Game Recap

1st Quarter:
0 - 0 No Score
Both teams played effective defense as the game moved slowly in the 1st quarter. New England tried for a 4th down conversion at the Denver 36 yd line but QB Tom Brady's pass to TE Christian Fauria fell incomplete.

2nd Quarter:
0 - 0 No Score
Denver drove 60 yds to open the 2nd quarter and was faced with 4th and 1 at the New England 3 yd line but could not convert.
Patriots CB Asante Samuel picked off Denver QB Jake Plummer's pass intended for WR Ashley Lelie. The play was originally ruled incomplete, caught out of bounds but New England challenged the ruling, saying he was in bounds. The call was overturned, resulting in the INT.
3 - 0 Patriots lead
Patriots K Adam Vinatieri put up the 1st points of the game with a 40 yd FG. Key plays: previously mentioned INT, WR Andre Davis 51 yd reception, WR Deion Branch 13 yd reception.
Denver went 3 and out and punted back to New England. On the 3rd play of the Patriots drive, Broncos DE Courtney Brown hit RB Kevin Faulk and forced a fumble, recovered by Broncos LB Ian Gold at the Patriots 40 yd line.
7 - 3 Broncos lead
On the ensuing play, QB Jake Plummer fired a pass to WR Ashley Lelie in the end zone but it fell incomplete. Defensive pass interference was called on Patriots CB Asante Samuel and the ball was placed at the 1 yd line. Broncos RB Mike Anderson then ran it in for the 1st TD of the day to put the Broncos on the scoreboard.
Broncos P Todd Sauerbrun kicked off 66 yds to New Englands 4 yd line. The ball was fielded by Patriots CB Ellis Hobbs, who returned the ball 32 yds before being hit by Sauerbrun. The hit forced a fumble, which was recovered by Broncos FB Cecil Sapp at the New England 39 yd line.
10 - 3 Broncos lead
Broncos K Jason Elam then kicked a 50 yd FG to put Denver up by 7 going into halftime.

3rd Quarter:
10 - 6 Broncos lead
The Broncos had 1st possession in the 2nd half and went 3 and out. New England drove 58 yds to Denver's 14 yd line, then Patriots K Adam Vinatieri kicked his 2nd FG of the game from 32 yds out. Key plays: TE Daniel Graham 18 yd reception, WR David Givens 14 yd reception.
After another scoreless drive by the Denver offense, New England took over at their own 22 yd line. The Patriots drove to the Broncos 5 yd line. On 3rd and 5, Patriots QB Tom Brady rolled to his right and threw into the endzone, where Broncos CB Champ Bailey was waiting. He caught his 9th INT of the season and returned it 100 yds to New England's 1 yd line where he was hit, and fumbled the ball out of bounds. It was the longest non-scoring INT return in NFL postseason history. New England challenged the ruling, saying the ball crossed the plane of the endzone over the pylon which would have resulted in a touchback and New England's ball. The call stood and the Broncos had 1st and goal at the 1 yd line.
17 - 6 Broncos lead
On their 1st try Broncos RB Mike Anderson ran the ball in for his 2nd TD of the day.

4th Quarter:
New England drove 46 yds to Denver's 25 yd line where Patriots K Adam Vinatieri attempted his 3rd FG of the game from 43 yds out. The kick sailed wide right and the Broncos regained possession at their own 33 yd line.
On their ensuing drive, the Broncos were faced with 4th and 2 at New England's 42 yd line. They elected to punt. Patriots WR Troy Brown muffed the catch at the 15 yd line and the ball was recovered by Broncos LS Mike Leach to regain possession for Denver.
24 - 6 Broncos lead
Three plays later, Broncos QB Jake Plummer hits WR Rod Smith in the endzone from 4 yds out.
24 - 13 Broncos lead
The Patriots answered on their 1st play with a 73 yd reception by WR Deion Branch to Denver's 4 yd line where he was brought down by Broncos ProBowl LB Al Wilson and ProBowl S John Lynch to save the TD. But on the next snap QB Tom Brady found WR David Givens in the endzone for a 4 yd TD to narrow the score to 11 with 8 minutes left in the game.
27 - 13 Broncos Win
Denver then took almost 5 minutes off the clock on their ensuing drive and K Jason Elam put up another 3 points from 34 yds out. Key play: WR Rod Smith 42 yd reception.
New England took over at their own 11 yd line but on the 2nd play of the drive, QB Tom Brady's pass intended for WR Andre Davis was intercepted by Broncos S John Lynch and returned 5 yds to Denver's 39 yd line. Broncos RB Mike Anderson ran 2 plays of 4 and 18 yds respectively for a 1st down at the 2 minute warning. Broncos QB Jake Plummer took a kneel to run out the clock and seal the victory.

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