Who's Had The Better Offseason: Patriots Or Broncos?
BOSTON (CBS) - This last Patriots season ended in heartbreak in the AFC Championship on January 19, 2014 after a 26-16 loss to the Broncos in Denver.
Now, two months have passed and every sign points to an all out arm's race between the two teams.
On the first day of free agency, John Elway signed safety T.J. Ward and former Patriot Aqib Talib. Then the very next day the Broncos signed pass rusher Demarcus Ware. To counter, the Patriots in the following days inked Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner and Brandon LaFell to deals - and we're only one week in.
Tony Massarotti, Marc Bertrand and Jermaine Wiggins discussed the free agent moves made by both AFC contenders and give their favorites to reach the Super Bowl.
But first, they played a segment that aired on the NFL Network last night where all three experts think the Patriots have surpassed the Broncos with their moves - Tony Mazz doesn't necessarily agree with that line of reasoning.
"If you put a gun to my head I'd probably pick the Patriots having the better offseason because of the defensive backs, but I don't know if that's really the question. The Patriots had to have a better offseason than the Broncos because quite frankly they were behind. They had ground to make up," said Tony Tuesday afternoon.
Mazz decided to shift the discussion from "Who had the better offseason?" to "Have the Patriots caught the Broncos?" - Marc Bertrand was the first to answer.
"I think they have. They've made up significant ground here because of the additions they've made defensively. I think with adding LaFell and keeping Edelman they've pretty much caught up here," said Beetle.
Not only has New England caught up to Denver, but Marc isn't even completely sold on the moves John Elway has made.
"I think what the Broncos have done is a little overrated. I think what they've done has been good, but I don't think their team has changed drastically from what it was last season, whereas the Patriots have changed drastically from what they were," said Bertrand.
It shouldn't come as a shock that former Patriots tight end Jermaine Wiggins is in agreement with Beetle that his old team is better at this current juncture.
"Not only did they catch up, but they just blew past Denver in my opinion," Wiggy opened with.
"Why am I not shocked to hear that?" Mazz fired back.
"Denver lost Eric Decker. They keep Wes Welker, but is he even the same player? Welker's not that player anymore. Defensively they got Demarcus Ware, who's also going downhill a little bit. I think he only had five sacks last year. The only player of any significance the Patriots lost was Aqib Talib, and they upgraded the entire secondary by getting Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner," said Wiggy.
Watch the video above, listen below for the full discussion and vote in our poll!
Who's Had The Better Offseason: Patriots Or Broncos?
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