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

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

The Broncos have played decent football at home this year where they are 1-1.  They have been outscored 45-44 by the Raiders & Bengals at home this year.  The Chargers are 3-0 at home this year, but 0-1 on the road.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos are likely going to start out semi-conservative in this game by feeding the ball to RB Willis McGahee.  The Broncos are still likely going to throw the ball a lot more than they will run it this Sunday.  If Kyle Orton has time to throw the ball (a big if), he will likely have a good game targeting WRs Brandon Lloyd and Eric Decker down the field.  Orton likes to keep everyone involved as he even throws a lot to the fullbacks and tight ends.  Opposing QBs have a 94.3 QB Rating against the Chargers this year, so maybe Orton will be able to quiet the Tim Tebow chants for a couple of hours this Sunday.

When the Chargers have the ball:  The Broncos’ LBs and front seven are going to have their hands full in trying to stop Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert from both running the ball effectively and catching passes out of the backfield.  That will be easier said than done.  The Broncos hope that rookie OLB Von Miller (4 sacks) will get to meet up in the backfield with Philip Rivers a few times in this game.  Vincent Jackson, Malcom Floyd and Randy McMichael give Rivers three huge targets down the field, so the secondary better be ready for a big time challenge this Sunday.

PREDICTION:  CHARGERS 23, BRONCOS 20

The Denver Broncos have actually been playing decent football despite their 1-2 record on the year.  The Packers have been outstanding, as expected, so far this year.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos are probably going to come out trying to run the ball on the Packers with Willis McGahee.  I don’t think that it’s going to work out too well though as the Packers are only giving up 55.0 yards rushing per game and 3.1 yards per carry so far this year.  The Broncos are going to have to give Kyle Orton time to throw the ball, or this game could get really ugly, really fast.  Orton will likely try to keep the passing game of the shorter variety to negate the Packers’ pass rush (they have 10 sacks already this year).  Eric Decker and Brandon Lloyd will be the Broncos’ top targets in the passing game this week, but Orton will ahve to be careful as the Packers already have five sacks so far this year.

When the Packers have the ball:  Aaron Rodgers is going to take aim at the Broncos’ secondary as they are giving up 234.7 yards passing per game so far this year.  Rodgers is going to spread the field in the passing game and he’s going to move the ball around.  This makes it very difficult for teams to stop the Packers, because it’s useless to double anyone.  Ryan Grant (kidney injury) is out for this game, so James Starks will be the main ballcarrier in the running game for the Packers this weekend.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 37, BRONCOS 16

The Broncos have been efficient offensively but defensively they have been horrible so far this year.  With that in mind, look for the Broncos to try to play keep away from the Titans this weekend.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos are going to try to run the ball a lot this weekend against the Titans.  They will look to feed the ball to Willis McGahee and Knowshon Moreno (if he plays) against a Titans’ D that gives up 104.0 yards rushing per game and only 3.3 yards per carry.  That means that McGahee and maybe Moreno are going to have to fight for every yard they get.  At least Kyle Orton won’t have to worry about Titans’ fans yelling “We Want Tebow” this weeekend.  The Titans have a good pass rush and Orton has already been sacked 7 times this year.  He will need to get rid of the ball quickly this weekend.  The Broncos hope to have Brandon Lloyd back this weekend to team with Eric Decker, which will give Kyle Orton a fighting chance against a pretty good secondary.

When the Titans have the ball:  The Broncos are giving up 131.0 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry so far this year.  You have to think that the Titans are going to feed the rock to Chris Johnson in an effort to get him back on track.  The bad thing for the Broncos’ D is that they can’t afford to put extra players in the box, because Matt Hasselbeck has been deadly this year when throwing to WRs Kenny Britt and Nate Washington.  This is not a good matchup for the Broncos.

PREDICTION:  TITANS 27, BRONCOS 10

The Broncos got ambushed by the Raiders and their running game last Monday Night.  In comes the Bengals and Cedric Benson.  The Bengals’ confidence has to be high after winning on the road last weekend.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos want to run the ball more this week in an effort to help control the clock and keep their defense on the sidelines.  The Bengals’ front seven was very stout last weekend against the Browns as they only gave up 83 yards rushing on 26 carries (3.2 ypc), so Knowshon Moreno and Willis McGahee are going to have their work cut out for them.  The Broncos aren’t just going to run the ball though, so the O-Line will have to improve it’s pass blocking as they gave up 5 sacks last week.  Kyle Orton must make good decisions with the ball in this game to keep the fans from chanting how they want Tebow for 3 hours.  Orton will be able to get the ball to WRs Brandon Lloyd, Eddie Royal and Eric Decker is he has time to throw.  The Broncos might want to throw to the TEs (Daniel Fells, Julius Thomas and Virgil Green) more than they did last week as the Browns’ TEs combined to grab 6 passes for 80 yards (13.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs last weekend.

When the Bengals have the ball:  The Broncos have to key on Cedric Benson, period!  Benson rushed for 121 yards and a TD against the Browns last weekend and they have a better front seven than the Broncos do.  The Broncos gave up 190 yards rushing (4.9 ypc) and a TD run to the Raiders last week!  If they don’t improve on run D, it’s going to be really hard for them to win ANY games this year.  Safeties Rahim Moore and Brian Dawkins are going to have to be ready for TE Jermaine Gresham, as he was the Bengals’ top WR in the season opener.  The Broncos are going to have issues at CB in this game with Champ Bailey likely out of action this Sunday.  Whoever starts at QB for the Bengals (Andy Dalton or Bruce Gradkowski) are going to try to get the ball down the field off of play action to WRs A.J. Green, Jordan Shipley and Jerome Simpson.

PREDICTION:  BRONCOS 21, BENGALS 20

The Denver Broncos got destroyed in the games against the Raiders last year as they were outscored 98-37!  The Broncos have made a lot of changes on the defensive side of the ball and they hope it makes a difference.  Here is a look at the matchups in John Fox’s debut as the Broncos’ head coach:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos are going to try to be a much more balanced offense this year.  That means that Knowshon Moreno and Willis McGahee are going to get a lot of work in on Monday Night.  They should have some success running the ball on the Raiders.  If the Broncos can give Kyle Orton time to throw the ball, they should be able to pound it down the field to Brandon Lloyd, Eddie Royal and Eric Decker.  The Raiders have the same secondary minus Nnamdi Asomugha.

When the Raiders have the ball:  The Broncos are going to have to key on RB Darren McFadden.  McFadden shredded the Broncos’ D for 284 yards on 36 carries (7.9 ypc) with 3 TD runs!  The sad thing is that the Broncos’ run D doesn’t look improved at all for the 2011 season.  The Raiders also like to get vertical in the passing game.  Jason Campbell has the arm to run the kind of offense the Raiders want to and he has a lightning quick core of WRs, but the O-Line isn’t that good.  Rookie OLB Von Miller and DE Elvis Dumervil will likely have races to see who can get to Jason Campbell first.

PREDICTION:  RAIDERS 24, BRONCOS 17

The Broncos won last week to break a 5-game losing streak in Tim Tebow’s second NFL start.  Tebow will try to lead the Broncos to victory to help going into the off-season on a bright note.  The Broncos got thrashed in the first matchup of these teams in San Diego by a score of 35-14.  The Chargers have won 6 of their last 8 games but it will be interesting to see just how motivated they are knowing they won’t be playing starting next week which is odd for them.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos might just let Tim Tebow wing the ball around the field tomorrow.  He has the ability to buy time with his legs making big plays in the passing game down the field.  The Chargers have 44 sacks this year so look for Tebow to roll out quite a bit in this game.  He is also one of the best runners on the team so look for him to take off a few times.  It would be nice if Knowshon Moreno, Correll Buckhalter or Lance Ball would step up and give the Broncos some ground support.

When the Chargers have the ball:  The Chargers are definitely coming out throwing the ball against the Broncos.  The Broncos only have 18 sacks so far this year so he might have all day to throw the ball.  I really have a feeling that WR Vincent Jackson is going to have a statement game forcing the Chargers’ hand in contract negotiations.  The Broncos will also have to deal with stopping Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles in the running game.

PREDICTION:  CHARGERS 24, BRONCOS 20

The Broncos have lost 9 of their last 10 games while the Texans have lost 7 of their last 8 games as both of these teams have been awful lately.  Tim Tebow makes his second NFL start and that is a reason to tune into this game.  The Texans’ defense has really hurt them this year and the Broncos’ D is nothing to write home about.  I see this being a high scoring game and here’s a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos will likely loosen the shackles on Tim Tebow a little bit in his second NFL start.  That is because the Texans are giving up 275.1 yards passing per game so far this year and opposing QBs have a 103.1 rating against them.  That being said, I don’t see the Broncos lighting up the sky with passes to Brandon Lloyd, Eddie Royal and Jabar Gaffney all day long.  The Broncos are also going to run a lot in this game to try to control the clock with Knowshon Moreno, Lance Ball and Tim Tebow toting the rock.

When the Texans have the ball:  The Broncos need to get after Matt Schaub because if he has time to throw the ball he’s going to slice and dice the Broncos’ secondary.  Andre Johnson, Jacoby Jones, Kevin Walter and Owen Daniels give the Broncos’ secondary some matchup issues.  The Broncos will also have to be concerned with stopping Arian Foster & Derrick Ward who are going to be coming after them too.

PREDICTION:  TEXANS 34, BRONCOS 24

The Broncos are reeling right now coming off a downright disgusting 43-13 loss against the Cardinals last week in Eric Studesville’s debut as a NFL head coach.  The Broncos have lost 8 of their last 9 games and 4 in a row.  In the first meeting between these two teams the Raiders pounded the Broncos 59-14.  The Raiders have only won 1 of their last 4 games but they are solid at the Black Hole this year where they are 4-2.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos will take aim at the Raiders’ run D which is allowing 132.8 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  That means that Knowshon Moreno is likely in line for a heavy workload this Sunday.  The Raiders have 38 sacks this year so Kyle Orton won’t likely have a lot of time to throw the ball.  That is not a good thing as his arm has been hurting.  If Orton has to leave the game, Tim Tebow will replace him and the Broncos would even be more run heavy. 

When the Raiders have the ball:  The Raiders aren’t going to get cute in this game as they are going to feed the ball to Darren McFadden and Michael Bush against the Broncos’ D which is allowing 150.3 yards rushing per game and 5.3 yards per carry.  If the Broncos put extra guys in the box to stop the run, I see Jason Campbell throwing the ball deep off play-action to Louis Murphy and Jacoby Ford.

PREDICTION:  RAIDERS 38, BRONCOS 13