Now I know most of you reading this are Patriots fans and you probably won’t read this, but if you are overconfident in this game, I suggest you do read it. Sometimes I write ridiculous things on here just to get reactions out of people but this isn’t one of them. I am about to tell you why the Broncos are about to go into Gillette Stadium and beat the Patriots on Saturday, because it is not as far-fetched as some of you might think.
5. Week 15- Patriots 45 Broncos 23- This first game played a few weeks ago was won pretty easily by the Patriots. However, there were a few things of concern for the Patriots out of this game. The Broncos held a 16-7 lead in the 2nd quarter when Lance Ball put the ball on the ground as the Broncos were about to begin driving again. That led to a Pats TD. Next possession, Tim Tebow put the ball on the ground, which led to a field goal and gave the Patriots the lead. Next possession was a punt and the Patriots added another touchdown, and finally they forced the Pats to punt with about 20 seconds left when Quan Cosby muffed the punt and handed the Patriots another 3 points. After you play so good then hand the Patriots point like that, it’s hard to come back from. Not only that, the Patriots as a team in the last 3 years have had much difficulty beating good teams after they had beat them in the meeting before. Last year they beat the Jets 45-3 in week 13, then came up short in the Divisional Round 28-21 to the Jets. 2009, they beat the Ravens 27-21 in week 4 then got owned at Gillette in the Wild Card round by the Ravens 33-14. Also that same year, they beat Miami in their first meeting of the year and lost to them a few weeks later. A trend that is very apparent in the NFL is that it is very hard to beat a team twice. Something about this league makes it hard for you to beat a good team twice. I’m not talking about the Buffalos and Rams of the world but beating good solid teams. Maybe the Patriots will be able to break this mold but it definitely plays a role in this game
4. Patriots 31st ranked defense- This Pats defense is absolutely terrible. I can honestly say I have never seen a team in the NFL with a defense this bad make a run in the playoffs. They are not going to pull a Steelers and put 10 in the box daring Tebow to do what he does best and throw the deep ball, but they are going to play soft and allow this Broncos team to run. Mind you, Willis McGahee played sparingly in the first meeting nursing an injury, and the Patriots allowed Lance Ball to rush for 64 yards on 11 carries and even McGahee for 70 on 7 carries which were mostly in the first quarter. Tim Tebow added 93 on the ground, and this run game mixed with the fact that the Patriots will be allowing them to run is ingredients for a limited Tom Brady. Denver can control the clock if they keep it close and add a few early scores, and if Brady is only getting 7 or 8 possessions in the game, every possession is put under a microscope and adds that much more pressure. We all saw Tebow embarrass the Steelers defense on Sunday averaging a ridiculous 31.6 yards per completion and throwing for the most yards this defense had allowed all year. Bill Belichick does not want Tebow to beat them, and rightfully so, but pick your poison. Broncos can control the clock and the game with the run game, and if they clean up the turnovers it will be a totally different game.
3. Pressure on Patriots/Not Broncos-While Tim Tebow plays his best football when the pressure is on, there is not much pressure, if any, on this Broncos team to win this week. They won their unlikely home game against the defending AFC Champions, in what could have been Tebow’s last game as a starting quarterback (or at least what some fans actually believed). On the flip side, the Patriots fans are getting restless. For 3 of 4 years, they had seen their team win the Super Bowl. They saw their team go to the Super Bowl in 2007 going for the perfect season which was bitterly ended by the Giants. They haven’t quite been the same playoff team since then. Something has been missing in the playoff games they had, and both of their losses since then have come at home which is quite disturbing. The amount of pressure on this Patriots team not only to win this game but to win the Super Bowl this year is enormous. Don’t get me wrong, if anyone can handle this pressure it’s Tom Brady. He probably deserves to win MVP this season, but I am not sure I can say the same for some of these other guys. Teams can easily break under the pressure, and it is win and, eh, we had a great season for the Broncos, and no other option but to win for the Patriots.
2. Tim Tebow’s leadership and sheer will to win
That was one of my favorite Tim Tebow moments ever. The famous Tim Tebow speech after Florida’s loss in his senior season with hopes for an undefeated National Championship. He has the ability to lead by example, and motivate his teammates and it has shown. Whether you want to give him credit for the Broncos run or give credit to the run game or the defense, whoever you want to give it to, those guys played inspired under Tebow. Kyle Orton could only muster 1 win with the same exact team, but he didn’t know how to motivate. One thing will be sure on Saturday night and that is the Broncos will be ready. Watching Tebow run up and down his sideline getting his guys pumped after he scored his touchdown, you could just tell guys feed off his energy, they love it. This guy is special, and sometimes it is the intangibles that can single-handedly win games.
1. Jesus really does want the Broncos to win- So in my last post, I showed you guys the picture of the halo over Mile High last week during the game. I told you about the fact that Tebow’s favorite Gospel passage was John 3:16 and he threw for 316 yards. In the past few days I have heard even more “coincidences”. Tebow’s completion percentage for the game was 31.6. The Steelers time of possession for the game; 31 minutes 6 seconds. The highest TV rating for a Wild Card game in NFL history, peaked at 31.6 million during the 4th quarter. Oh, and the wide receiver who caught the game winning touchdown, Demaryius Thomas shares his birthday of December 25th with a pretty special guy. Jesus is like poking us all in the face with these signs that he is the true Broncos GM. It is truly a battle of good vs evil on Saturday. Jesus vs Satan. I don’t know about you but I would take Jesus any day, unless it’s the South Park Jesus then I’m not so sure.
Tebow's World 