The Cinderella story Denver Broncos (9-8) travel to Foxboro, MA to take on the New England Patriots (13-3) Saturday night in a divisional round matchup which has football fans thinking about the unexpected.
Very few people expected the polarizing Tim Tebow and Broncos to edge an outstanding Steelers team in the Wild Card round last week, especially considering Denver was eight point underdogs at home.
The Broncos delivered in scintillating fashion, however, beating Pittsburgh 29-23 on the first play of overtime via an 80-yard touchdown strike from Tebow to Demaryius Thomas.
Tebow performed spectacularly against the league’s best defense, throwing for 316 yards and two touchdowns while providing 50 yards and a touchdown on the ground. It was the most passing yards the Steelers have surrendered all season long.
And this is from a “college-style” quarterback who supposedly cannot throw the ball effectively? And from a team who allegedly “backed in” to the playoffs by losing three straight contests to end the season?
Think again. The magic just may be back.
“(Tebow) showed he’s a quarterback in the NFL, case closed,” running back Willis McGahee said. “They say he couldn’t throw. They said we wouldn’t be able to run the ball on them. We did that.”
This week is a rematch of Week 15, when Denver lost 41-23 at home to the Patriots. The Broncos did some positive things in that game, running for 252 yards and jumping out to an early 16-7 lead. They lost three fumbles, however, and were not able to muster enough offense to outscore New England.
Although the Patriots are the No. 1 seed, they come into the playoffs with a chip on their shoulder and are highly determined to achieve their goal of a Super Bowl. New England was eliminated in the divisional round last season by the New York Jets as the No. 1 seed, and has not won a playoff game since 2007. Four years without a playoff win may not be long for some franchises, but for the Patriots it is seemingly an eternity.
Tom Brady has been searching for that elusive fourth championship ring ever since New England last won the Super Bowl in 2004. Four Super Bowl victories would tie Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for the most in history and arguably cement Brady as the greatest to ever play the position. For as an illustrious career that the 34-year old Brady is having, he has to be aware that the window for success is closing.
That being said, the Patriots seem to be in prime position to make a deep run this postseason.
Brady is having a remarkable season, as evidenced by his career-high 5,235 passing yards. That number would have been the single-season record if not for Drew Brees’ 5,476 passing yards this year. New England’s dynamic offense is second in the NFL in yards per game (428.0), third in points per game (32.1), and is led by All-Pro First Team selections Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski. Welker leads the NFL in receptions with 122 and is second in the league with 1,569 receiving yards. Tight end Gronkowski has become the most difficult matchup in the league with his 6’6”, 265 frame, as he is too fast for linebackers to cover and too big and powerful for defensive backs to cope with. The second-year Arizona product has the most receiving touchdowns in the NFL with 17 and is first among tight ends with 1,327 receiving yards.
“Whatever we did, our records, our win-loss column, that doesn’t matter anymore,” Gronkowski says. “That’s all in the past. It’s a one-game season now and that’s all we’re worried about.”
New England’s clear Achilles’ heel entering the postseason is their defense. The unit has permitted the second most yards in NFL history (6,577), and is leading skeptics to believe that the lack of defense will haunt the Patriots against some of the more balanced teams in the tournament.
“Tebow is a good player, and I think it’s a lot for the defense to prepare for,” Brady says. “I know in our preparations for him last time, it’s a challenge. It’s a very different style.”
The Patriots hope to contain Tebow in the pocket and eliminate some of the big passing plays that Denver was able to create last week against the Steelers.
“Tebow has done a good job of keeping plays alive with his athleticism,” New England head coach Bill Belichick says. “He’s able to get his eyes downfield and make connections for big plays in the passing game. They made several of them against Pittsburgh…That will be a big challenge for us.”
The Broncos will need to play a near-perfect game to outscore the Patriots juggernaut attack. Offensively, they must run the ball effectively and control the time of possession in order to keep Brady off the field. Further, it is critical they capitalize on a lot of big plays downfield while committing few mistakes with the football.
Defensively, Von Miller and company will want to generate pressure on Brady to disrupt his rhythm while mixing up a lot of their coverages. In addition, the defense will look to force some turnovers and give the offense some short field position to work with.
No matter the outcome, this contest should be highly entertaining and figures to be one of the most-watched divisional playoff games in history.
The Broncos will be heavy underdogs yet again, but “Tebowmania” has earned a lot of believers after last week’s performance.
“We’re just a fighting team. A lot of resilience,” Denver cornerback Champ Bailey says. “In any adverse situation, we’ll find a way to get out of it.”
