating down the stretch certainly seemed to side with the Broncos, but that’s a rant for another day.

The biggest story of the game is probably the injury to Rob Gronkowski, who suffered a seemingly devastating knee injury late in the fourth quarter. The Patriots might have dodged a bullet, as Gronkowski’s injury now does not appear to be serious. At the time however, he looked like he was done.

It was the most frustrating game that the Patriots and the fan base have seen in a while. However, if they escape without major injury losses, this loss benefits the team. It is a game the Patriots should have won, but they didn’t, and it is time to accept that.

No Jamie Collins, Dont’a Hightower goes out in the first half with a knee injury and the Patriots defense managed to hold for most of the game. This is a young defense, with the star cornerback Malcolm Butler only being 25 years old, star pass-rusher Chandler Jones is only 25 as well. Also, the surprise of the season Logan Ryan comes in at 24 years old.

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The loss allows this defense to grow and learn from mistakes they’ve made in a game that they lost, instead of looking at footage of a game they won and thinking what they did was good enough. When the Patriots went 16-0 back in 2007, the defense left a lot to be desired, and they never truly learned because they never lost. This defense is much better, and will have opportunities to learn from their mistakes.

Patrick Chung was called for holding Demaryius Thomas in the end zone (weak call, but again the refs were… having an off night). Chung can go back and watch that tape, he can understand that some crews will call games extremely tight, so even the slightest hold can get a flag tossed out onto the field.

Every single week Tom Brady has lost some type of stud and it’s minimized the amount of targets he can go to, especially during crunch time. Brady is throwing to Brandon LaFell, Scott Chandler and a bunch of completely unproven players. If Gronkowski is out even for a few weeks, it’s up to Scott Chandler to study Gronkowski’s tape and routes in order to attempt to fill the void in Josh McDaniels’ offense.

It’s also an opportunity for youngsters like Chris Harper (whose muffed punt was devastating on Sunday), Brandon Bolden and James White to be more involved in offensive schemes. However, with the Philadelphia Eagles up next week, LeGarrette Blount and the running game might be utilized much more and be able to give the offense more depth.

Next: Three Stars for Pats in Loss to Broncos

This team seemed like it had it all figured out when the offensive weapons were healthy, but this loss brings New England back to earth and the opportunity to get healthy, educate themselves and get into the playoffs with an (almost healthy) roster.

This loss allows the Patriots to learn from their mistakes, and not let it happen again next time. Perhaps even more importantly, it takes the pressure of an undefeated season off the team. It is time to focus on the end goal, another Super Bowl championship in New England.

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