Brock Osweiler and Broncos knock off Patriots, as AFC race opens up

DENVER — Denver Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler looked at the New England Patriots' defensive alignment on third-and-1 in overtime and changed the play. He was making his second career start, and you better be right in that situation. He was.

A few moments later, C.J. Anderson was running down the snowy sideline, his hand in the air as he went in for the 48-yard game-winning score. The Broncos won 30-24 in the best game the NFL has produced this season.

"They gave us a specific defensive front that we can't run that ball into, so I checked to our second play that we called in our huddle," Osweiler said, in a matter-of-fact way you'd expect from a quarterback with about a hundred or so more starts.

This game was supposed to be Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady for maybe the last time. What we found out is that the Broncos are an even stronger contender to the New England Patriots in the AFC with their new quarterback. When the Broncos trailed 21-7 in the fourth quarter, Osweiler wasn't rattled. When he had 2:31 left, was 83 yards away and needed to lead a touchdown drive, he did just that and hit Andre Caldwell for a go-ahead score with 1:09 left. In overtime, when coach Gary Kubiak sent in two run plays with the faith that Osweiler could diagnose New England's defense and pick the right one, Osweiler came through.

Perhaps it's just the buzz off of a classic game, but it seems like the AFC is a bit more wide open after Denver knocked off the previously undefeated Patriots.

An overtime loss on the road doesn't mean the Patriots, who came in here 10-0, are in significant trouble. But how the rest of the season plays out depends greatly on the health of New England's all-world tight end.

Rob Gronkowski had a slight limp as he walked out of the locker room on Sunday night, and reports said that a scary-looking knee injury that caused him to get carted off might not be so serious. There will be more tests, and perhaps Gronkowski will be back sooner than anyone would have guessed when he was writhing on the ground in pain Sunday night.

Other than Tom Brady, Gronkowski is the Patriots' most valuable player. After the game, Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked how he felt seeing Gronkowski down on the field.

"What do you think?" Belichick said in his most annoyed tone of a curt news conference, staring a while at the questioner.

Was the hit on Gronkowski dirty? Brady didn't seem to think so.

"I hate to see it, but it really is the only way defenders can hit now," Brady said. "I don't think it's dirty, I just think that is how football is played now."

And what did you think about it, Mr. Belichick?

"Look, I'm not going to talk about that play," Belichick said.

It was not a happy Patriots locker room. This was the first Patriots loss in a game that mattered since losing at Green Bay last Nov. 30. The Patriots rested starters in a Week 17 loss to Buffalo last season with their playoff seed wrapped up. Defensive end Chandler Jones stated he would talk only about the Philadelphia Eagles, next week's opponent, and then answered questions about the game that just ended by saying, "Mark Sanchez is a great quarterback; Chip Kelly runs some good schemes and we have to prepare for them."

Questions about a couple of questionable offensive pass interference calls on Gronkowski were brushed aside.

"You should talk with them. Talk to the league," Belichick said, and come to think of it, he had the same annoyed tone throughout his news conference. "I'm sure they have all the answers."

Over in Denver's media conference room, Osweiler had a big smile, mimicking how he'd brush off the football as a kid in Montana when it landed in a snow bank.

"Fortunately, when you play in the NFL, there are guys on the sideline that dust off the snow," Osweiler said, hitting the punch line exactly right.

There's a long way to go this season. Assuming Gronkowski returns to the lineup relatively soon, there's no reason to believe the Patriots can't still win a Super Bowl. And the Broncos staff will have to delicately manage the Manning situation when he comes back from a foot injury. Manning is a football legend but unless Osweiler goes in the tank, Manning is Denver's new backup quarterback.

There's also a lot of time for the Broncos to continue pushing forward. The Broncos are 9-2 and still have a chance to make sure that a playoff rematch against the Patriots would happen in Denver. They own the tiebreaker. If Gronkowski misses some time, with all the Patriots' other injuries, they could drop another game or two.

And if nothing else, the Broncos know that with Osweiler gaining confidence, an improving running game and a fantastic defense, they can beat anyone in the NFL. They just knocked off the undefeated defending champs, after all.

"We know we're a good football team, and we know when we bring our 'A' game we can play on a level with anybody," Anderson said.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab