Broncos rip Pats 28-20

By J.E. | Monday, October 17, 2005 | ( 0 )

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The Denver Broncos got help from big plays and strong defense to defeat the New England Patriots 28-20 at home. With the win, the Broncos improve their record to 5-1. The loss drops the Patriots to 3-3.

Running back Tatum Bell's momentum from his strong performance of last week carried over to this game. Bell led all rushers with 114 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries. He also broke through for a run of 68 yards to set up a second quarter TD. Mike Anderson chipped in 57 yards and a TD of his own.

Denver Broncos Quarterback Jake Plummer had his best outing of the season. Prior to this game, Plummer's longest passing play was a 31-yarder against Washington last week. Today, he hit Rod Smith for 72 yards and Ashley Lelie for 55. Plummer ended up with 17 completions for 262 yards and 2 TDs. Smith finished with 6 catches for 123 yards and a score.

The New England Patriots' title defense this season has been hampered by one big injury after another. The latest casualty in this year's campaign is running back Corey Dillon. Dillon, who left last week's game against Atlanta in the fourth quarter due to an undisclosed injury, did not play today. He was listed as probable all week, but there was speculation that he might still see some action. Veteran RB Patrick Pass did a good job filling in for Dillon today. Pass gained 64 yards on 10 carries and scored on an 8-yard run in the fourth quarter. He also had 6 receptions for 89 yards, including a long of 39 yards.

Quarterback Tom Brady couldn't get much going against the Denver Broncos defense early on. By the time he started stringing together the scoring drives that he's known for, the Pats were already down by 25 points. Then, after the New England Patriots had closed the gap to just 8 points with less than 5 minutes left to play in the game, Brady missed on three straight passes, which gave the ball back to Denver. Brady finished the day 24-of-46 for 299 yards and a TD.

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