The Denver Broncos are back in the divisional round of the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Tom Brady won’t be on the call for the game, but the seven-time Super Bowl champion recently reflected on one of his last postseason memories involving Denver during a segment on Fox Sports. For Broncos fans, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant trip down memory lane.
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Brady recalled the night he dismantled Denver’s defense with one of the sharpest performances of his career. He needed just 26 completions to pile up 363 passing yards and six touchdowns, finishing with a passer rating of 137.6 and only one interception. Every throw seemed effortless. Every mistake was punished.
“They didn’t know how to adjust. We were running the ball, we were throwing the ball. They were totally on their heels… We just kept scoring, drive after drive. I was picking ’em apart. Gronk was catching touchdowns… We were on fire that day.”
By the time the fourth quarter had arrived, the Patriots’ offense had become so overwhelming that the Broncos slowly began to favor a fight over a football game. Frustrations were mounting, and so were the points.
The scoreboard read 42-10 as New England elected to call a timeout on second down, and that’s when Brady had an idea. Knowing that they were likely about to be facing a third-and-long situation that would lead to them punting the ball away, he asked his head coach, Bill Belichick, “what about the quick kick?” in reference to the post-practice QB punting competitions that they had held throughout the regular season.
“He goes ‘Great! Let’s do it,” and that was that. They had their plan in place for fourth down, or at least, that’s what Brady had assumed. “I was thinking we were going to do the quick kick on fourth down, because we’re on the 50-yard line and I want to try to be like ‘oh, we’re disguising it.’ He called the quick kick on third down.””
According to Brady, that’s the working “theory” as to how the Broncos were ultimately pushed over the edge that day. He did admit that it wasn’t his “best kick” by any means, but given what happened directly afterwards, it’s unlikely that anyone remembers his form or ball placement well enough to critique it anyways.
“There was a fight that ensued on our sideline. Of course, all of the linemen are in there… Wendy’s involved. Logan Mankins is involved. It was an absolute melee on the sideline and I was just sitting back watching it all.”
It’s highly doubtful that Belichick will ever take full credit for technically being the one to spark the fire that day, but for better or worse, it’s a moment that’s well in the past. And that’s what the Broncos need to remember ahead of Saturday’s matchup with the Buffalo Bills.
With the benefit of a first-round bye and home-field advantage, this will be their best opportunity at ending a potential decade-long playoff win drought.
Likewise, some success this weekend would also help to further distance the franchise from past trespasses such as these. So even though they are the no. one seed, perhaps there’s a grain of truth to the Broncos’ claim that they are the B side in this “David vs Goliath” match-up.
