A potential trip to the Super Bowl should fire up a defense as it is but the Broncos wanted to send a special message to those media members who basked in Tom Brady's Patriots lore leading up to the AFC Championship.
"We the No. 1 seed,” Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib told reporters after sending New England home with a 20-18 win. “We got the No. 1 defense. We still were picked to lose the game, so I mean y’all going to do what y’all do, though. We going to do we what we do, so y’all pick who you all like and it is what it is.”
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Denver's top-ranked defense certainly delivered a message. Brady was picked off twice and sacked four times as he was consistently pressured by the Broncos defensive front, which hit him 23 times Sunday according to ESPN. That's the most for any NFL team since 2006 and nearly twice as many as Brady had taken in a game this season (12).
“He was rattled, man,” Talib told reporters of Brady. “He was rattled a little bit. We had pressure on him. I saw Malik (Jackson) in his face a number of times, Von (Miller) in his face a number of times, D-Ware (DeMarcus Ware). We were able to get good pressure on him and that is why we’re going to the ‘ship."
Denver safety T.J. Ward also said the team was fueled by critics who predicted a Patriots win in Denver.
"We felt like we were totally disrespected by everybody in the media," Ward told reporters. "I don't think I heard one telecast that had us winning and as good as defense we've been playing all year that was the focal point — that Tom Brady was going to shred us apart.
"We took total disrespect to that. Total disrespect. Besides the big plays at the end of the game, I think he had about 150 yards passing, got sacked [four] times, threw a pick and we dogged him. We dominated him."
Talib, Ward and company will have to rattle the NFL MVP favorite in Cam Newton if the Broncos are to capture a Super Bowl 50 win.