It's the moment that we've all been waiting for: Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning—a rivalry renewed.
Sunday afternoon at 4:15, a new chapter in the Brady vs. Manning story will be created as Manning and the Denver Broncos will travel to Foxboro to take on Brady and the New England Patriots.
In that spirit, let's take a look at my bold predictions for New England's Week 5 game against Denver.
1. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning will throw at least three touchdowns each
It's going to be a laser show Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium—Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are going to light up the sky.
There's no secret that the Patriots and Broncos are two teams that certainly enjoy throwing the football, considering they both rank in the top 10 for passing entering Week 5.
There's little doubt in my mind that Brady and Manning wont toss three touchdowns each, they both might even end up with four each.
2. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning will throw for 300 yards each
To piggyback on my last prediction, I see these two quarterbacks racking up the yards as well as scoring a handful of touchdowns.
Entering Week 5, Brady is averaging 306.8 yards per-game and will be facing a Denver defense that's allowing 220.5 yards per-game. When it's all said and done, Brady and New England's offensive weapons are far more superior than Denver's secondary—No. 12 will end up with at least 300 yards passing.
As for Manning, he'll be facing a defense that sits at the bottom of the league in passing, as New England is currently allowing 281.5 passing yards per-game. I mean, come on—this is Peyton Manning we're talking about, he'll find ways to shred New England's inconsistent secondary.
3. New England will hold Willis McGahee to under 100-yards rushing
If there is one thing that New England's defense is good at, it's stopping the run.
The Patriots are currently allowing just 85.2 rushing yards per-game,which is good enough for seventh best in the NFL. However, could that number be so low just because their secondary is just that bad and teams would be stupid not to throw against this group? I certainly think so.
Either way, Sunday's match-up is going to be a shootout with very little running happening on Denver's side of the ball.
4. Brandon Lloyd will catch two touchdown passes
With Tom Brady throwing at least three touchdowns, two of those will come in the hands of Brandon Lloyd.
Coming off of his first touchdown reception in a Patriot uniform, Lloyd will let the good times roll against the Denver Broncos and he'll have his best game as a Patriot Sunday afternoon.
Lloyd is currently averaging a solid 71.8 yards per-game this season as well as reeling in just one touchdown, but he'll certainly improve his stats with a predicted two touchdown receptions as well as 10 receptions for 95 yards.
5. Final score prediction: New England: 31 Denver: 28
This one will come down to just three points—that's how evenly matched these two teams are at this point of the season.
The Broncos are currently playing some solid football as they're coming off of a 37-6 victory over the Oakland Raiders while the Patriots are also coming off of a victory against the Buffalo Bills, 52-28.
Denver and New England both can score points and will do so Sunday afternoon—but with Tom Brady and the Patriots will find a way to edge out just three more points than Peyton Manning and the Broncos.