Josh McDaniels, Underdog Broncos Land Major Blow With Upset of Patriots

DENVER -- After both teams had rerouted receivers enough, inserted personnel groupings aplenty, forced an underneath, long-haul offensive game and pushed the matchups gimmicks to the edge, only one team had one extra play in it. One extra kick.

And that was the Broncos.

It was a 20-17 overtime victory for Denver here against the mighty New England Patriots that legitimized the Broncos' now 5-0 season. After all, the Patriots were favored to dump the Broncos in their own yard at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium.

"None of us liked being the underdog at home,'' Broncos receiver Jabar Gaffney said. "It was important to set the record straight on that.''

The Broncos had beaten the Bengals and Browns and Raiders and Cowboys. But the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick, the mentor of new Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, would serve as a different measuring stick.

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen used the word "legitimize'' in the locker room afterward.

Anyone watching McDaniels after this victory -- pumping his fist in the air, milking the crowd, eagerly showing his enthusiasm and just what this victory meant -- knew that McDaniels gained something special from it, too.

You'd be a fool not to realize it meant a little more to him,'' Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey said. "It means a lot anytime you beat somebody who means a lot to you.''

Gaffney, who has played for both coaches, added: "(McDaniels) was hyped. It was big. He thinks the world of Belichick. And now he has beaten him.''

Even McDaniels later fessed up about how this game would prove a test to what he brought to Denver and how it would work against the man who taught him. McDaniels said about it being just another game: "I lied.''

We already knew.

So did Bowlen.


He saw his young coach's fist-pumping antics and leap into his players' arms after Matt Prater nailed a 41-yard field goal in a game that took 64 minutes and 51 seconds to finish. One that left the Patriots 3-2.

"It does legitimize us now,'' Bowlen said. "When I sat down with Josh, an hour into the interview, I saw that same enthusiasm and excitement. Give him five more years and maybe he will grow up.''

Dawkins countered, "Naw. We'll take him just as he is. I was convinced when he came here that he would do great. I remember the great chess matches we had with him when I was in Philadelphia with (then-Eagles defensive coordinator) Jim Johnson. It was back and forth, you counter this with that. A lot of that was going on out there today.''

Belichick said the Broncos, McDaniels' Broncos, gave the Patriots matchup issues.

"That's a good football team,'' Belichick said. "There were a lot of substitutions and a lot of tying to match up. They do a good job of moving people around and creating tough matchups.''

New England jumped to a 17-7 halftime lead.

But in the second half and overtime the Patriots were held scoreless. They were 0-for-7 on third-down conversions.
"You'd be a fool not to realize it meant a little more to him. It means a lot anytime you beat somebody who means a lot to you."
-- Champ Bailey
"While the Patriots' offense was melting, the Broncos' offense picked and plucked away. It produced a 12-play, 66-yard drive midway through the third quarter that resulted in a field goal and cut New England's lead to 17-10. It tied the game on a 12-play, 98-yard fourth-quarter drive that was capped by Brandon Marshall's 11-yard scoring catch. And its winning field-goal drive in overtime was 11 plays for 58 yards.

It was orchestrated by quarterback Kyle Orton, who threw some nice balls in some tight spots and kept reading the jumbled Patriots defense to find just the right matchup. On his two scores it was Marshall, this beast of a receiver in man coverage who he mangled his defender at the goal line both times. On several gains for first downs it was Orton to receiver Eddie Royal, who was masterful underneath in his 10-catch, 90-yard day.

"We have a good thing going right now,'' Orton said.

Royal outplayed the Patriots' Wes Welker, who usually stars in the underneath role.

Orton outplayed Tom Brady.

This is what McDaniels meant when he shipped Jay Cutler out and opted for Orton. This is what he wanted. A quarterback who will put the ball where McDaniels wants it, into the hands of the player he wants it, where the design calls exactly for that. Little of the freelancing, please. Do your job.

Orton did.

He was 35-of-48 for 330 passsing yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Brady threw for only 215 yards.

"The whole second half,'' said Bailey, "the defensive game plan became more about getting to Brady. I think that changed the game in our favor. We started making him move more and rush more throws.''

And that happened the last time the Patriots had the football with a meaningful chance to win it, with 1:37 left in regulation. They were at the Denver 49, a second-and-8 play. Defensive end Vonnie Holliday crashed through and sacked Brady for a 6-yard loss, Brady fumbled and the Broncos snatched it.

For overtime, the Patriots called tails.

It was heads.

Broncos ball.

Wham, bam, kick, game.

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"Huge, it's my first one,'' McDaniels said about winning the overtime coin flip. "We wanted to be aggressive. We weren't going to sit there and be careful in overtime. We wanted to throw the ball at them and try to move it down there and not let them have the ball. I think that's the best formula to use against Tom Brady and the Patriots.''

It also happens to be the best formula to use against Belichick.

Beat him to the punch. In this instance, the kick.

Legitimized. On all fronts.

What a mountain climbed by the Broncos. They beat New England despite losing the turnover battle 2-1. The Patriots were 53-0 in games where they had won the turnover battle. That string stretched back to 2002.

McDaniels knew this was extraordinary. He said he was fist-pumping, in particular, toward the upper tier box in the stadium where his family sits.

"It doesn't mean much if you can't share it with somebody,'' he said.

McDaniels and Belichick used to share these kinds of moments.

No more. They are opposites now. Surely, they will meet again. There will be more scores to settle.

But McDaniels can always remember he landed the first punch.

A knockout.