There are only two NFL teams with winning regular-season records against Tom Brady -- the Seattle Seahawks (2-1 after a 31-24 victory in Week 10) and the Denver Broncos, who have defeated the Patriots in six of 11 regular-season matchups with Brady under center.

The Broncos have presented Brady with different challenges at different times throughout his career, but the defense they have put on the field the past two years is likely the greatest yet. Brady squared off with the Broncos twice last season. The Patriots lost both games and Brady finished each of them with performances that, though the yardage totals were large, fell well short of his typical standard of play.

His final line across the two games against Denver, including the AFC Championship Game: 50 of 98 (51 percent) for 590 yards (6.02 per attempt), four touchdowns and two interceptions. In the 16 games he played against teams other than Denver, meanwhile, he completed 65.2 percent of his passes at 7.67 yards per attempt and sported a 35-to-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

With the Patriots and Broncos set to square off yet again Sunday, it's worth asking how the Denver defense frustrated Brady into such substandard performances last season and how Brady and the Patriots might be able to counter.

The quick and obvious answer to how the Broncos held Brady in check is the same as the one that has held true for basically all teams that have managed to frustrate Brady throughout his career: They put a ton of pressure on him. Every quarterback performs worse when pressured, and that has been especially true for Brady. The Broncos sacked, hit or hurried Brady on 45 percent (48 of 106) of his dropbacks across the teams' two matchups last season, a far greater rate than the 33 percent of the time Brady saw pressure in his 16 other games.

Though Denver's pressure resulted in Brady being sacked slightly less often than other teams' pressure (14.6 percent against 15.5 percent), it had a much greater effect when Brady managed to get off a pass attempt.

OPP PRESSURE %
COMP ATT COMP % YDS YPA TD INT SACK
DEN 45.3%
13 40 32.5% 248 6.20 2 1 14.6%
OTHER 33.4%
96 181 53.0% 1,438 7.94 14 3 15.5%

The same is true of Brady's performance against the blitz. Arguably the NFL's best quarterback against blitzes in 2015, Brady was completely shut down when the Broncos sent extra rushers after him in their two matchups.

OPP BLITZ % COMP ATT COMP % YDS YPA TD INT SACK
DEN 24.5% 7 24 29.2% 81 3.38 1 0 2
OTHER 23.2% 93 145 64.1% 1,185 8.17 13 2 7

Denver actually blitzed significantly less often against the Patriots than against other opponents (as Bill Barnwell noted, their blitz rate in the AFC title game was the lowest single-game rate for a Wade Phillips defense in eight years), but the blitzes they did send were extremely effective.

Denver's corners played tight coverage to take away the short crossers to Julian Edelman that Brady loves so much, while their safeties and linebackers bracketed Rob Gronkowski with double teams. The Broncos bet that they could sit in tight coverage to take away short routes and dare Brady to throw over the top of the defense while still getting pressure without having to use extra rushers to do it. For the most part, the Broncos widened out their defensive splits, hoping to isolate New England's offensive linemen in space and let their guys up front -- Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, Malik Jackson and Derek Wolfe, mostly -- win their battles one-on-one. It worked more often than not, and the Broncos repeatedly got to Brady before he had time to deliver the ball cleanly.

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Tom Brady didn't have much time to find receivers in two games against the Broncos last season. USATSI

This season's matchup promises to be at least a little bit different for several reasons. First, New England's offensive line is healthier this season, and some of the fill-ins that did not fare well last year are now playing better football. Marcus Cannon -- who was eaten alive by Von Miller in the AFC title game -- is having a significantly better season, for example. Shaq Mason has been much better at guard, Nate Solder is back at left tackle and David Andrews has been improving at center over the past few weeks. The Denver front is still a whale to deal with -- though Jackson left as a free agent to sign with the Jaguars -- but the Pats should be better equipped to deal with pressure this time around.

While that's a difference that works in New England's favor, the fact that the Patriots will be without Gronkowski this time around obviously makes things significantly more difficult. Factor in Danny Amendola's absence and Martellus Bennett's injury-related limitations, and it's not hard to envision a repeat of what happened last season. But this year's Denver defense does have a vulnerability that last year's didn't, and the Pats might be particularly well-equipped to take advantage of it. If they want to come away with a win, they're going to have to find a way to make it work for them.

The Broncos' worst defensive game this season came against the Atlanta Falcons, who did all they could to isolate Denver's linebackers and safeties in coverage against running backs Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman. It worked splendidly, as the duo combined for seven receptions for 167 yards and a touchdown. Coleman, in particular, was repeatedly able to find openings.

In Dion Lewis and James White, the Patriots have two of the better pass-catching backs in the league. Both are able to not only line up in the backfield for traditional running back routes (screens, swing passes, quick outs) but also to split out wide and run other routes in the tree (hitches, slants, fades, etc). The Patriots have experimented with using them on the field at the same time over the past couple weeks, and that's a look we are likely to see a bunch more of this Sunday as the Pats look for ways to attack the Denver defense other than trying to beat the pass rush and the cornerbacks straight up.

Get Lewis or White matched up with Brandon Marshall (who may actually be out Sunday being that he has yet to practice this week), safety T.J. Ward or one of the other linebackers in space, and that's an advantage for the Patriots. If the Broncos bump Chris Harris or one of the other corners onto the backs pre-snap, that means Edelman, Malcolm Mitchell or Chris Hogan has an advantage against a linebacker or a safety. Scheming matchup advantages this way helps Brady do what he does best: Identify the most likely target to come open immediately after the snap, then get the ball in his hands as quickly as possible so he can make hay after the catch.

The Broncos are surely prepared for this and any other counter the Pats might come up with, and will make life difficult for Brady no matter what. It's not easy to beat this defense, least of all when your most dangerous target is sitting at home rather than flying down the seam. But the Patriots offense is one of the most creative in football, and it's not often that they get stifled by the same opponent repeatedly. If anyone can find the best possible matchup and exploit it, it's them.