I'm Off The Kool Aid

Well, in 11 months of Running Up The Score, there has never been a day quite like today. I don't think I've ever done two posts in one day and I've never picked against the Patriots. That all comes crashing down today. Times, they are a changin'.

Yes, folks, I'm picking the Broncos to come in to Foxboro stadium and rip the heart out of this New England Patriots football team tonight on national televsion. I'm not even making you read all the way to the bottom of this post to get my pick. In fact, anyone who thinks that this Patriots team has a chance at winning this game is insane in the membrane.

Here are the only stats that you need to know heading into this game. And just for fun, I'm doing it Jeopardy style.

Answer 1: The Denver Broncos

Question 1: What is the only team in the National Football League to have a winning record against the New England Patriots since 2001? And for the record, the Broncos have won five of six games during that span. So even when the Patriots have been dominating their opponent, the Broncos have still owned the Patriots.

Answer 2: 69, 86, 48 and 67

Question 2: What are the percentage of passes that the Patriots have allowed the opposing team to complete the last four games? You're not winning games when you give up that many pass plays, especially long ones like they did last week against the Chargers.

Answer 3: 1,694 yards and 12 TDs vs. 1,163 yards and 5 TDs.

Question 3: How do tonight's starting quarterbacks, Jay Cutler and Matt Cassel, stack up against each other?

Answer 4: 166 vs. 89

Question 4: How many points have the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots scored this year respectively? Remember last year when the Patriots put up 89 points by halftime? That was fun. We should try that again.

Okay, it's time for Final Jeopardy. The answer is 14 of 56. You've got thirty seconds starting now. . . .

The correct question: How many times have the Patriots gone three and out during the Matt Cassel era this year? With some quick math, I determined that's 25 percent of the time. By comparison, last year the Patriots went three and out on 26 of their 170 possessions for a 15 percent frequency.

When you add all of these stats up, I think we're going to get a high flying offense coming in to prey on a low flying defense. In fact, I'm not even sure it can be called defense. It may be worth it to just put orange cones or barrels in the backfield and see if that works better than Deltha O'Neil and Rodney HGHarrison.

Look, I consider myself to be a realistic person. I try to look at things objectively and come to a conclusion. And that's exactly what I've done here: Broncos 38 Patriots 16 and I have no confidence that New England could score 16 points if their lives depended on it.