Steelers vs Broncos: Why Tim Tebow Is No Match for Pittsburgh Defense

The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most playoff experience of any team in the league, and this Sunday they travel to Denver to take on the 8-8 Broncos, who backed into the playoffs last week despite losing to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Central to the story of the Broncos this year has been the performance of starting quarterback Tim Tebow. Tebow, who took over the job for the struggling Kyle Orton in Week 7, hasn't had much success as a traditional passer but managed to help the team along to eight wins in Weeks 7-14.

How much of a role Tebow had in those wins is certainly up for debate.

On one hand, he managed to run the ball well and proved both elusive and hard to tackle.

On the other hand, he was also aided by a strong Denver defense, good special teams and the propensity for opponents to keep games close, only to fall in the waning minutes.

Tebow himself has become a bit of a liability for a Broncos team hoping for a deep playoff run. Those midseason successes gave way to three Denver losses in a row, with Tebow never throwing for more than 200 yards nor completing more than 50 percent of his passes in each of those games.

In fact, in the Week 17 loss to the Chiefs, Tebow completed only six of his 22 passes, gained just 60 yards passing and was picked off once. He only managed to rush for 16 yards as the Chiefs defense found a way to contain him effectively on the ground.

The formula for beating the Broncos has been made quite clear in those three losses. All opposing defenses have to do is shut down the run game, force Tebow to throw and wait for him to make a mistake.

It's even easier if their own offense can put up enough points to gain a significant lead; playing from behind is not Tebow's strong suit, when behind means 14 points or more.

If there's one thing that the Steelers do consistently well it's defense.

For decades, it's been their main identity, and this year is no different.

They have the league's best pass defense, holding quarterbacks to just 171.9 yards per game and are in the top 10 in stopping the run, giving up an average of 99.8 rushing yards.

From pressuring quarterbacks to forcing turnovers, from holding fast on critical third downs to keeping opponents out of the end zone, few teams play defense better than the Steelers, and this gives them a clear advantage over a quarterback as, well, bad at the position as Tebow.

The only comparable defense that Tebow has faced this year is that of the Detroit Lions. In that game, Tebow's first big loss, he was sacked seven times, intercepted once and fumbled three times, losing one of them.

But that's not the only time he's struggled.

In his last three games, Tebow has been sacked a whopping 10 times, making it 33 sacks on the year. He's fumbled 13 times, losing six of them and has been picked off six times, five of those coming in his last four games.

With numbers like those, it's not hard to imagine Tebow struggling mightily against the brutal Pittsburgh defense.

Though Tebow offers his team benefits few quarterbacks possess, his deficiencies are glaring—almost disturbing—and will ultimately cost the Broncos a playoff win over the Steelers on Sunday.