NEW ENGLAND (11-2) at DENVER (8-5)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS
OPENING LINE - New England by 3
RECORD VS. SPREAD - New England 10-3, Denver 8-5
SERIES RECORD - Denver leads 30-21
LAST MEETING - Broncos beat Patriots 20-18, AFC championship, Jan. 24 ,2015
LAST WEEK - Patriots beat Ravens 30-23; Broncos lost to Titans 13-10
AP PRO32 RANKING - Patriots No. 1, Broncos No. 10
PATRIOTS OFFENSE - OVERALL (4), RUSH (7), PASS (4).
PATRIOTS DEFENSE - OVERALL (9), RUSH (6), PASS (15).
BRONCOS OFFENSE - OVERALL (25), RUSH (27), PASS (19).
BRONCOS DEFENSE - OVERALL (3), RUSH (29), PASS (1).
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Broncos are only team Tom Brady has losing record against. He's 6-9 against them, 2-7 in Denver. ... Coach Bill Belichick is 7-10 against Denver and Gary Kubiak is 2-3 against Patriots. ... Brady leads league with 113.6 QB rating. ... RB LeGarrette Blount leads NFL with 14 rushing TDs. He's Patriots' first 1,000-yard rusher since 2012. ... With win, Patriots would become first team in NFL history with eight consecutive division titles. ... Brady's 52 wins in December are tied with Hall of Famer Brett Favre for most by a starting QB in any month in NFL history. ... In last 10 games vs. Broncos, Brady had 2,814 yards, 21 TDs and two interceptions for 96.0 rating. ... WR Julian Edelman has 199 receiving yards and three TDs in last two games against Denver. ... Rookie WR Malcom Mitchell has four TD catches in last four games. ... LB Rob Ninkovich has four sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception in last six meetings. ... Broncos QB Trevor Siemian averaging 303 yards passing in last five games. He's had two 300-yard, zero-interception games in last two starts. ... Broncos managed 18 yards on nine carries last week, but rookie RB Devontae Booker has two TD runs in last three games at home. ... RB Justin Forsett rushed for 129 yards in last game against New England (Jan. 10, 2015 in playoffs with Baltimore) ... WR Demaryius Thomas has 100-plus receiving yards in three of last five games against Patriots. ... Since `12, Thomas ranks second in league with 478 catches. ... WR Emmanuel Sanders has 362 yards in past three meetings. He had 11 catches for 100 yards last week. ... Broncos close season with three teams with double-digit win totals: New England (11), Kansas City (10) and Oakland (10). Those three are a combined 31-8. ... LB Von Miller's 13+ sacks tied for NFL lead. In last year's AFC championship, Miller had 2+ sacks, four QB hits and an interception in prelude to Super Bowl 50 MVP performance. Fantasy Tip: Brady coming off 406-yard, three-TD performance at Baltimore, but Broncos hit him career-high 23 times in conference title game and intercepted him twice.
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