A Christmas Mile High Miracle?

How else can you explain the events of Christmas Eve in Denver, when a Patriots team missing some key components on offense rebound from an awful start and beat the Broncos 26-23?

And doing it, no less, with a boot from a rookie kicker who looked like a duffer on the first tee on two kicks earlier in the game, a missed PAT and a missed field goal attempt from 46 yards?

And he nails one with two seconds left to win it from … wait for it…. 56 yards?

Chad Ryland is a man of faith, gave praise when he began his post game press conference, then told a story of special teamer Matthew Slater coming up to him after his misses saying, “We’re going to need you in the fourth quarter.”

“And it turned out to be true,” Ryland said. “Matt the Prophet.”

Hollywood, we have a new Christmas movie. Heck, even our own Scrooge, Bill Belichick, cracked a smile at the end of his press conference when asked how much better this win would make Christmas feel.

“Everybody was really resilient,” Belichick said, later adding about Ryland, “Big kick. Big kick.” And later added, “Look he’s had plenty of good kicks. … He hung in there.”

“I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by a team that believes in me,” Ryland said. “And that helps me to continue with my process, and go ahead and knock that last one down with a good snap, protection, and that hold by Bryce (fellow rookie punter Baringer).”

Well, they believe in him only so much, because they had kickers in after one of his horrendous days, and remember, he’s a fourth round draft pick. But again, let’s not spoil his moment. The kid came through.

And Belichick had one telling statement as he stood up for his players who have been much maligned.

“I think our team showed a lot of mental toughness,” he said. “All week. All year.”

And, of course, that’s an underlying message to ownership that, well, you know, the mental toughness comes from guess who. Either way, all the drama and future speculaton aside, you had to feel good for the Patriots after this one, as they’ll have a nice plane ride home and can enjoy the holiday a little better after the tough 4-11 season they’ve had.

They were helped by a coach, Denver’s Sean Payton, who went for it on fourth down after the Patriots turned it over on the first play, passing up a chip shot 3-0 lead. But of course Payton is the smartest guy in the room, just ask him. And despite his fourth quarter heroics, Broncos QB Russell Wilson’s best days are behind him, as he’s unfortunately spent the last few years of his career running for his life behind lousy offensive lines.

But take nothing away from these Patriots, they’ve postponed the dram a few days. They even got a special teams TD on a Denver fumble.

“It was a good opportunity, we took advantage of it,” Belichick said. “Something we haven’t done enough of this year. … You need those plays at the right time. When you need to make them, you’ve got to make them. Tonight we made them. Unfortunatley, there’ve been some other weeks when we haven’t been able to make them.”

“Often times, you find the greatest treasure in the darkest caves,” Ryland said.

And suddenly, that coal in all the Patriots fans stockings miraculously disappeared.

Merry Christmas.

Tom King may be reached at X @Telegraph_TomK, or via email at tking@nashuatelegraph.com

Newsletter