The Broncos got absolutely destroyed in this game by the visiting Lions.  Tim Tebow had a game to forget.  He completed 18 of 39 passes for 172 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT (his interception was returned 100 yards for a TD by Lions’ CB Chris Houston).  Tebow also fumbled the ball three times, losing one of them, which was returned 24 yards for a TD by Lions’ DE Cliff Avril!  He also carried the ball 10 times for 63 yards (6.3 ypc) in this game.  Knowshon Moreno (14 carries, 69 yards, 4.9 ypc) and Lance Ball (6 carries, 63 yards, 10.5 ypc) had solid games on the ground for the Broncos yesterday.  WRs Eric Decker (6 rec, 72 yards, TD) and Eddie Royal (6 rec, 41 yards) led the way for the Broncos in the passing game.  The Broncos finished up with 195 yards rushing on 30 carries (6.5 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 39 passes (46.2%) for 117 yards as they had possession of the ball for 30:26.

The defense was also pretty bad for the Broncos yesterday.  CB Chris Harris (9 tackles), LB Wesley Woodyard (8 tackles) and DT Brodrick Bunkley (5 tackles) led the way for the Broncos on D.  The Lions finished up with 113 yards rushing on 28 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 32 passes (68.8%) for 263 yards.  The Broncos are now 2-5 on the season.

The Denver Broncos pulled out a miracle win in O.T. 18-15 last week against quite possibly the worst team in the NFL.  The Lions have lost two games in a row, against the Falcons & 49ers in Detroit.  They will look to get back on track in Denver.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos are going to try to play keep away ball tomorrow.  Tim Tebow is going to run the ball a lot and hand it off to Knowshon Moreno and Lance Ball tomorrow.  The Lions are giving up 129.4 yards rushing per game so far this year and 5.0 yards per carry, so the Broncos should have some success on the ground.  The Broncos’ O-Line needs to block a lot better than they did last weekend, when the Dolphins sacked Tim Tebow 7 times.  If Tebow has time to throw the ball, he should be able to make some plays down the field to WRs Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker and TE Daniel Fells.

When the Lions have the ball:  The Broncos are going to have to get after Matt Stafford, because if he has time to throw the ball, the Broncos are in deep, deep trouble.  The Broncos will have to give whichever corner is guarding Calvin Johnson (likely Champ Bailey), help over the top as he is one of the best WRs in the entire NFL.  TE Brandon Pettigrew, WR Titus Young and WR Nate Burleson give Stafford other weapons in the passing game that the Broncos have to worry about.  The front seven will likely have to deal with RBs Keiland Williams and Maurice Morris on their own as the secondary is going to have their hands full tomorrow.

PREDICTION:  LIONS 24, BRONCOS 13

Sure, the Broncos recently dealt Brandon Lloyd, but that’s no excuse for why the team isn’t getting much production out of it’s WRs.  Eric Decker has been the only Broncos’ WR who has played pretty well this year.  He has caught 24 passes for 287 yards (12.0 avg) with 4 TD grabs for far this year.  Decker migh be the best WR on the Broncos, but he’s not a go-to type.  Matt Willis has caught 7 passes for 101 yards (14.4 avg) with 1 TD grab, but Tim Tebow likes throwing to him, so his numbers might be on the upswing in the coming weeks.  Eddie Royal has been the forgotten man for the Broncos this year as he has only caught 6 passes for 65 yards (10.8 avg) so far this year.  Demaryius Thomas made his 2011 debut last weekend and he caught 3 passes for 27 yards (9.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Look for Thomas to have a big role in the passing game in the very near future.  The Broncos need these guys to step up.

Starting RB Willis McGahee has a fractured hand which could cause him to miss some time.  He is the Broncos’ leading rusher so far this year with 460 yards on 103 carries (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  McGahee has also caught 11 passes for 49 yards (4.5 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  If McGahee misses some P.T., Knowshon Moreno and Lance Ball will have to step up.  Moreno has carried the ball 17 times for 54 yards (3.2 ypc) and he has caught 8 passes for 92 yards (11.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has the potential to handle a heavier workload than Lance Ball can.  Ball has carried the ball 15 times for 54 yards (3.6 ypc) and he has also caught 5 passes for 26 yards (5.2 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  There is still hope that McGahee might try to gut it out and play with his injury.

UPDATE:  Willis McGahee will miss the next 1-2 weeks as he had surgery to repair his hand earlier today.

Tim Tebow worked his magic in the fourth quarter yesterday.  Tebow led the Broncos on two long TD drives in the fourth quarter as they scored 15 points in the last 2:44 of this game to get the team to O.T.  In overtime, Matt Prater nailed a 52-yard FG to give the Broncos a unlikely win.  Tebow completed 13 of 27 passes for 161 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 8 times for 65 yards (8.1 ypc), including the game tying 2-point conversion near the very end of regulation.  Willis McGahee led the way for the Broncos on the ground in this game as he carried the ball 18 times for 76 yards (4.2 ypc).  Knowshon Moreno pitched in with 7 carries for 28 yards (4.0 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 10 yards in this game.  WR Matt Willis (1 rec, 42 yards), TE Daniel Fells (2 rec, 31 yards, TD) and WR Demaryius Thomas (3 rec, 27 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Broncos.  The Broncos finished up with 183 yards rushing on 39 carries (4.7 ypc) and they also completed 13 of 27 passes (48.1%) for 125 yards as they has possession of the ball for 34:17.

The defense played great for the Broncos yesterday and they were a big reason for the win.  CB Jonathan Wilhite led the way for the Broncos’ D with 11 tackles and 1 QB hit.  LB Joe Mays (6 tackles), DE Ryan McBean (6 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss), safety Brian Dawkins (5 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 3 QB hits), OLB Von Miller (5 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 2 QB hits) and LB D.J. Williams (5 tackles, 1 sack and 1 fumble recovery) also had solid games for Denver yesterday.  The Dolphins finished up with 94 yards rushing on 31 carries (3.0 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 33 passes (66.7%) for 173 yards.  The Broncos are now 2-4 on the year.

The Denver Broncos are seeking a spark from Tim Tebow.  Incidentally, the Dolphins are having a tribute to Tebow’s Gators’ National Championship this Sunday.  It was planned way in advance of Tebow getting the starting job, but the Dolphins have sold 20,000+ tickets since he was named the starting QB for this game.  The Dolphins have been awful so far this year and it doesn’t matter where they have played.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos are going to unleash a power running game on the Dolphins this Sunday.  Tebow isn’t the only Bronco coming home this weekend as Willis McGahee played for the Hurricanes.  He is going to be fired up against a Dolphins’ D that is allowing 106.8 yards passing per game and 4.0 yards per carry.  Tim Tebow should be able to buy time with his feet to allow him to throw the deep ball, which is his specialty.  The Dolphins don’t have much of a pass rush outside of OLB Cameron Wake.  The Dolphins’ secondary flat out sucks, so Tebow should be able to get the ball down the field to Eric Decker, Eddie Royal, Matt Willis and Demaryius Thomas.

When the Dolphins have the ball:  The Dolphins will probably come out running the ball with Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas, as the Broncos are giving up 123.4 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry.  QB Matt Moore will be making his second start of the year and he likes to throw the ball to the opposing team as much as he does his own team.  The Broncos need for Von Miller and his buddies to put a lot of pressure on Moore to force him into making mistakes with the ball.  Brandon Marshall, Davone Bess and Brian Hartline give him a solid trio of WRs for the Broncos’ DBs to deal with.

PREDICTION:  BRONCOS 27, DOLPHINS 20

With Tim Tebow starting at QB now, I see the Broncos becoming more of a running team going forward.  Willis McGahee is the main man for the Broncos in the running game so far this year.  He has played in 5 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has carried the ball 85 times for 384 yards (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also has caught 11 passes for 49 yards (4.5 avg) so far this season with 1 TD grab.  Knowshon Moreno got off to a slow start this year due to injury problems.  He has played in 3 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has 10 carries for 26 yards (2.6 ypc).  He has also caught 6 passes for 82 yards (13.7 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  Look for Moreno’s role to expand starting this weekend against the Dolphins.  Lance Ball has played in five games for the Broncos this year and he has 9 carries for 40 yards (4.4 ypc).  He has also caught 5 passes for 26 yards (5.2 ypc) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  The Broncos are averaging 101.8 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry.  I look for those numbers to go up starting this weekend.

The Broncos have dealt 30-year old WR Brandon Lloyd to the Rams for a sixth round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.  The draft pick upgrades to a fifth round pick if Lloyd catches at least 30 passes in the Rams’ last 11 games (that is likely).  Lloyd played in 4 games for the Broncos this year and he caught 19 passes for 283 yards (14.9 avg) without a TD grab.  He played in 22 games in his three years with the Broncos and he caught 104 passes for 1,848 yards (17.8 avg) with 11 TD grabs.  This deal puzzles me as the Broncos are dealing Lloyd right before Tim Tebow gets his first start of the year.  Are the Broncos trying to sabotage Tebow?

Broncos’ head coach John Fox has announced that 24-year old Tim Tebow is his new starting QB going forward.  Tebow almost brought the Broncos back last Sunday against the Chargers.  He has played in 3 games so far this year for the Broncos and he has completed 4 of 10 passes (40%) for 79 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (101.7 QB Rating).  Tebow also has carried the ball 7 times for 37 yards (5.3 ypc) with 1 TD run so far this year.  Tebow has now played in 12 games in his first two years with the Broncos and he has completed 45 of 92 passes (48.9%) for 733 yards with 6 TD passes and 3 INTs (84.2 QB Rating).  Tebow has also carried the ball 50 times for 264 yards (5.3 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  The Broncos hope that Tebow can jumpstart the offense while finally getting the crowd behind the home team.  28-year old Kyle Orton will be the #2 QB for the Broncos moving forward.  He has played in 5 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has completed 91 of 155 passes (58.7%) for 979 yards with 8 TD passes and 7 INTs (75.7 QB Rating).  Orton has also carried the ball 5 times for 17 yards (3.4 ypc) so far this year.

The Broncos have placed 28-year old DT Kevin Vickerson on the Injured Reserve List due to a ankle injury.  Vickerson played in 5 games for the Broncos this year and he only had 4 tackles.  Vickerson has now played in 20 games in his first two years with the Broncos and he has 46 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception, 3 passes defensed and 2 tackles for a loss.