2012-2013 NFL Season
The offseason saw a whirlwind surrounding the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning. They’d release him after his troubling neck nerve injury and before long the Denver Broncos would pick him up and they were quick favorites in the AFC. The Colts would draft Andrew Luck from Stanford to replace him, NFL fans were shocked that both Manning and Brady changed teams.
The start of the season saw the Patriots lose to the Tennessee Titans, after Stafford went down with a leg injury in the first quarter, and the Titans took advantage by winning 24-10. Stafford would have a sprained ankle, and would miss Week two as well, where the Arizona Cardinals would upset the Patriots 20-17 after the Patriots’ kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed a tying 49 yard kick. Their woes would continue as Stafford missed his second game in a row, and the Baltimore Ravens would win 34-20.
Sitting at 0-3, bottom of the division, things looked bad for the Patriots. Stafford would finally heal and would come back to demolish the Buffalo Bills in Week 4, tossing 4 touchdowns in the team’s 45-21 win over the Bills. However, Peyton Manning would knock the team back down winning 35-24, and the Patriots would sit at 1-4. However, surviving a scare by the Seattle Seahawks winning on a last second field goal to get a 26-24 win, blowing out the New York Jets 38-14 and then another blowout over the St.Louis Rams 35-15, the team would get back on track going into the Bye Week at 4-4.
Another win over the Buffalo Bills at 27-23 and then winning a shootout with the Indianapolis Colts at 38-33, the Patriots would sit at 6-4 a decent lead for the AFC East. The Jets would again be no match for the Patriots, winning 35-17 and then the Miami Dolphins would also fall to the Patriots, as they’d be 8-4 pushing for a Bye Week in the playoffs as well. However, against the Houston Texans, Stafford would aggravate his ankle injury and would miss the second half as the Texans would win 17-13. He’d miss his third game of the season against the San Francisco 49ers and the team would lose 34-20 in his absence. However, Stafford would come back to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins both 27-17. The team would finish 10-6, sitting at the 4th seed in the AFC.
2012-2013 NFL Playoffs
A rematch with the Indianapolis Colts loomed for the Patriots in the Wild Card round, the home team would only be 4 and half point favorites, as many thought rookie Andrew Luck would have a run in him.
The first quarter saw both teams trade touchdowns and then field goals to go into the Second Quarter with a 10-10 tie. The Patriots would get two turnovers on Andrew Luck and the Patriots’ offense would take advantage by scoring touchdowns on both to get a 24-10 lead, the Colts would get a field goal before halftime to make the score 24-13 in favor of the Patriots after two quarters. The third quarter opened with the Colts scoring a touchdown, then intercepting Stafford on his first pass of the second half, and they’d score another touchdown to take a quick 27-24 lead. The rest of the quarter only saw the Patriots tie the game with a field goal, to have the game go into the final quarter tied 27-27. The Patriots would go ahead on a 51 yard field goal with 7 minutes remaining to give them a 30-27 lead. The Colts would begin to march down the field, however the Patriots defense would step up and get a 90 yard Pick Six to stuff the lead to 37-27 with 4 minutes to go. The Colts would get another touchdown, but would fail the onside kick and the Patriots would win another shootout with the Colts, this time 37-34.
The Patriots would travel to Denver to face the best team in the AFC in the Denver Broncos, being 10 point underdogs to them.
The Broncos showed why they’d be heavy favorites, as Peyton Manning would strike on his first two drives to get a quick 14-0 lead, before Von Miller would strip Stafford and Manning would get his third touchdown in the first 6 minutes as the lead would be an almost impossible 21-0 lead. The Second Quarter saw the lead be chipped into with 3 field goals by the Patriots, but Denver would score their own before the halftime break to have a 24-9 lead going into the second half. The Patriots would return the opening kickoff to make the score 24-16, before getting a turnover on Manning and then adding a field goal, as the score was quickly 24-19, as Bronco fans began to chew on their fingernails. However, Peyton Manning would take over leading a 9 minute drive that ended in a touchdown right before the end of the quarter, as the Broncos would go into the last quarter of play with a 31-19 lead. Stafford would fumble again due to another Von Miller sack, and the Broncos would return the ball to give them a 38-19 lead. Another long drive by Peyton Manning that would result in a touchdown saw the Patriots be down 45-19 with 2 minutes to go. They’d score another touchdown, but it was obviously too little too late, losing 45-26.
Super Bowl 47 saw the Denver Broncos hoist their first Lombardi since the Elway era, defeating the Atlanta Falcons 31-23, as Peyton Manning would lead the game winning drive to score with 20 seconds remaining.
Notes:
I liked how this season turned out, was thinking of them having win another bye week in the playoffs but decided to have them host a wild card game. The Super Bowl I changed as the Broncos probably would’ve been Super Bowl champs if it wasn’t for Rahim Moore that year, so decided to give it to them. The 9ers also don’t make it as Alex Smith never gets injured in this TL. So enjoy as always.