New England Patriots links 12/19/16 - Patriots 16, Broncos 3: Defense tops three-phase fight

TEAM TALK

• Post Game Notes and Records: Patriots at Broncos.
• Paul Perillo shares some random thoughts on the old-school victory, as the Pats used defense and the running game to capture yet another AFC East title.
• Erik Scalaino shares some observations from the press box at Sports Authority Field at Mile High: Imperfect, yet desired result.
• Andy Hart Stock Watch: McCourty's Patriots take away a win in Denver.
• Don Banks Week 15 Snap Judgments: In December, there are no ugly wins.
• Post Game Transcripts: Patriots and Broncos.
• Post Game Pressers: Bill Belichick (7.11 min. video) - Tom Brady (2.29 min. video) - Devin McCourty (6.32 min. video).
• Press Pass: Trey Flowers, Chris Long, Chris Hogan, and more address the media following the Patriots win. (2.18 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Jeff Howe says the Patriots had to conquer a demon to seize control of their annual rite of passage as the AFC East champions.
• Ben Volin believes the Patriots played their smartest, most efficient game of the season.
• Mike Reiss recaps how things finally went right for the Patriots in Denver.
• Tom E. Curran says there is no way to measure mettle but "you know it when you see it." The Patriots have been incrementally improving since losing to Seattle and Sunday in Denver the team hit a crescendo.
• Ron Borges credits the Patriots defense for going the extra mile, believing in themselves (and more importantly, the plan) and having it all come together yesterday in Denver.
• Doug Kyed gives us his Pats-Broncos takeaways: How Logan Ryan and the secondary limited Denver's wideouts.
• Jim McBride points to the Logan Ryan interception as the turning point of the game.
• Nora Princiotti talks up how Dion Lewis trotted, danced, and pranced his way to 95 yards on 18 rushing attempts against the Broncos, both career highs.
• Paul Willis appreciates that Dion Lewis finally has his day for the Patriots.
• Hayden Bird relays that in the ninth year of his NFL career, Martellus Bennett is finally going to the playoffs. And it's safe to say he's fairly excited about it.
• CBS Boston notes Martellus Bennett is as happy as he's ever been in his career, and his post-game Instagram post proves it.
• Kevin Duffy writes how New England has an emerging star in DE Trey Flowers.
• Kevin Duffy notes CB Logan Ryan says the win over the Broncos was "personal."
• Christopher Price tells us what we learned: The Patriots have earned the right to be called the best team in the AFC.
• Chad Finn gives us 16 takeaways on the Patriots hard-fought victory over the Broncos: Brady’s internal clock did seem to be running a split-second fast.
• Mike Petraglia Snap Judgments: LeGarrette Blount makes history, Patriots capture 8th straight AFC East, first-round bye.
• Kevin Duffy talks about how the Patriots leaned on a dominant defensive performance and the running game to beat the Broncos in Denver.
• Nick O'Malley tells us 10 things we learned: The Patriots officially became the No.1 scoring defense in the NFL.
• Dave Brown finally nails exactly what kind of team the Patriots are: Whatever they need to be. /Good read.
• Steve Balestrieri (PatsFans) Total team effort pushes Patriots past Broncos, clinch AFC East.
• Mike Reiss mentions how it took all three Patriots quarterbacks to win the AFC East title.
• Mike Petraglia and Doug Kyed wrap up the Patriots win. (3.10 min. video)
• Dan Shaughnessy wants to know "if the Patriots’ amazing ability to keep teams off the scoreboard is owed to tremendous defense or merely stupifyingly bad offense by a succession of weaklings."
• Ryan Hannable notes Aqib Talib made sure to state how the Broncos 'aren't scared of [Tom] Brady at all.' /Ravens weren't intimidated either... they lost too.
• Adam Kurkjian brings up the lingering issues from this game we’ll likely be talking about all week.
  
• Mike Reiss gives us his Ups and Downs from Sunday.
• Ryan Hannable shows us a few post-celebratory pictures from the players on social media.
• Miguel Benzan (PatsFans) Once again the Patriots take care of their practice squad players, especially Darius Kilgo.

NATIONAL NEWS

• NFL Game Center (NFL.com) Patriots at Broncos: Recap, stats and highlights.
• Josh Liskiewitz (Pro Football Focus) NE-DEN Grades: New England pass rush powers win.
• Chris Wesseling (NFL.com) Patriots top Broncos, clinch AFC East, first-round bye.
• Chris Burke (SI) Patriots showcase too much depth for one-dimensional Broncos to contain.
• Dieter Kurtenbach (Fox Sports) The Broncos offense has evaporated and Denver’s playoff chances probably went with it.
• Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Patriots smother Broncos in second half of 16-3 win.
• Lindsay H. Jones (USA Today) Patriots crack Broncos to clinch AFC East, first-round bye.
• Greg A. Bedard (SI) NFL Week 15 Blanket: That sure seemed like Separation Sunday.
• Peter King (The MMQB) MMQB: Endless playoff possibilities and the kick of a lifetime.
• Will Brinson (CBS Sports) Sorting the Sunday Pile, Week 15: This sounds crazy, but Patriots are underrated.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) NFL Morning After: Credit the bad teams that keep competing.
• Dieter Kurtenbach (Fox Sports) What we learned in Week 15 of the NFL season.
• Brett Pollakoff (Fox Sports) The 10 best things we heard in NFL Week 15.
• Nunzio Ingrassia (Fox Sports) Patriots claim AFC East and break a record for consecutive division titles in the process.
• Ryan Wooden (All 22) Malcolm Mitchell receives unprompted compliment from Tom Brady.
• John Breech (CBS Sports) NFL Week 15 grades: Patriots. B+.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) AFC playoff picture: Patriots clinch a bye, again.
• Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News) NFL playoff picture: Raiders end AFC drought, Packers get closer in NFC.
• Ian O'Connor (ESPN) Time for Patriots fans to book a flight to Houston ... again.
• Darin Gantt (ProFootballTalk) Broncos now worrying about "classic offense vs. defense divide".
• Joel Corry (CBS Sports) Agent's Take: What are players paid during the postseason?
• Tadd Haislop (Sporting News) Fixing the NFL: 4 Obvious problems, 4 simple solutions.

VIEW FROM DENVER

• Nicki Jhabvala (Denver Post) Broncos’ offense goes cold, playoff hopes dwindle with loss to Patriots.
• Mark Kiszla (Denver Post) Unable to beat New England, that championship feeling has died for Broncos.
• Andrew Mason (DenverBroncos) Broncos look in mirror after 16-3 loss to Patriots: 'We're beating ourselves'. /Uhh... no.
• Aric DiLalla (DenverBroncos) Five key moments: Patriots 16, Broncos 3. 1. Brady goes oh-fer in the first.
• Nick Groke (Denver Post) Broncos’ offense stammers to its worst stretch since 1992. Now a playoff berth is in doubt.
• Ben Swanson (DenverBroncos) Siemian says: After promising start, offense's opportunities dry up. "Three drives ended on turnovers: one interception, one fumble and one turnover on downs."
• Joe Dahlke and Kami Carmann (Fox31 Denver) Offense struggles as the Patriots beat the Broncos, 16-3, at Mile High.
• Cameron Wolfe (Denver Post) Broncos defense extremely frustrated after another strong performance wasted.
• Nicki Jhabvala (Denver Post) Broncos’ Jordan Norwood on muffed punt: "It’s a tough play that I’ve got to make".
• Andrew Mason (DenverBroncos) Three keys unlocked: Patriots 16, Broncos 3.
• Cameron Wolfe (Denver Post) AFC Wild-Card Race: Broncos lose control of destiny, face challenge to make it.
• Report (AP) Miller fails to sack Brady in Broncos loss.
• Cameron Wolfe (Denver Post) Broncos report card from Week 15 against the Patriots: Offense F.
  

DEFLATEGATE, DUMPSTER DIVE

• Ted Varipatis (WLBZ 2) Section 326: Deflategate 2.0.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Dungy says every coach knows walkie-talkies are not allowed.
• Ryan Van Bibber (SB Nation) Giants getting off easy for walkie-talkies exposes Roger Goodell’s arbitrary discipline system.