Game Report: New England Patriots @ Denver Broncos

Fred Mackaman

Game Date:  Sun Nov 29 2015

Teams:  New England Patriots @ Denver Broncos

Network:  NBC

You’re reading what I hope will be one of many Game Reports in which I document my growth as a novice NFL TV fan.  You can check here if you’d like to learn more about my plans.

Pregame Thoughts

This game might be more interesting for me than the last few have been.

  • It’s the first pairing of the season between one of the teams I love (Denver) and one that I hate (New England).
  • It’s on Denver’s home turf, so that should give them an edge and make for an exciting game.  I don’t have real high hopes, though, and I wish it were an afternoon game so I could go to bed earlier.  But we’ll see what happens.
  • This is also the first game in over a week for me (although I did casually watch the Thanksgiving Green Bay game — mostly to catch the half-time ceremony where Brett Favre’s jersey would be retired.  I didn’t know that Bart Starr was going to show up and only after some research did I realize what a big deal that was.

Overall Response

What a satisfying and frequently exciting game to watch.  I liked the human drama  — the undefeated team, the young backup quarterback, the legendary coaches, and the painful injury endured by Gronkowski.  All of this played out against a pretty strong winter storm in Denver.  I adopted the Broncos as my team to love more or less at random, but through repeated exposure I’ve become quite fond of the organization.  Likewise my respect for the skills of the New England Patriots has grown, especially the outstanding skills of Tom Brady (although he is a cheater).  Still, it was richly satisfying to see New England’s perfect season come to an end here at the end of Week 12 of regular play.  Denver 30, New England 24.  Amazing.

TV Razzle Dazzle

I liked how they had an overlay of yardlines and yard markers  after the snow was covering the markings on the turf.  Other than that, it was the same fantastic video coverage, graphics, music, effects, that I’ve come to expect and enjoy during these shows.

Entertainment value

5/5.  I enjoyed watching the snow.  New England got off to such an early lead and it seemed like backup QB Brock Osweiler.  Things turned around in the second half, though — especially during the fourth quarter and overtime.  Actually thrilling victory for Denver.  I even lingered for some of the post-game chatter and enjoyed the sideline interviews with QB Brock Osweiler and running back C.J. Anderson;  amusing height difference between these two who were principally responsible for the final winning touchdown of the game (Brock is 6’8″ — one of only two NFL quarterbacks that tall;  C.J. stands exactly a foot shorter at 5’8″).  Both of these young men seemed like genuinely good souls — not a ton of cockiness but contagious enthusiasm for the game and their team.

Commercial commentary

  • 122 separate commercials, T-rating 4.67/7.00 (highest number so far and lowest T-rating).  A relatively quick overtime period was played, but they hit that number ahead of overtime.
  • No ads for fantasy football sites.
  • High percentage of the ads had a holiday theme including many with Black Friday references (Black Friday had already taken place when this game aired, but lots of the promotions were still in place).
  • The auto/truck category prevailed during this game.  Ads for upcoming TV shows were lighter than usual, with the big exception of the upcoming live production of The Wiz scheduled for Thu Dec 3 on NBC.
  • A surprise was the ad for upcoming movie Concussion, an upcoming film about the NFL and concussions.  I don’t know much about the film or if the NFL has any say in what products can buy air time, but it caught my attention.  It’s my guess that the NFL would prefer that the topic of concussions and lawsuit not be raised in the middle of a game.

Interesting Extras

Little bio of Brock Osweiler, the Broncos sub QB while Manning was out with foot injury.  Shot of the city/county building lit up for the holidays.  Skiers in Aspen — some wearing Bronco jerseys.  Nice clip of Play60 program — Broncos playing with little kids (and not just boys).

So much to learn

This was the first time I remember the issue of eligible receiver coming up — a penalty was assessed and then withdrawn after the refs had a little chat.  I’d read about that rule but so far hadn’t noticed a reference to it in a game.

Points to Ponder

I’m sure I’m not the only person wondering if Peyton Manning will be the starter when he comes back from his injury.  The little whippersnapper Osweiler did well and is apparently well-liked by the team and the media.

Here’s the commercial roster for the show.  I’ve sorted this one by category, but  you can also see which quarter the ads were telecast and in what order.  Remember, asterisks (*) mark commercials with a football theme (especially when the product advertised is NOT explicitly football-related).
Quarter Commercials:  New England @ Denver, Sun Nov 29, 2015.  NBC.  122 separate commercials Category Ad Number Testosterone Factor  (Average 4.67/7.00)
HT Southwest Airline 69 6
HT Audi Auto 61 3
HT BMW Auto 70 6
3 BMW Auto 73 3
3 BMW Auto 77 4
3 BMW Auto 82 6
1 Chevy Auto 11 5
1 Chevy Black Friday Auto 6 4
HT Ford Auto 68 5
4 KIA Auto 99 4
4 KIA Holidays On Us Auto 118 4
4 KIA Holidays On Us Auto 121 4
1 KIA Sorento Auto 1 2
4 KIA Sorento Auto 92 7
HT Lexus Auto 59 5
3 Lexus Auto 89 5
4 Mercedes Auto 100 2
4 Mercedes Auto 107 5
4 Mercedes Auto 110 5
HT Nissan Auto 66 5
HT Toyota Auto 65 2
3 Toyota Auto 87 4
3 Toyota Auto 91 5
2 Toyota Tacoma Auto 34 6
2 Toyota Tacoma Auto 40 7
1 Volkswagen Auto 15 4
1 Volkswagen Auto 17 4
2 Bud Light Beer 43 7
1 Coors Beer 26 7
3 Michelob Golden Light Beer 90 4
3 Stella Artois Beer 75 5
HT GoPro Camera 60 6
2 Samsung Cellphone 39 2
3 Samsung Cellphone 79 3
1 Sprint Cellphone 16 4
HT T-Mobile metroPCS Cellphone 67 6
1 Verizon Cellphone 29 3
3 Verizon Cellphone 74 3
4 Verizon Cellphone 98 3
2 AT&T iPad Mini 2 Computer 42 4
1 go90 Computer 9 4
2 iPad Computer 57 4
3 iPad Computer 84 4
1 Microsoft Surface Pro Computer 22 4
2 Microsoft Surface Pro Computer 54 4
4 Microsoft Surface Pro Computer 105 4
1 PC Does What Computer 13 4
4 PC Does What Computer 101 4
1 Amazon Deal Notifications Delivery 12 5
4 Amazon Deal Notifications Delivery 93 6
1 Walmart Xmas Day Discount Store 7 3
1 Walmart Xmas Day Discount Store 30 4
2 Walmart Xmas Day Discount Store 44 4
4 Walmart Xmas Day Discount Store 102 4
4 Walmart Xmas Day Discount Store 112 3
2 Bose Russell Wilson* Electronics 36 7
4 Bose Russell Wilson* Electronics 96 7
4 chromecast audio Electronics 97 3
2 American Express Financial 47 7
1 Bank of America Financial 25 4
2 Capital One* Financial 51 5
1 Navy Federal Credit Union Financial 23 2
1 Football Is Family Football 32 4
2 Football Is Family Football 46 5
HT Football Is Family Football 64 6
3 Football Is Family Football 85 6
4 SNF Colts Steelers Football 95 7
1 SNF on NFL Football 5 7
4 Sleep Number Furniture 119 4
HT American Family* Insurance 62 5
1 Geico 97%* Insurance 3 7
1 Nationwide Manning Happy Holidays* Insurance 8 5
HT Nationwide Manning Happy Holidays* Insurance 71 5
2 DollarShaveClub.Com Menswear 41 6
1 Duluth Trading Underwear Menswear 2 7
2 Jos. A Bank Menswear 35 6
4 Air Force Military 111 5
2 Salute to Service Military 53 5
1 13 Hours Movie 31 7
3 Concussion Movie 76 5
2 Daddy’s Home Movie 49 4
1 In The Heart Of The Sea Movie 18 5
4 Krampus Movie 108 5
2 Minions Movie 37 4
3 Point Break Movie 78 6
1 Secret Life of Pets Movie 14 4
1 Star Wars Movie 21 5
1 The Big Short Movie 10 5
2 The Revenant Movie 52 7
4 Cialis Pharmaceuticals 94 5
4 Movantik Pharmaceuticals 113 2
3 Arby’s Restaurants 88 5
1 McDonald’s Restaurants 28 2
HT McDonald’s Restaurants 72 4
2 Subway Restaurants 55 4
4 Subway Restaurants 106 4
1 Subway* Life Coach Restaurants 4 6
4 Direct TV Satellite TV 103 5
4 Columbia Sports Apparel 120 4
1 North Face Sports Apparel 19 4
4 Amazon Fire TV Streaming TV 114 1
1 chromecast audio Streaming TV 20 4
2 Hulu Streaming TV 45 4
2 Chicago Med TV Show 56 4
HT Eleven Who Care TV Show 63 3
3 Golden Globes TV Show 86 5
4 Kare 11 News TV Show 117 4
4 Kare 11 News TV Show 122 4
4 Shades of Blue TV Show 104 6
2 Superstore TV Show 50 3
3 Superstore TV Show 80 3
2 Telenova TV Show 38 2
4 The Biggest Loser TV Show 109 3
1 The Voice TV Show 33 4
4 The Voice TV Show 116 4
1 The Wiz TV Show 24 3
HT The Wiz TV Show 58 2
3 The Wiz TV Show 83 3
4 Wednesday Night Hockey TV Show 115 7
3 Exxon Mobil Utilities 81 2
1 GE Utilities 27 5
2 Verizon Wireless 48 2