Broncos vs. Patriots: Will Tim Tebow Rise Above Tom Brady?

As the Denver Broncos face off against the New England Patriots for a trip to the AFC Championship Game, the game has the makings of—dare we say—a religious conflict not unlike David vs. Goliath. Just substitute the names Tim Tebow and Tom Brady, and you get the picture.

Some pundits see it as the game of the year. It surely is the rematch of the year: The first time around, more than 42 million viewers tuned in to watch Patriots punk the Broncos 41-13. Even though this game is on a Saturday afternoon it could break records, as the sports world turns its eyes on the two most popular and charismatic football players in the NFL.

But realistically, do the erratic Broncos, with Tebow at the helm, really have what it takes to unseat what is arguably one of the most dominating teams in the NFL?

Will Tebow rise above the fray and beat Brady’s Patriots?

In that first game, the Broncos fumbled away chances as the Patriots offense exploded for 20 points in the first half. Ultimately, the Broncos defense gave up 451 total yards to the Patriots whose stable of receivers, including their seemingly unstoppable tight ends in Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, made nine catches for 129 yards and a touchdown.

In order to win, the Broncos defense must keep the game close. As we have seen time and again this season, the last few seconds of the fourth quarter are Tebow Time when the young quarterback continues to pull out games—or what the media like to call “perform miracles.”

Just last week, the Broncos beat the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers, an upset that ended with, of all things, an 80-yard pass by Tebow that hit his receiver in stride and allowed him to streak into the end zone for the winning score. The shock waves of the win and how it happened—with a Tebow pass!—rang through the entire NFL not to mention the entire world through Twitter (9,420 tweets per second were recorded).

Who wrote this story? And, don’t say God. 

It’s more like Bernard Malamud or maybe Robert Heinlein or Stephen King. It is wonderful, fantastic, out of this world and a bit scary, especially if you are an NFL purist.

All season, Tebow has been downplayed, ridiculed and belittled for his inability to throw the ball. His ratings and completion numbers bear this out, but his ability to win the big game belies such folderol. Who needs to throw the ball when you can win the game with guile, passion, leadership and the thunderous thighs of a fullback?

If anything, Tebow is a throwback and the purists should be marveling at him. He may be more like Bronco (of course!) Nagurski than Peyton Manning, but should that really matter if his team is winning? Some may call it luck or biblical interference (not to be confused with the passing kind), but Tebow gets the job done and that is all he or anyone else should be concerned with.

This week, that “anyone else” is Tom Brady, the Goliath of the story playing for the fearless New England Patriots. This season the Patriots are 13-3 and have been rolling over their competition.

Brady's stats are humongous, including his 5,200 passing yards (second to Drew Brees' record-breaking mark). Meanwhile, Tebow threw for a paltry 1,700 yards and his team’s record was 8-8 during the regular season. How is it possible that these two guys are even in the same league?

But, if this were a movie, it might be called There’s Something About Tim.

The Broncos vs. the Patriots has the makings of a grudge match or the very least a match in which the latter has to show the former who really is the boss. The Broncos are sort of your classic upstart team facing off against the perennial playoff and former Super Bowl champ Patriots.

In the world of Brady, the Broncos do not make a comeback and Tebow does not make a miraculous play to win the game. 

Then again, that is probably what Goliath thought too.