As the New England Patriots prepare for their late season battle with the Denver Broncos, Sunday afternoon, here are some key story lines to focus on:

Thin Air- Maybe the biggest obstacle any visiting team faces, when they head up to Denver to play the Broncos, is the drastic change in the air and the tole it takes on players' bodies. New England has fell victim to the thin air of Colorado countless times before and, though they have held tough in a number of mile-high match ups, they have struggled to maintain a high level throughout each game.

Looking For Revenge- Whether they admit it or not, the Patriots are, no doubt, looking for revenge for their two losses in Denver last season, the last of which ended their season in the AFC title game. In both losses, sloppy special teams plays helped swing momentum to Denver's side at one point in the game. Coming off of a game in which they fumbled twice on special teams and allowed 14 points off of those two fumbles and subsequent turnovers, expect the Pats to be much more cautious and careful with who they put back to return kicks and punts and what they let them do. Another key reason for at least their title game loss last season was the poor play of the Pats offensive line. Expect the big guys up front, who have played much better as a unit this season, to work extra hard to avenge last year's embarrassing performance that saw Denver defensive linemen Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware and Derek Wolfe control the both the line of scrimmage and the New England backfield.

Getting Back To .500- A win Sunday would get Tom Brady back to an even .500 record against the Broncos, for his career. Brady entered last season with a 5-5 regular season record against Denver, but the road loss in Week 12 moved his his standing back to 5-6. Including postseason play, Brady is 6-9 against Denver.

Running Through them- The Denver defense is still one of the stronger units in the game, though this season they have struggled at stopping the run. While they rank first in pass defense, sixth in point allowed per game and third in total defense, the Broncos are a surprisingly bad defense against the run this season, as they rank 29th out of 32 teams. Allowing an average of 127.2 yards per game, Denver has seen teams run them straight out of a couple of games and that is precisely what the Pats should try to do Sunday. led by power back LeGarrette Blount, who has already set career highs this season in carries, yards and scores, the Patriots offense has moved the ball well on the ground all season long. Entering the game, New England ranks seventh in the league, averaging 115.5 rush yards per game. Expect the Pats to use one of their strengths to directly attack the biggest weakness of Denver's defense and run through them. When all is said and done, this could be the difference on Sunday.

Limiting The Rush- For the Patriot offense to be successful Sunday, especially in the pass game, the line must keep the pocket clean and keep Denver's talented slew of pass rushers on the outside and out of the backfield. Starting ends Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware have combined for 17.5 sacks so far this season. With top backup Shane Ray adding another six sacks and interior lineman Derek Wolfe compiling 5.5 himself, the Broncos have no shortage of guys that can get after Brady and force him into tough situations. Unlike what they didn't do in last season's AFC Championship, the Pats offensive line must find a way to keep the edge rushers in front of them and out of Brady's face for the offense to fully click. Without Rob Gronkowski and with a banged up Martellus Bennett, who is still nursing both ankle and shoulder injuries, expect the Pats to employ the services of backup tackle Cameron Fleming more than usual this Sunday. Throughout his career, Fleming has been used a lot as a blocking tight end, so he could be slated for similar work on Sunday. With such versatile and tough pass rushers on Denver's defense and injuries creating a thin rotation at the tight end position for New England, it makes sense for the backup lineman to play a role in the offense's plan of thwarting an ever-present pass rush.

Who's In- It could be a question of who's in and who's not healthy enough to play Sunday, when it comes to the New England secondary. Last week, corner Eric Rowe was inactive with a hamstring injury. He enters Sunday as questionable again, after being limited all week while nursing the injury. New England's top corner Malcolm Butler was also added to the injury report this week, as he dealt with some hip issues and was limited during practices. He too is listed as questionable for the game. With two of the team's top three options at the cornerback position listed as uncertainties headed into the match up, it is interesting to think of how the Pats will match up with Denver's two big receiving threats; Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. Logan Ryan will most likely draw Thomas due to his size, but if Butler can't go, it is unclear who would draw the assignment of covering Sanders, who is a speedy offensive weapon. It could be Justin Coleman or rookie Cyrus Jones, though neither brings the skill set or tenacity that Butler possesses. Hopefully for New England, both Butler and Rowe are available to play and the coaches can match up with the Broncos however they please. If Rowe can't go, the Pats will still be in good shape with Butler and Ryan working each side, but if Butler is a no-go it could be tough to fill the void created by his absence.

Joining The Group- The Patriots' thin receiving corps got a boost this week, as the team claimed recently waived Cardinals receiver Michael Floyd on Thursday. Floyd, who was released by Arizona following his arrest for DUI and disobeying police, is a skillful offensive player with the ability to make plays down the field. If he was able to learn enough of the offense over the past 48 hours, he could play somewhat of a factor on Sunday to help lessen the load on banged up guys like Martellus Bennett and Julian Edelman, who have been overworked through injuries during parts of the season.

Prediction- Both teams have done well this season, in terms of keeping their opponents out of the end zone. While Denver has a handful more flashy defensive players and dominates in pass defense, they do have the biggest weak spot of either of the teams with their faulty rush defense. While the New England defense gives up it's fair share of yards, they have sat near the top of the league all season in points allowed and have made great strides over the past few weeks, playing more physical football and creating turnovers that they had struggled to create earlier in the year. At the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that the Patriots offense led by the future Hall-of-Famer Brady and Blount in the running game is more capable of scoring on Denver than the so-so Broncos offense is of doing the same against an improving New England defensive unit. Expect Brady to come out and do similar things to Denver that he did to Batimore's "top defense" last week, while Blount powers the football forward, pads his scoring stats and becomes the team's single season rushing TD record holder.

Patriots 27, Broncos 16 

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