The Denver Broncos are preparing to fight for the AFC title without their star-quarterback Bo Nix. He is out and the expected recovery time will be 4-6 months for that fractured ankle. It is Jarrett Stidham’s
time to shine. With the New England Patriots coming to town, the focus has shifted all the way to game preparation.
I caught a post over on Pats Pulpit today talking about how the Patriots intend to prepare to play at elevation. Two things stood out to me that I thought would be fun for us Broncos fans to discuss this morning.
The first was the actual plan from head coach Mike Vrabel for dealing with elevation.
“Other than going out there last Thursday, which wouldn’t have been an ideal situation considering we had to play last night, but I think just physiologically you have to be at altitude for longer than a day or two or three,” Vrabel said. “It takes time to do that. So, we’ll do what we’ve always done. We’ll travel, be in condition and be ready to play. That’s kind of about what it is.”
That is the typical strategy. They’ll come out on Saturday and play on Sunday. This is a tried and true strategy. One that has given the Broncos an historical homefield advantage, but as Vrabel said, there isn’t much they can do about it anyway.
The part the got me was what safety Craig Woodson had to say about playing the Broncos in Denver.
“Our record says it. We’re 8-0 on the road. So, I don’t think there’s anything that we really need to change up,” Woodson said. “We’ve had success on the road. We’re going to continue to have success. So, I don’t think we need to change up anything. We just prepare like we usually do and we’ll be ready.”
With no Bo Nix, I am sure the young guys on that roster may be assuming victory. While Nix was a huge part of each and every comeback win, the whole team rallied and made the plays. I think they might be a bit more dangerous than any road game the Patriots have faced — even with Nix out of the remainder of the season.
What do you think about these comments? I feel like they come off a bit overconfident. Their fans certainly believe a blowout road win is assured…
