The New England Patriots want their defensive respect.
And after they shut down the Denver Broncos for the final 40 minutes of their AFC Championship Game win on Sunday, Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams believes they’ve earned it.
“Definitely. All year,” Williams said when asked if the Patriots defense was overlooked and underrated. “We've got that chip on our shoulder to come out here every time we step between them white lines and show everybody who we are, and that's the bottom line.”
The Patriots gave ground early -- before snow blanketed Empower Field at Mile High -- with the Broncos taking a 7-0 lead on their second possession of the game. Tackling was an issue early for the Patriots, who were on their heels and staring at a potential two-score deficit in the first half.
Denver drove to the New England 14-yard line five minutes into the second quarter, and Broncos head coach Sean Payton rolled the dice, keeping the offense on the field and using a timeout before the crucial fourth-and-1 play. But Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham, filling in for the injured Bo Nix, was heavily pressured by Williams and had his pass knocked down by Patriots safety Craig Woodson.
Williams said the game plan against Stidham was to “dominate” the former Patriots backup who hadn’t attempted a regular-season or playoff pass in more than two full seasons.
“Cut the tape on,” Williams told NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe. “No. 1 O-line, we don't care nothing 'bout that.”
The Broncos netted only 63 yards on their next eight drives, with Stidham losing a fumble on a backward pass that led to the Patriots’ only touchdown of the game and throwing an interception with just over two minutes remaining, with the underthrown pass picked by Pro Bowl cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Just over three minutes into the game, Gonzalez was beat on a 52-yard pass to Marvin Mims Jr. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel wasn’t at all worried about his top cover man, who came through with the big play late.
"It just says that he's been playing really, really good football and sometimes you get beat. The best ones do,” Vrabel said.
The field conditions clearly played a part, but the Patriots won the battle against the Broncos’ vaunted offensive line, with Williams (four pressures) and Christian Barmore (one of three Patriots sacks) among several New England defenders exerting their will up front.
“First-team All-Pro,” Barmore said of his battle against Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz, via Fox Sports' Greg Auman. “Our coach tells us all the time that All-Pro doesn’t mean s---. ... He’s a hell of a player, but this is for us, our team, our deal.”
The Patriots offense struggled early and netted only 206 yards and 12 first downs all game. The special teams were uneven, with shaky punting and two missed field-goal tries, although Leonard Taylor III got a hand on Wil Lutz’s 45-yard field-goal attempt with less than seven minutes remaining.
Outside of that, it was all on the New England defense. It has allowed only 629 yards in three playoff games so far, also forcing eight turnovers against the Chargers, Texans and Broncos. Even counting the 52-yard play, Denver totaled only 181 yards on Sunday, averaging 3.1 yards per play.
“It's got to be done on the field,” Williams told Wolfe, “and we came out here and did that today.”