Tim Tebow went a month without a miracle before his stunning 80-yard strike to Demaryius Thomas that gave the Denver Broncos a 29-23 overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
The Broncos won't have quite so long to wait for Tebow to muster up some more magic this time around, not with a trip to the New England Patriots on tap for Saturday afternoon.
The Pats and Broncos last met under circumstances somewhat similar to the ones in which they'll find themselves this weekend.
New England had essentially been resting for two weeks after back-to-back lackluster performances against the Indianapolis Colts and the Washington Redskins while Denver had pulled off an improbable OT win over a banged-up Chicago Bears squad courtesy of Matt Prater's foot and the thin air at Mile High Stadium.
Which team will win on Saturday?
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Broncos
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Patriots
Which team will win on Saturday?
In short, things didn't work out so well for the Broncos at home in Week 15. Tebow was solid, throwing for 194 yards and running for another 93 yards and two touchdowns, but the defense struggled to stop Tom Brady and the Pats' lethal offense.
And the turnovers. Oh, the turnovers. Denver fumbled the ball away three times that day, including one from Tebow himself. With that, the Pats exploded for 20 points in the second quarter and never looked back, exposing the Broncos as a team that thrives on impotent competition in the process.
Which brings us to the present day. The Broncos took full advantage of a hobbled Ben Roethlisberger, a shoddy Steelers offensive line, a similarly depleted defensive line and a clueless Ike Taylor to make the defending AFC champs look more like chumps while sprinting out to a 20-6 lead at the half.
Big Ben and the Steelers exhibited tremendous (dare I say Tebow-like) resolve in tying up the game at 23-23 but, in the end, were once again undone by a secondary that sorely missed safety Ryan Clark and anyone who could've kept Ike Taylor off the field.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the northeast, Bill Belichick spent the week huddled in a secret bunker underneath Gillette Stadium, scheming up ways to use The Force to subdue the NFL's Luke Skywalker just as he did in December.
Okay, so maybe that's not exactly how it played out, but it wouldn't exactly be a shock to see The Hoodie himself opting for a Dick Cheney-like approach to getting work done.
In any case, the Pats possess plenty of the kryptonite that so readily cripples the Broncos?an explosive offense run by a relatively healthy quarterback and enough defense to keep Tebow under wraps.
Tebow's heroics are undoubtedly effective and entertaining in close contests. Unfortunately, the disparity on the scoreboard during Saturday's game in Foxborough won't be nearly narrow enough for No. 15 to close by himself.
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