The Denver Broncos can say whatever they want after defeating the New England Patriots 20-18 in the AFC Championship game.
We're also allowed to judge them.
The Broncos defensive front hit Patriots quarterback Tom Brady a record-setting amount thanks to an embarrassing performance by an offensive line that got their position coach fired. The Broncos players were gleeful after the game.
"I tried to lay on him a few times," one Broncos rusher said about hitting Brady to MMQB's Robert Klemko after the game. "I tried to rub my nuts on his face."
Gross. Like, disgusting.
The whole article is actually pretty interesting as it goes into detail on the game, but that quote is brutal.
"[Brady] knew his line wasn't very good coming into that game," Broncos defensive lineman Shaq Barrett said. "So he had to expect this."
I don't think anyone was expecting that outcome. Here are two stats from the article that will make you sad.
1) Broncos pass rusher Von Miller actually dropped into coverage on more snaps (9) than any other game this season, which means that Denver generated all that pressure without using their best pass rusher on 9 snaps.
2) The Patriots abandoned their traditional offense and didn't leave anyone behind to help Brady. While the Patriots usually keep a running back by Brady to help pick-up the pressure, New England running backs blocked on just two occasions- once by Steven Jackson and once by James White.
Klemko also takes a dig at Bill Belichick's team building process with regards to the offensive line, stating that tackles Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer are the only two linemen that Belichick has drafted in the first three rounds over the past decade. There's a kernel of truth to that argument, although the team has selected four offensive linemen in the fourth round over the past two years, and Marcus Cannon was a first round prospect that fell due to health complications.
Hopefully the Patriots offensive line takes the quote from the anonymous Broncos pass rusher and sticks it on their wall for the entirety of 2016. A performance the likes of the AFC Championship game can never happen again.