NFL Picks Week 7: Previewing the Broncos vs. Dolphins Game

Tim Tebow makes his first start of the season in the stadium where he won his last college national championship.

By the way, the game marks the celebration the 2008 Florida Gators' national championship team during the game.

Other than the fact that it's the perfect script if this was a movie, Tebow is starting at the right time for the Broncos.

Denver is coming off of a bye week where it has given Tebow two weeks to prepare for the 0-5 Miami Dolphins.

Kyle Orton did not play well through the first five games, leading the league in interceptions, and in two different games blew opportunities to lead the Denver Broncos to victory in the fourth quarter.

So with the Broncos at 1-4, fans paying to have Tebow billboards put up in the local Denver area and with Orton struggling, coach John Fox wasn't give much of a choice other than to give the former Florida Gator a chance.

So what should we expect against the Dolphins?

The Dolphins are 0-5, coming off their worst game of the season when they lost 24-6 to the Jets on Monday night and had 12 dropped passes in the game.

They may be the worst team in the league, and with each passing week, seem to be making a better case in the "Suck for Luck" sweepstakes. Coach Tony Sparano should have been fired by now, but owner Stephen Ross has not done so.

It would not shock me to see the Dolphins go 1-15 or 0-16 and for the first time in years, they're having a hard time selling out games in Miami.

The receivers can't catch passes. The running game is solid when Daniel Thomas is healthy. The defense played well in the first half on Monday night, but have been below average the entire season.

You look at the Broncos. They're not much better, but they are a little bit more stable.

They traded their best receiver in Brandon Lloyd a couple of days ago. Eddie Royal tried to demand his way out, but nobody showed interest in a slot receiver who has done nothing at the receiver position since his rookie season three years ago.

Demaryius Thomas is returning, Julius Thomas is supposedly healthy and Matthew Willis is expected to take on a bigger role for the Broncos in the passing game.

So the question repeats itself, what should we expect against the Miami Dolphins?

Expect the Broncos to win. No, Tebow won't throw for 350 yards. No, Demaryius Thomas won't make people regret the Broncos taking Thomas over Dez Bryant. Yes, the defense will still give up a lot of yards.

The Broncos, however, are the better team. The Dolphins may be the worst team in the NFL. Only the Rams may be worse.

With each passing week, Miami gets less and less competitive. The Dolphins lost by one point to the Browns, 10 points to the Chargers and now by 18 points to the Jets. That's a sign that the players are losing their motivation to play hard.

Tebow will move the chains. He'll underthrown passes that should be easy completions. He might barely exceed the 50-percent completion rate. Throughout the game, it won't look pretty. And in the end, it really won't matter.

All that matters is that Tebow will come up with big plays, whether that's with his legs or his arm, and it'll result in the Broncos having their most productive offensive effort of the season.

The Dolphins rank in the bottom-half of the league in total defense and they don't have the linebackers to keep up with Tebow on a consistent basis to prevent him from gaining chunks of yards on the ground.

Eric Decker should step up in the absence of Lloyd, Thomas will make a couple of catches that show glimpses (the key word is glimpses) of why the Broncos took him with their No. 1 pick in 2010 and Willis will make contributions as a possession receiver on short routes as he did in the preseason.

Expect the Broncos to establish the run game early with Willis McGahee to establish the play-action fake and give Tebow the chance to maneuver outside of the pocket.

The Broncos should run the ball early and pass the ball more often as the game progresses to get Tebow's feet wet.

The Broncos enter this game as +1.5 underdogs. They'll leave this game as victors.

Prediction: Broncos 24-14