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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- What should have been Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning XVII has become Brady vs. Osweiler I. That's Brock Osweiler, the apparent heir apparent to the starting quarterback job in Denver whenever Manning begins his five-year countdown to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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What was supposed to be a battle of two high-powered offenses with potential AFC postseason ramifications has become a contest between the top two scoring defenses in the NFL in 2015.
While Sunday night's meeting between the Patriots (10-0) and Broncos (8-2) remains a marquee matchup, it's not quite the game the football world expected when the schedule was released last spring.
Peyton Manning is dealing with multiple issues, most notably a foot injury that has him in a walking boot and elevated Osweiler to the starting job in the Rocky Mountains.
On the other sideline, Brady is dealing with a slew of injuries to his key pass-catchers that already sidelined Dion Lewis (IR/ACL) and Julian Edelman (foot/6-8 weeks), while Danny Amendola is dealing with a sprained knee that could keep him from this AFC butting of heads that could still have playoff seeding ramifications.
With its offense facing the NFL's No. 1 passing defense and No. 2 unit in points allowed after a season-low 20 points on Monday night, the New New England defense might try to carry more of the load starting this week and moving forward.
"For us defensively, every time we step on the field we're just worried about trying to stop our opponent," Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said. "I think one of the things I try to do here is play a team game and we understand that we've got to do our job first and foremost and everyone else around us will do their job. That's the most important thing for us.
"We can't control anything else other than what we can control, so when we step out on the field we're just trying to stop our opponent no matter what the situation is. It's a team game. That's what's so great about this game is there are different highs and lows for everybody on the field and everyone takes care of each other and goes out and works as hard as they can. That's what we're trying to get done. For us, we're just focused on the opponent's offense and trying to stop them. That's hard enough for us."
And while Patricia's troops are trying to keep Osweiler, Demaryius Thomas and the rest of the Broncos in check, Brady will have his hands full with the Denver defense.
"They've got very talented players - they've got them in the front, they've got them in the linebacking corps, they've got them in the secondary," New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.
"This is as deep a team as we'll play, as talented a team as we'll play, and coach (Wade) Phillips (defensive coordinator) usually does a tremendous job in putting those guys in position to do things that they do very well. So they're going to put pressure on you to try and execute. They don't give up very many easy plays. They certainly don't give up many big plays. They try to create turnovers, and they do a great job of that. So this is a game where you certainly have to try and limit your mistakes as best you can. You have to try to stay out of long-yardage situations, which is difficult because they do a good job of trying to stop the run, getting after the quarterback. So it's going to be a challenge on every play to execute and identify what they're doing and try to continue to make positive plays and move the football on Sunday night."
New England's offense is trying to transition through injuries and continue to produce. The Patriots' defense is trying to prove week after week that it's a complementary part of the team's championship plan, and maybe even more than that.
New England is undefeated and yet battling through plenty of issues. On-field production and overall mental toughness are being challenged across the board. That is usually how the long season plays out in the NFL, even for the best teams in the league.
"I don't think there's any way to understate the importance of mental toughness," head coach Bill Belichick concluded. "It's a long season. Every game is competitive. Every team has got good players, good coaches, good schemes. There are always challenges to overcome every week. Every day is a competitive challenge to try to prepare harder and better and do more than your opponent is, even though you're not facing them on the other side of the field yet.
"So it's not easy and mental toughness is a big part of that, being able to sustain it, deal with whatever the ups and downs are, whatever the distractions are, all the things that could get in the way of your performance, some of which are out of our control, controlling the ones we can control but not getting distracted by the ones that are out of our control and doing a good job with all those things, too. I don't think that can be understated."
Through it all, certainly many fans, and players, can't help wonder what might have been.
Brady has faced off with Manning 16 times. But with Manning battling injuries and his future uncertain, the two will not see each other this Sunday and may never play against each other again. While Brady has his hands full with the Broncos' defense, he did acknowledge it will be different not seeing Manning on the other side.
"Truthfully, I haven't thought about that much. It's a lot of work preparing for this defense. You're right, I don't play against that other side of the ball," Brady said before going on to talk about his future Hall of Fame rival.
"I mean, there's nobody that has more respect for Peyton than me outside of probably his parents and his brothers. If anybody can appreciate what he's accomplished it's me, so he's just been remarkable in every part of his career. He's been a tremendous player. It's unfortunate."
SERIES HISTORY: 46th regular-season meeting. Broncos lead series, 25-20. New England is 9-19 in games in Denver all-time, including a 2-5 mark in the Mile High City since 2001. The Patriots have won four straight over the Broncos, including the last trip to Denver in 2011. The recent success also includes a 43-21 win last fall as well as a 34-31 overtime victory with an impressive second-half comeback over Peyton Manning and Co. at Gillette Stadium in 2013.
GAME PLAN
--Ideally, the Patriots' offense would be able to become more balanced as Tom Brady continues to deal with losses to his core of pass-catchers. The problem is LeGarrette Blount has averaged just 3.5 yards a carry in the last two games and that's the same number the Broncos' run defense has allowed all year. So the Patriots may go to a more spread approach that they used early in the year, though now James White will have to fill the key role as the pass-catching back.
Brady will clearly look to utilize his weekly advantage in matchups with tight end Rob Gronkowski, although the tight end is coming off his worst performance of the season. Coordinator Josh McDaniels' offense will continue to need to vary its approach and roll through various personnel groupings to try to combat one of the best defenses in football with less than a full arsenal of talent on offense. The most important aspect to the game plan, though, will be protecting Brady behind the offensive line that remains a work in progress.
If that fails, it will require more max-protect looks that takes Gronkowski out of the passing game and severely limits the effectiveness of the offense. Protect Brady, run just a little and the rest of the offense should come together. But that's far easier said than done against Wade Phillips' defense.
Defensively, the Patriots have been playing well in recent weeks. The first key has been stopping the run. Denver has not been overly effective this season on the ground, but the Broncos will look to run more with Brock Osweiler under center. Alan Branch and the rest of the defensive line will need to deal with the zone blocking schemes, while it will be incredibly important for defensive ends Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich to succeed setting the edge against the outside zone runs.
In terms of pass defense, coordinator Matt Patricia will attempt to confuse the young passer with plenty of varied coverage looks in the back end, likely continuing to utilize the team's depth at safety to overcome its limitations at cornerback. And the pass rush will need to come from Jones and the front with very few blitzes, although there will be some games and scheme rushes thrown in to keep the Broncos' offensive line off balance.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
--Patriots LT Marcus Cannon vs. Broncos OLBs Demarcus Ware and Von Miller.
Cannon returned from a month-long absence with a toe injury and really struggled last Monday night against Jerry Hughes. Things won't get easier this week against a Denver team that can really get at it with athletes off the edge. Ware has been dealing with a back injury. Even if he's not back, Miller and Shane Ray also pose a major challenge for the struggling Cannon. Tom Brady was hit too many times (10) against the Bills and if that continues it could be a long day in the Rocky Mountains for the Patriots' passing attack.
--Patriots CB Malcolm Butler vs. Broncos WR Demaryius Thomas.
Butler has settled in as New England's No. 1 cornerback in his second season. He's had his ups and downs, but has been impressive in recent weeks with matchups against Odell Beckham Jr. and Sammy Watkins. Thomas is a big-play threat as well as the Broncos top target by far. With Emmanuel Sanders dealing with injury, keeping Thomas in check will be the top goal of Butler and the Patriots' fledgling pass defense.
