Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Broncos need a grounded approach, even against Tom Brady

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- For all of the time and verbiage expended on the discussion of quarterbacks in recent meetings between the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots, the bottom line has often been found, not in well-constructed spirals thrown from here to there, but at ground level.

Yes, since the start of the 2006 season, these two teams have played eight times, including twice in the playoffs, and the team that has pounded out more yardage in the run game has won six of the games.

"Doesn't surprise me," said Broncos defensive tackle Terrance Knighton. "Not at all. I think people on offense know every defense wants to stop the run, make you do one thing because then you go after the quarterback. If people run the ball on you, then the quarterback stays clean and he gets do what he wants when he wants. And with Tom Brady that's never a good thing."

There was the Patriots' 257-yard rushing day in 2008, their 251-yard rushing day in 2012 -- both wins for New England -- to go with the quirks as well. The read-option Broncos of 2011 ran for 252 yards on the Patriots' defense, but lost when Patriots head coach Bill Belchick's plan stymied Tim Tebow into an 11-of-22 passing day with no touchdowns.

Or the 280 yards rushing the Broncos pounded out in last year's regular-season meeting when the Broncos launched themselves to a 24-0 halftime lead before losing 34-31 in overtime. But, in the end, the rushing numbers have been a quality crystal ball for how this rivalry between AFC power brokers has gone over the past 13 seasons even with Peyton Manning behind center for the Broncos since 2012 and Brady behind center for the Patriots in all but one of those games (the Patriots' win in '08 when Brady was recovering from season-ending knee surgery).

The Patriots have often pounded out game-changing running room against the Broncos' lighter defensive formations, in the nickel and dime, when New England spreads the field, forcing the Broncos to respond with additional defensive backs. The Broncos, with rookie cornerback Bradley Roby having added the athleticism and the willingness to tackle in the run game as the nickel corner to the already physical tandem on Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib, tackle better on the outside than they have in recent seasons.

"I think at the end of the day there's no doubt that they've had some great battles, had great success over time, both of them," said Broncos head coach John Fox. "In Peyton's case (with) two different teams. Obviously with Tom (Brady), one team. But I think so much more -- it's a team game. That doesn't get a lot of publicity but at the end of the day it's going to be the Broncos versus the Patriots."

This past Sunday, even with Brady having thrown the ball 35 times in his five-touchdown blitz of the Chicago Bears, the Patriots still ran the ball 32 times -- for 122 yards -- including an 86-yard day from Jonas Gray. Gray is a player who has already spent time on the Baltimore Ravens' practice squad in his career and been cut by the Miami Dolphins.

The Broncos enter Sunday's game with the league's top run defense, with opponents having rushed for an average of 72.4 yards per game. Since the Kansas City Chiefs pounded out 133 yards in Week 2 to go with 129 yards by the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3, the Broncos have surrendered 37, 31, 62 and 61 net rushing yards.

And 23 of the San Diego Chargers' 61 rushing yards last Thursday night came on the game's final play with the Chargers running out the final 18 seconds of the game from their own 31-yard line.

"It's the same mindset every week," said Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall. "We don't want people running the ball on us. We want to get to all of the things we can do with our packages in the pass rush. To do that we have to stop the run."

"We've had a good start, but each week we want to get that number lower and lower," Knighton said. "Two specific categories we look at in our D-line group and that's run defense and sacks. We put a lot of emphasis in that. We talk about it off the field, it's on our minds all the time. When you have corners like Aqib and Chris coming in and making tackles, safeties like our safeties, that means everybody on the field is committed. And the number shows how you swarm."

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