The New England Patriots have signed All-Pro LB Jerod Mayo to 5-year contract extension. The terms of the deal have not been announced.

Mayo, drafted 10th overall in the 2008 NFL Draft out of Tennessee, is in the fourth year of his rookie contract.  In addition to being one of the Patriots captains since his second season, he is responsible for calling the defensive signals.

Mayo has proven to a versatile player in his four seasons in Foxboro having been an inside linebacker in the 3-4 scheme he is now the weak side linebacker in the 4-3 front.

Mayo joins fellow co-captain DT Vince Wilfork as defensive leaders the team has locked up for the next several seasons.

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Photo credit: Getty Images

This Week

The New England Patriots visit the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Sunday at 4:15 p.m.

The Patriots (10-3) are 5-2 on the road, 3-0 against the AFC West and 7-2 in the conference.  The Broncos (8-5) are 3-3 at Mile High, 2-0 vs. the AFC East and 6-3 against the conference.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports the Patriots at MINUS 7.  The over under is 46.

My Prediction is Patriots 28, Broncos, 20.  Give the points (Patriots) and take the over.  I am 7-5-1 against the spread and 9 of 13 on calling the over/under in 2011.

Tickets

The Broncos are reporting the game as a sell out.

Tickets to the game, if available, can be purchased through Ticketmaster.  You can check the availability here.

Getting to the Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game in Denver make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast from the Weather Channel for Denver CO.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions, parking and stadium information, and an Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating.com.  There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack.  I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good.

And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages.  With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks.  You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or a friend’s house moderation is always the key to a great time.  Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver.  Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS in televising the game regionally and Jim Nantz will do play by play while Phil Simms will provide the game analysis.  You can look here for your local affiliate.

See if you’re getting the game courtesy of J.P. Kirby at the506.com.

The DirecTV designation is Channel 714.

Here are all the rules on NFL TV broadcasts including explaining the blackout rules, flex scheduling and commercial breaks.

Radio

The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play, former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color and new this year Scott Zolak will man the sidelines. It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Andy Gresh and Zolak with the pregame show at 1 p.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

If you are outside the broadcast are of the stations on the Patriots Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass, which allows you to listen to any game live.  You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL Games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games under a special additional package.  They usually only carry the home team feed.

The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 86 and on SiriusXM Internet Channel 879.

The Broncos Radio network has Dave Logan calling play by play and former Bronco Brian Griese doing the color via their flagship station KOA.  Their call is available on Sirius Channel 94, XM Channel 227 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 870.

Westwood One will also broadcast the game to it nationwide affiliate network.  Howard David and Tony Boselli have the call.

Patriots All Access

Patriots All-Access features behind the scenes looks, interviews and breakdowns with head coach Bill Belichick and in depth features on the team.  It’s hosted by Steve Burton of WBZ-TV (Boston) and airs weekly in most New England television markets.

• Boston MA on TV 38 Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Providence RI on WNAC Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Manchester NH on WMUR Saturday at midnight
• Portland ME on WMTW Sunday at 5 a.m.
• Hartford CT on WCTX Saturday at 5 p.m.
• Springfield MA on WFXQ Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Bangor ME on WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

You can also watch it anytime on the teams website in the media section.

To continue reading the New England Patriots @ Denver Broncos Week 15 preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Last Week

The Patriots held off the Redskins on the road 34-27; while the Broncos beat to the Bears, 13-10 in OT at home.

History

• The Broncos lead the all-time series 27-16 including playoffs.
• The Patriots are 8-18 as the road team in the series.
• New England and Denver have met twice in the playoffs with Denver winning both times at home in 1986 and 2005.
• The Patriots and the Broncos are the last two teams to win back-to-back Super Bowls.
• The two teams last met in 2009 in Denver and the Broncos won 20-17.
• In 1960 the teams faced each other in the inaugural game of each franchise.

Patriots Team Notes

Here is the Patriots roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2011 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 409-366-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in six appearances.  They last appeared in the playoffs in 2010 when they lost at home to the New York Jets in the AFC Divisional Playoff, 28-21.  They last appeared in a Super Bowl in 2007 losing to the New York Giants 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII.  They won the AFC Conference championship that season with playoff wins over Jacksonville and San Diego.

The Patriots are the defending two-time AFC East Champions; they have won the division 8 times since 2000.

Patriots can clinch the AFC East and their 13th playoff berth in the last 18 seasons with a win in Denver or a Jets loss.

The Patriots are dedicating the 2011 season to the memory of Myra Hiatt Kraft, the late wife of owner Robert Kraft. Every Patriots player and coach will honor Myra’s memory by wearing a patch with her initials on it in recognition of her lifelong contributions to the local and global community and her influence on the charitable mission of the entire Patriots organization. The patch will be worn on the left chest of every player throughout the season.

New England has played Denver 9 times since 2000.  This is the Patriots 7^th visit to Denver in those 9 games.

This is the second game of a two game road swing, second two game road swing of the season (at Buffalo Week 2 and at Oakland Week 3) for the Patriots.

New England has won 5 consecutive games after a 2 game losing streak.  It is their longest win streak of the season.

New England is 38-5 in December games since 2001.  That’s the best in the NFL in that time period.

The Patriots have had 6 undefeated Decembers since 2001.  They are 2-0 this month.

Since 2000 have the Patriots the best road record in the NFL at 62-33.

The Patriots defense has allowed opponents to convert 44.8% of the time on 3^rd down, while the offense has a 3^rd down conversion rate of 45.8%.

The New England defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 29 times in 13 games.

The Patriots are 3rd in the NFL in points per game with 30.5.  While they allow 21 points per game good for 14th in the NFL.

New England is PLUS 9 in turnover differential, 5th best in the NFL. The offense has given up 11 INT and 5 fumbles, while the defense has 18 INT and 7 fumble recoveries.

The Patriots are being outscored by their opponents in the 4th quarter 108-104.

This is the 9th straight season the Patriots have had 10 wins or more and 10th time in the last 11 years.

Patriots Staff Notes

This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Broncos.

Bill Belichick is 3-10 vs. the Denver in his career.  He is 3-6 against them as the head coach in New England and that includes the playoffs (0-1).

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 172-97 in 16 NFL seasons.  He is 134-53 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 15-6 in the playoffs, 14-5 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 187-103.

Belichick’s 187 wins are good for 9th all-time.  Chuck Knox, who coached the Rams, Redskins and Seahawks, is 8th all-time with 193.

He is the first coach in NFL history to have his teams win 10 games or more in 9 consecutive seasons.

He was named NFL Coach of the Year for the 3^rd time in 2010.

Belichick is one of five head coaches in NFL history whose father (Steve Belichick) played in the league.  The others are current Kansas City head coach Todd Haley (Dick Haley), former San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan (Dick Nolan), former Cincinnati head coach David Shula (Don Shula) and former NY Jets head coach Joe Walton (Frank Walton).

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

LT: Light

LG: Mankins

C: McDonald

RG: Waters

RT: Solder

TE: R. Gronkowski

TE: Hernandez

WR: Branch

WR: Welker

QB: Brady

RB: Green-Ellis

Defense:

DE: Deaderick

DT: Wilfork

DT: Love

DE: Carter

LB: Ninkovich

LB: Mayo

LB: Koutouvides

LCB: McCourty

RCB: Arrington

S: Slater

S: Ihedigbo

Patriots Players Notes

This Tom Brady’s 12^th NFL season he is 1-6 vs. the Broncos including 0-1 in the playoffs.

Denver is the only team in which Brady has a losing record against.

Overall Brady is 121-34 as a starting QB and is 14-5 in the playoffs for an overall record of 135-39.  Brady is a 6 time Pro Bowl QB; two time NFL MVP and has won 3 Super Bowls while twice being named the games MVP.  He is also listed as the 21^st Greatest Player in the History of the NFL according to the NFL Network.

In 2010 Brady won his second NFL MVP and he was the first unanimous winner in league history.

Brady has thrown 33 TD’s and 11INT’s while being sacked 22 times in 13 games.

Brady has 294 TD passes in his career he is now 6th all-time.  Hall of Fame QB John Elway is 5th with 300.

Brady has 121 career wins he is 6th all-time.  Fran Tarkenton is 5th with 124.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 95 consecutive games including playoffs, 78 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

TE Rob Gronkowski has 15 TD catches in 2011 a new single season record for tight ends.  He broke the NFL record for TD’s by a tight end in a season held by Vernon Davis (San Francisco – 2009) and Antonio Gates (San Diego –2004).

Gronkowski has 25 TD catches in last two seasons the most in the NFL in that time span.

Gronkowski was the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his effort against Washington.  He was also the Sox & Dawgs Offensive Player of the Game for the 3rd time in 4 weeks.

T Nate Solder returns to his native Colorado to face the Broncos.  Solder played at the University of Colorado before being drafted by the Patriots in the first round of the 2011 Draft.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office has dropped the indecent assault and battery charges against WR Julian Edelman.

DE Andre Carter leads the team with 10 sacks.  DE Mark Anderson has 7 on the season good for 2nd on the team.

Carter’s 10 sacks marks the 4th time in his career he has registered double digit sacks.  His career high is 12.5 in 2002 with San Francisco.

Carter leads the defense with 22 quarterback hits, Anderson is 2nd with 9 hits.

Carter also leads the team with two forced fumbles.

Ninkovich, DT Vince Wilfork, DT Kyle Love, CB Kyle Arrington and DE Gerard Warren have each recovered an opponent’s fumble.  Wilfork’s was recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.

Arrington leads the team and is in a 3 way tie for the NFL lead with 7 INT’s.

Mayo leads the team in tackles with 75, CB Devin McCourty is 2nd with 74.

LB Tracy White leads the special teams in tackles with 14 and Slater is 2nd with 13.

On Wednesday and Thursday the following players were listed on the injury report. S Patrick Chung (foot) and T Sebastian Vollmer (back) did not practice.  The following were limited in their participation: CB Kyle Arrington (foot); QB Tom Brady (non-injury); WR Deion Branch (groin); C Dan Connolly (groin); WR Julian Edelman (back); LB Dane Fletcher (thumb); S James Ihedigbo (shoulder); CB Devin McCourty (shoulder); WR Matthew Slater (shoulder); LB Brandon Spikes (MCL); RB Shane Vereen (hamstring); WR Wes Welker (knee); C Ryan Wendell (calf); DT Vince Wilfork (non-injury) and RB Danny Woodhead (abdomen).

The Patriots have five New England natives on the roster they are: LB Niko Koutouvides (Plainville CT); TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); S James Ihedigbo (Northampton MA) and DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA).  They have 12 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are: WR Deion Branch (Louisville); WR/TE Dorin Dickerson (Pitt); S James Ihedigbo (UMass); CB Nathan Jones (Rutgers); C Dan Koppen (Boston College – IR); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); NT Vince Wilfork (Miami), OL Donald Thomas (UConn); DE Mike Wright (Cincinnati – IR); DE Ron Brace (Boston College); WR Tiquan Underwood (Rutgers) and DE Alex Silvestro (Rutgers – Practice Squad).

The Patriots have 7 retired numbers: 20 – Gino Cappelletti, 40 – Mike Haynes, 73 – John Hannah, 78 – Bruce Armstrong, 79 – Jim Lee Hunt and 89 – Bob Dee.

Pro Bowl voting is open until December 19th, cast your votes for deserving players.

Broncos Team Notes

Here is the Broncos roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2011 Broncos Schedule/Results

Denver’s all-time record is 406-369-10 and they are 17-15 in the playoffs with their last playoff appearance coming in 2005.  That season the Broncos beat New England in the AFC Division round and then lost to Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship game.  Denver has won two Super Bowls (XXXII, XXXIII) in six appearances.

The Broncos have sold out every game ever played at Sports Authority Field at Mile High which opened in 2001.  They have a continuous sell out streak of all home games dating back to 1970 in Mile High Stadium.

Former Broncos QB and Hall of Fame member John Elway is the team’s executive vice president of football operations assuming that position in January 2011.

Elway has never lost to Patriots overall as a player he was 11-0, 10-0 in the regular season and 1-0 in the playoffs.

Denver is the only current AFC West team to never relocate or change its nickname.

In the decade long history of the AFL, Denver was the only team to never play in a championship game.

The Broncos will be switching back to orange jerseys in 2012 as their primary home uniform and dropping the navy pants.  They will wear the navy jerseys as their alternate home uniform.  They wanted to make the changes for this season but they were too late in notifying the NFL of the changes.

Denver has nearly an identical overall franchise record as New England.

The Broncos have won six consecutive games and are 7-1 since Tebow took over as the starting QB.

Denver is currently in first place in the AFC West with a one game lead over Oakland.

Since 2002, Denver is 13-4 at home in the month of December, it’s the 3rd best record in that span.

The Broncos defense has allowed opponents to convert 34.1% of the time on 3^rd down, while the offense has a 3^rd down conversion rate of 31.8%.

The Denver defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 37 times in 13 games.

The Broncos are 21st in the NFL in points per game with 20.7.  While they allow 23.2 points per game good for 22nd in the NFL.

Denver is MINUS 4 in turnover differential, 20th best in the NFL. The offense has given up 9 INT and 8 fumbles, while the defense has 9 INT and 12 fumble recoveries.

Sports Authority Field at Mile High seats 76,125.

The Broncos have only called two stadiums home.  In addition to Sports Authority Field at Mile High (2001-present) aka Invesco Field at Mile High, they played in Mile High Stadium (1960-2001).

Denver is the only team to beat New England twice in the playoffs.

Broncos Staff Notes

Read what Denver Broncos head coach John Fox had to say to the New England media about the match up.

John Fox is 81-76 in his 10th season as a head coach.  He is 8-5 in his 1^st season with Denver; 73-71 with Carolina and 5-3 in the playoffs for an overall record of 86-79.

Fox is 1-2 vs. New England including one Super Bowl (0-1) in his career all with Carolina.  This is his first game against them as the head coach in Denver.

Denver offensive line coach Dave Magazu attended Springfield College.

Broncos Players Notes

Tim Tebow is in his 2nd season in the NFL and he is 8-3 as a starting QB.  He was the Broncos 1^st round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft out of the University of Florida.  He won two national championships with the Gators and a Heisman Trophy as a sophomore.

Tebow has never faced New England.

In the 2006 playoffs Denver DB Champ Bailey had a 100 yard interception return off of Tom Brady.  That was the last playoff game Denver won and only post season victory since Elway retired as a player.

Former Patriots playing in Denver are LS Lonnie Paxton, DE Ty Warren (IR), G Russ Hochstein and DB Jonathan Wilhite.

On Wednesday the following players were listed on the injury report.  S David Bruton (Achilles); S Brian Dawkins (neck); CB Andre Goodman (concussion) did not practice. WR Eddie Royal (concussion) was limited in participation and RB Spencer Larson (hamstring) and LB Von Miller participated fully.

On Thursday Bruton did not practice.  Dawkins and Goodman were upgraded to limited participation, Royal was upgraded to full participation, Larsen and Miller were unchanged.

WR Eddie Royal (concussion) was limited in participation and RB Spencer Larson (hamstring)

Denver team captains for 2011 are: RB Willis McGahee; G Chris Kuper; CB Champ Bailey; S Brian Dawkins and LB Wesley Woodyard

There is 1 player on the Broncos roster from a Big East university and New England based college.  He is: DE Elvis Dummervil (Louisville).

The Broncos retired numbers: 7 – John Elway; 18 – Frank Tripucka and 44 – Floyd Little.

Next Week

The Patriots host the Miami Dolphins next Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA.  Kick off is at 1 p.m. on CBS.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office has dropped the criminal charges against New England Patriots WR Julian Edelman.  The DA says he would have a hard time proving the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Edelman was accused of groping a woman on the dance floor during a Halloween dance at an upscale Back Bar nightclub on November 1.  He was charged with indecent assault and battery after being arrested at the scene on Exeter Street.

The statement from the DA’s office says in  part:

“The evidence suggests that he approached a woman on the dance floor and took her hand briefly. Review of the videotape indicates that the physical contact between the two was fleeting … and did not meet the elements of any crime,” prosecutors said in a statement.

To bring an indecent assault and battery prosecution, prosecutors said, the contact must be proven to be intentional; it must be potentially physically harmful or an “affront to the victim’s integrity;” it must be fundamentally offensive to moral values; and there must be no justification or excuse.

“Prosecutors could not prove these elements with the evidence contained in the surveillance imagery, witness statements, and other sources,” prosecutors said.

Edelman was allowed to continue to play by the Patriots and he most likely would have faced NFL disciplinary action in addition to any criminal charges.  There is no word on if the NFL is looking further into the incident.

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Photo credit: AP Photo