The Broncos never had much of a change tonight against the Patriots.  Tim Tebow had a night to forget as he only completed 9 of 26 passes for 136 yards without a TD pass or INT.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 13 yards (2.6 ypc) tonight.  Willis McGahee led the way on the ground for the Broncos tonight with 76 yards rushing on 17 carries (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Lance Ball pitched in with 44 yards rushing on 13 carries (3.4 ypc) in this game.  WR Demaryius Thomas led the way in the passing game for the Broncos with 6 grabs for 93 yards (15.5 avg).  The Broncos finished up with 144 yards rushing on 40 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 9 of 26 passes (34.6%) for 108 yards as they had possession of the ball for 33:23.

The defense was just plain awful for the Broncos tonight.  LB Joe Mays (9 tackles, 1 pass defensed), CB Chris Harris (8 tackles), safety Rafael Bush (8 tackles) and LB D.J. Williams (8 tackles) led the way for the Broncos on D in this game.  Safety Quinton Carter (5 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) and DT Marcus Thomas (4 tackles and 1 fumble recovery) also pitched in for the Broncos.  The Patriots finished up with 146 yards rushing on 30 carries (4.9 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 34 passes (76.5%) for 363 yards in this game.  The Broncos’ season ended with a thud but no one could have expected Tim Tebow to lead his team not only to the playoffs, but to beat the Steelers in the first round.

The Broncos have signed 39-year old long snapper David Binn.  Binn did not play at all in 2011.  He has played in 256 games (0 starts) in his first 17 years in the NFL.  Binn will likely handle all of the long snapping for the Broncos tonight as 33-year old Lonie Paxton has missed all of the practices this week due to personal reasons.  He played in all 16 games for the Broncos this year.

The Denver Broncos shocked the world and the Pittsburgh Steelers last weekend.  They have a much tougher task in dealing with the Patriots on the road tomorrow night.  The Broncos were a solid 5-3 on the road last year, but, the Patriots were 7-1 at home.  The Broncos can’t afford many mistakes tomorrow night if they are going to pull another huge upset.  The Patriots beat the Broncos 41-23 just four weeks ago in Denver.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos rushed for 252 yards in the first meeting between these two teams.  The Broncos are likely going to feed the ball to Willis McGahee tomorrow night.  Tim Tebow will likely also get his fair share of carries tomorrow.  If the Patriots make the same mistake as the Steelers did, Tim Tebow is going to throw the ball deep with success in this game.  WR Demariyus Thomas has turned into one of the better WRs in the NFL the last few weeks, so don’t be surprised if the Patriots double cover him.  The Broncos would be smart to keep Eddie Royal and Daniel Fells involved in the passing game tomorrow night.

When the Patriots have the ball:  The Patriots are going to come out throwing the ball like they always do in this game.  Tom Brady makes teams pay for blitzing them, but that isn’t going to stop the Broncos from sending DE Elvis Dumervil and OLB Von Miller.  The Patriots are going to give the Broncos’ safeties big time problems in this game with TEs Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.  The Broncos will likely put CB Champ Bailey on Wes Welker, but he’s still hard to stop.  WR Deion Branch could be the secret weapon for Brady in the passing game tomorrow.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Stevan Ridley and Danny Woodhead will likely make the Broncos pass for overplaying the pass as they are all solid RBs.

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 37, BRONCOS 20

The Denver Broncos did a great job in the 2011 NFL Draft.  I criticized them last April, but they proved me wrong big time as they possibly found at least four starters for the future and maybe more.  Here is a look at how the rookies did this year during the regular season:

22-year old OLB Von Miller came to the Broncos in the 1st round of the NFL Draft and he made an immediate and lasting effect on the defense.  Miller played in 15 games for the Broncos this year and he had 64 tackles, 11.5 sacks, 8 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles and 4 passes defensed.  He is going to be a force on the Broncos’ D for a long, long time!

21-year old safety Rahim Moore was picked in the 2nd round last April.  He played in 15 games for the Broncos this year and he had 31 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery and 2 passes defensed.  Moore has a nice upside if he can learn from some of the mistakes he made this year.

24-year old OT Orlando Franklin was picked in the second round by the Broncos and they hit a home run with him.  He started all 16 games for the Broncos and he has a very bright future.

23-year old LB Nate Irving was a third round pick last April, but he didn’t show much.  He played in all 16 games for the Broncos (mostly on special teams) and he finished up with a whopping 4 tackles.

23-year old safety Quinton Carter came to the Broncos in the 4th round last April.  He played in all 16 games for the Broncos last year and he had 56 tackles and 1 sack.  He is a hard hitter with a bright future if he can start making more plays against the pass.

23-year old TE Julius Thomas was a 4th round pick last April.  He played in 5 games for the Broncos last year and he caught 1 pass for 5 yards.  He’s going to need to show some improvement during the off-season if he’s going to keep getting paid to play football.

23-year old LB Mike Mohammed was a 6th round pick of the Broncos.  He played in 2 games and didn’t make nary a tackle.

23-year old TE Virgil Green was a 7th round pick last April.  He played in 15 games for the Broncos and he caught 3 passes for 24 yards (8.0 avg).  Green also had 4 tackles last year.

24-year old DE Jeremy Beal was a 7th round pick last April.  He spent his rookie year on the practice squad.

GRADE FOR 2011:  B+

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A

The Denver Broncos have placed fullback Spencer Larsen on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a sprained MCL.  Larsen played in 16 games (14 starts) for the Broncos this year in which he carried the ball 14 times for 44 yards (3.1 ypc) and he also caught 9 passes for 76 yards (8.4 avg).  He also had five tackles this year.  He has now played in 50 games (15 starts) in his first four years with the Broncos and he has carried the ball 17 times for 62 yards (3.6 ypc).  Larsen has also caught 14 passes for 127 yards (9.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Larsen has also returned 4 kickoffs for 57 yards (14.3 avg) and he has 38 tackles.  The Broncos will miss Larsen’s blocking and special teams work the rest of the season.

The Broncos raced out to a 20-6 halftime lead in this game, but, the Steelers tied it up in the second half and sent it to O.T.  That is when Tim Tebow’s magic really came alive.  The Broncos won the coin toss in O.T. and on the first play, Tim Tebow threw a bomb to WR Demaryius Thomas who flicked Steelers’ CB Ike Taylor away like a mosquito on his way to a game winning 80 yard TD catch!

Tim Tebow completed 10 of 21 passes for 316 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 10 times for 50 yards (5.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Willis McGahee led the way on the ground for the Broncos in this game with 61 yards rushing on 19 carries (3.2 ypc), but he lost a fumble.  WR Demaryius Thomas had an utterly amazing game as he caught 4 passes for 204 yards (51.0 avg) with the game winning 80 yard TD catch in O.T.  TE Daniel Fells (2 rec, 57 yards) and WR Eddie Royal (3 rec, 49 yards, TD) also pitched in for the Broncos in the passing game.  The Broncos finished up with 131 yards rushing on 34 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 10 of 21 passes (47.6%) for 316 yards as they had possession of the ball for 29:05.

The Broncos gave up a lot of yards yesterday but they made big plays when they had to.  The Broncos had 5 sacks in this game as they were all over Ben Roethlisberger.  Safety David Bruton (8 tackles and 1 pass defensed), LB Joe Mays (6 tackles) and safety Quinton Carter (5 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) led the way for the Broncos in this game.  The Steelers finished up with 156 yards rushing on 23 carries (6.8 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 40 passes (55%) for 244 yards.  The Broncos are know heading to Foxboro, Massachusetts for a date with the New England Patriots next weekend.

The Broncos have lost their last three games by a combined score of 88-40 as they are limping into the playoffs.  The Steelers have won 6 of their last seven games and 10 of their last 12, so they are hot despite not playing too well recently.  In Ben Roethlisberger’s last three starts, the Steelers have only mustered 30 points.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos are not going to change for the Steelers this Sunday.  The Broncos are going to unleash Willis McGahee and Tim Tebow against a Steelers’ run D that is allowing 99.8 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry.  The Broncos’ O-Line is a big part of the reason that the Broncos are averaging 164.5 yards rushing per game and 4.8 yards per carry.  The Broncos need to have a good running game if Tim Tebow is going to have a good chance of making some plays with his arm this Sunday.  The Steelers don’t rush the passer as good as they used to in 2011.  WRs Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker will both likely be able to get open this Sunday…..the question is…..Will Tebow get them the ball?

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers will likely try to be a little more balanced than usual this Sunday.  Isaac Redman will be starting at RB for the Steelers and he lost two fumbles against the Browns last weekend.  With that in mind the Broncos’ D should be trying to strip him every time he touches the football.  The Broncos are going to unleash OLB Von Miller and DE Elvis Dumervil on Ben Roethlisberger.  The Steelers’ O-Line sucks, so there is a good chance that the Broncos can knock out Roethlisberger.  If that happens, the Broncos are going to win this game as Charlie Batch scares no one.  The Broncos will likely have to give help over the top against Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown.  The safeties are also going to have to step up to stop TE Heath Miller.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 16, BRONCOS 13

With the way 24-year old QB Tim Tebow ended the 2011 regular season….I think this is a valid question.  I think it all depends on how Tebow plays in the playoffs.  If Tebow plays well, he will likely be the Broncos’ starting QB when the 2012 season begins.  If he plays like he has the last three weeks, they might deal him on draft day and bring in a couple of new QBs.  Tebow played in 14 games (11 starts) for the Broncos this year and he completed 126 of 271 passes (46.5%) for 1,729 yards with 12 TD passes and 6 INTs (72.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 122 times for 660 yards (5.4 ypc) with 6 TD runs this year.  The Broncos were 7-4 (63.6%) when Tebow started at QB this year.  Tebow has now played in 23 games (14 starts) in his first two years in the NFL and he has completed 167 of 353 passes (47.3%) for 2,383 yards with 17 TD passes and 9 INTs (75.1 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 165 times for 887 yards (5.4 ypc) with 12 TD runs so far in his NFL career.  Tebow is 8-6 (57.1%) as the Broncos’ starting QB so far in his career.

The Broncos have waived 25-year old safety Kyle McCarthy.  McCarthy played in 4 games for the Broncos this year and he had 3 whole tackles.  McCarthy played in 12 games in his first two years with the Broncos and he had 7 tackles.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Broncos moving forward.

The Denver Broncos have signed 27-year old linebacker Brian Iwuh.  Iwuh played in 11 games for the Bears last year and he had 6 tackles.  He has now played in 85 games in his first 7 years in the NFL and he has 115 tackles, 1 sack, 5 tackles for a loss, 3 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.  Iwuh is a good special teams player, so he might be able to help the Broncos right away.  He will also give the Broncos more depth at LB.