Everything you need to know about Patriots-Broncos on Christmas Eve

BOSTON -- While the Patriots are flirting with the first overall pick in next year's NFL Draft, head coach Bill Belichick and New England players are focused on ending the season strong. While wins would hurt the team's draft standing, coaches and players alike want to save some face and also play a little spoiler over the final three weeks of the regular season.

New England's first chance to play Grinch will come on Christmas Eve, when they travel to Denver to face off against the 7-7 Broncos. Denver had a very Patriot-like start to the season, losing five of its first six games, but has since righted the ship under Sean Payton. The Broncos now sit at 7-7 and are in the mix for a wild card spot, but one more loss would likely sink their playoff dreams.

The Patriots would love to give them a lump of coal for Christmas and end those playoff hopes on Sunday night. Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming matchup.

Patriots vs. Broncos

-The Patriots are just 11-21 in Denver, including an 0-4 mark in the playoffs.

-The Broncos lead the overall series against the Patriots, 27-22, in regular season matchups and 4-1 in the postseason (three divisional games, two AFC Championships). 

-With 54 showdowns between the two teams, New England has matched up with Denver more than any other opponent that has never been in their division. 

-The Patriots and the Broncos have been matching up since 1960 when they were both in the AFL. The Pats played the Broncos in the inaugural game for both franchises -- a 13-10 Denver win on Sept. 9, 1960 at BU Field in Boston.  

-Sunday night will be the first time that the Pats and the Broncos square off since an 18-12 Denver win at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 18, 2020. 

-The Patriots last played in Denver in 2017, when they beat the Broncos 41-16 on Sunday Night Football.

-Bill Belichick is 10-14 against Denver over his career. He is 10-10 against the Broncos as head coach of the Patriots.

-This will mark the ninth time that the Patriots play on Christmas Eve. The team is 5-3 in their previous games on the night before Christmas.

Patriots-Broncos Connections

-There are a handful of former Patriots on the Broncos, highlighted by backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham. Wide receivers Phillip Dorsett (practice squad) and Lil'Jordan Humphrey, tackle Cameron Fleming, defensive lineman Mike Purcell, linebacker Alex Singleton and offensive lineman William Sherman (practice squad) are also now on the Broncos.

-As for former Broncos on the Patriots, it starts at the top. Belichick spent the 1978 season as an assistant special teams coach and a defensive assistant in Denver. Current New England assistant strength and conditioning coach Deron Mayo signed as an undrafted free agent with the Broncos in 2011 before his career in the CFL.

As for players, offensive lineman James Ferentz played two seasons with the Broncos. Calvin Anderson (who is on IR) played the previous three seasons with the Broncos before signing with the Patriots over the offseason. 

Everything else you should know about Patriots-Broncos

-Neither team is particularly great offensively, with the Patriots ranking 28th in the NFL averaging 285.3 yards per game and the Broncos checking in at 25th while averaging 299.8 yards per game. The teams are pretty close in passing yards per game, with the Pats ranked 25th at 186.9 yards per game and the Broncos 25th at 187.1 yards per game.

-The Broncos do a much better job at putting points on the board, checking in at 16th in the NFL with a 21.7 points per game average. The Patriots remain at the bottom of the league at just 13.3 points per game. Denver has scored 32 touchdowns, to New England's 21 this season.

-The Pats have a big edge defensively though, ranking eighth in the NFL at just 308.3 yards allowed per game. The Broncos are tied for 30th at 382.4 yards allowed, and own the NFL's worst rushing defense at 146.9 rushing yards allowed per contest. So Ezekiel Elliott should be able to feast Sunday night.

-The Broncos have allowed 40 sacks this season, which is tied for the sixth-most in the NFL. (The Giants have a massive lead over everyone else in that department with 76 sacks allowed.)

-With the eighth-ranked defense, the Patriots are in line to finish in the top 10 for defense for the 11th time of Belichick's tenure as head coach.

-New England has been incredible against the run this season, allowing an NFL-best 3.2 yards per carry. If that holds, the Patriots will have the best run defense since the 2014 Detroit Lions allowed 3.17 yards per rush. 

-The Patriots have held opponents to under 3.0 yards per carry a total of six times this season. They've done so in each of their last three games in their win over the Steelers (2.9 ypc), and losses to the Chargers (1.2 ypc) and the Chiefs (2.2 ypc).

-Pats linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley leads the team with 89 total tackles and needs just 11 total tackles to become the first New England player with three straight seasons with at least 100 tackles since Jerod Mayo racked up five straight from 2008-12.

-Pats rookie receiver Demario Douglas is up to 39 receptions for 443 yards on the season. He needs just four receptions to tie Deion Branch for the most rookie receptions under Belichick, and 77 receiving yards to surpass the 519 receiving yards by Aaron Dobson in 2013 for the most receiving yards by a rookie receiver under Belichick.

-Rookie punter Bryce Baringer has been busy this season, as the Patriots have the third-most punts in the NFL at 78, trailing the 81 punts by both the New York Giants and Jets. Baringer has at least one 50-yard punt in all 14 games this season for the longest single season streak in team history.

-Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson is a perfect 3-0 in his regular-season matchups with the Patriots, all of which came while he was with the Seattle Seahawks. He's thrown 11 touchdowns to just one interception in those games and is averaging nearly 310 passing yards per game. Five of his touchdown passes were in his last meeting with the Patriots, a 35-30 Seahawks win in Seattle in Week 2 of the 2020 season.

-Broncos head coach Sean Payton is 2-2 in his career against Belichick and the Patriots, splitting his matchups against New England during his time as head coach of the New Orleans Saints.