NFL Week 17 Picks: Chiefs Will Use Patriots' Gameplan vs. Tebow to Beat Broncos

The Kansas City Chiefs will use part of the defensive gameplan the New England Patriots used to beat Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos in Week 15 to their advantage on Sunday.

Chiefs interim head coach Romeo Crennel used to be the defensive coordinator with the Patriots for Bill Belichick during the team's three Super Bowl title runs, and there's no question Crennel will use some of what Belichick did to effectively shut down Tebow.

If Crennel can stop Green Bay Packers quarterback and likely NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers from having a good game two weeks ago, he certainly can create a defensive gameplan to shut down Tebow.

The Patriots did a spectacular job of keeping Tebow in the pocket and making him throw the football. Tebow is a good player, but as a pure pocket passer he is below average.

Tebow has completed just 48 percent of his passes this season, and against the Patriots he completed just 11 of 22 pass attempts.

New England was determined not to let Tebow escape on the outside and make plays on the run or with his legs.

The Patriots are strong in the middle with defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and linebacker Jerod Mayo. On Sunday, the Chiefs would be wise to load up the outside of the defense and make Tebow stay in the pocket, and if he wants to run, make him go up the middle where the defense can collapse on him.

If the Chiefs have to choose which side of the defense to overload, it has to be the left side. Tebow throws with his left hand and is far more effective throwing the football when moving to his left than his right.

The Patriots forced Tebow to throw while moving on the right and the result was an inaccurate Tebow that New England's worst-ranked pass defense could effectively defend.

Kansas City has the ninth-best pass defense in the NFL and is more than capable of limiting Tebow's effectiveness as a pocket passer.

If the Chiefs can force Tebow to his right and keep him in the pocket they will win this game. They only allowed 16 points to the Raiders last week and 14 points to the Packers in the past two games and are playing pretty well as a team overall.

Crennel is a very smart defensive coach and his players want to win for him. He is a good head coach and deserves the Chiefs job next season.

He will certainly come up with a defensive scheme that his team will execute well to stop Tebow and the Broncos in Week 17 for a good finish to the 2011 season.

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