The Patriots defense has been a buzzsaw since the playoffs started.
After holding the Chargers to three points in their Wild Card game and intercepting C.J. Stroud four times in the divisional round, the Patriots shut Denver’s offense down in a 10-7 AFC Championship Game victory.
The Broncos only picked up 181 yards of total offense, and though the Patriots have allowed a total of 26 points in three playoff games, star defensive tackle Milton Williams still thinks naysayers will find a way to discredit his group.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that’ve been counted out,” Williams said. “Nobody really believed in us and what we can do. They’re probably going to say, ‘It’s just how (the Broncos) played. We ain’t do nothing. It’s what they did.’ We’ve got one more game to go out there and take care of business and see if we will get some credit then.”
That next game will be Super Bowl LX, where the Patriots will meet the winner of Sunday’s Rams vs. Seahawks game.
Coming into the AFC Championship Game, Williams said he kept hearing about what a talented offensive line the Broncos had. Denver allowed the fewest sacks in the league during the regular season.
“I heard that all week,” Williams said. “I don’t care about numbers and all that. Whatever. We’ve gotta go out there and we’ve gotta play. All that stuff doesn’t matter. When you get between the lines, we’ll see what’s going to happen. Cut the tape on and see what happened today.”
The Patriots sacked Jarrett Stidham three times in Sunday’s win — Williams personally hit him twice — and New England’s defense forced a pair of turnovers when the backup was under pressure.