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| Brady and Tebow after the Pats rolled over the Broncos 41 - 23 in week 15. |
On the one side of this equation we pit almost 40, 000 career passing yards, 300 touchdowns, seven Pro Bowls, 2 MVP Awards, 2 Super Bowl MVP's and 3 Super Bowl rings. Meet Tom Brady. On the other, 15 career starts as a quarterback and a whole lot of questions marks surrounding his talent level. Meet Tim Tebow. Yet, for some reason, no one can talk about anyone else but Tebow this week.
If you really have to ask then you probably shouldn't be reading this to begin with, but Tom Brady versus Tim Tebow doesn't seem very evenly matched. Brady comes into Saturday with an already Hall of Fame career and showing no signs of slowing down. He's led the Patriots to another phenomenal 13 - 3 season to lead the AFC despite having a mediocre defense at best. Tebow, on the other hand, began the season behind Kyle Orton and analysts pondered if the former first rounder would just melt into the background of the NFL as a perennial backup.
Apparently Tebow had other ideas. After starting the season 1 - 4 and fans chanting his name at every opportunity, Tebow was finally given the chance to start. He was nothing short of magical coming back from 15 - 0 to beat the Dolphins in week 6 and sparked a 6 - 1 run that vaulted the Broncos to first in the AFC West. Fourth quarter comebacks and game winning drives have become a regularity for Tebow with last week's overtime shocker against the Steelers putting an exclamation point on it.
Tebow hasn't been flashy while doing it, shown by his 17 - 10 win at KC where he completed only 2 of 8 passes yet managed to win, but he has been consistent. Brady is all flash. He became the second quarterback this season to break Dan Marino's passing yardage mark with over 5,200 yards. Brady leads a vaunted offense with the likes of Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski that put up over 32 points per game, good enough for third in the NFL.
The Patriots, however, have stumbled in recent years in the playoffs. A win here by Tebow would instantly vault him into another level of stardom by eliminating both the Steelers and the Patriots in one season, both considered to be the class of the AFC. Let's dive into the x's and o's and see what might transpire Saturday in New England.
OFFENSE
The Broncos and Patriots come into the Divisional round featuring polar opposite styles on offense. The Broncos boast the leagues best running game averaging over 160 yards a game on the ground. The Pats are led by Brady and bring in the NFL's second best aerial attack. Neither team does the other particularly well as the Patriots rank 20th in the run game and the Broncos second to last through the air.
The Broncos rely almost exclusively on a ground and pound, ball control style of play. Willis McGahee rushed for almost 1,200 yards this season and is aided by the option which allows Tebow to use his legs as well. Tebow averages over 60 yards a game on the ground which usually makes up for the passing game. The Broncos rushing attack has opened up room in the secondary for there receivers, a game plan that gutted the number 1 ranked defense in Pittsburgh last week. If Tebow can make his throws off play action then the Broncos should be able to take advantage of a weak New England secondary.
The Pats, conversely, have no trouble putting up a lot of points in a short amount of time. Brady threw for 320 yards and 2 touchdowns in there week 15 matchup in Denver as the Pats hung 41 points on a Denver defense that had given up less than 20 points in 4 of their previous 5 games. New England uses Pro Bowl wide receiver Wes Welker and tight end Rob Gronkowski as their two most dangerous weapons in the pass game. Gronkowski broke the record for most receiving yards by a tight end in a single season and was the quickest tight end to reach 20 touchdown receptions.
For the Broncos to have a shot Tebow and McGahee are going to need to chew up a ton of clock and cash in on their opportunities. The Pats are going to get theirs, so Tebow needs to limit the time that Patriots offense is on the field by controlling the clock.
Advantage: Patriots
DEFENSE
Statistically neither of these teams are defensive juggernauts by any stretch of the imagination. The Pats rank next to last in passing yards and total yards against giving up over 410 yards a game to their opponents. The Broncos, meanwhile, give up over 24 points a game ranking them 24th in the NFL in that category. New England has allowed opposing teams to score 20 or more points in 12 of their 16 games, yet that could be similar to Green Bay's dilemma giving up garbage yards late because there offense has put up so many points.
New England features a very young and athletic secondary which has been burned for some big plays this season. If the Pats are going to win this weekend and moving forward that secondary is going to have to grow up fast. The Broncos are led by cornerback Champ Bailey and linebacker Von Miller. The Broncos went through a stretch mid season where they limited opponents to 13 or less points in 4 of 5 games before getting blown out by New England and Buffalo on consecutive weeks. Three times this season Denver has been burned for 40 or more points which doesn't bode well against Brady and company.
The Broncos have more potential on the defensive side of the ball, but that is counter balanced by Brady's ability to score points. The key to this game won't be the Broncos defense but rather that Pats ability to stop Tim Tebow and give Brady the ball back. If the Patriots let Tebow and McGahee run the clock and hit on some big plays downfield then the Broncos will have a shot.
Advantage: Denver
INTAGIBLES
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| Brady and Belichek are the winningest combo in NFL history. |
Tim Tebow has become a cult hero in the past few months because of his unconventional play, intensity and his ability to just win. Tebow magic has become something of an epidemic around the NFL since mid-October and the legend continues to grow. Can you imagine if the 2 time NCAA champion from Florida could knock off the dynamic duo in there own house?
Dreams aside, David only defeats Goliath once. The part of the story that was left out was when Goliath's brother crushes David just a week after his victory. I expect much of the same Saturday when Denver visits New England. The Pats have too much firepower and Belichek is deadly when seeing someone for the second time. Lightning can't be caught twice and the Broncos storybook season comes to an abrupt end.
Prediction: Patriots 37 - Broncos 24
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