The Denver Broncos and New England Patriots are set for a pivotal contest that has wide-ranging playoff implications. Ahead of the big game, Denver cornerback Aqib Talib sent out a message on Twitter that featured three pictures of himself making huge hits against Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Tom Brady.
Check it out.
Grind on #PatriotsWeek #broncos pic.twitter.com/HJzRCqW1Bi
— AqibTalib21 (@AqibTalib21) December 13, 2016
Clearly, the brash cornerback — once a teammate of the same Patriots he’s decking in the pictures above — is sending a message to New England. Nothing is going to come easy when you come to our house.
The Patriots are the best team in the AFC right now, with Brady playing out of his mind since returning from his ridiculous four-game suspension. Even without Gronk in the lineup, Brady carved up Baltimore’s defense — one of the league’s best against the pass heading into Monday night — like a Thanksgiving turkey.
On the other side, Denver’s offense has a huge problem in that it is not running the ball well at all heading into the home stretch. December and January are the months in which true contenders must be able to rush the ball, and the Broncos are going the wrong way in this department, going for 18 yards on the ground this past weekend against the Tennessee Titans.
With that in mind, it’s going to take a tremendous effort by Talib and his defensive teammates to shut down Brady and the Pats in order for Denver to come out with a win this weekend.