NFL Picks Week 12: Why Tim Tebow and The Broncos Will Steamroll Chargers

Tim Tebow still isn’t getting the love he deserves.

Despite racking up a 4-1 record as a starter, Vegas still has the 4-6 San Diego Chargers as 6.5 favorites over the visiting Denver Broncos.

(Spread courtesy of Covers.com)

Everyone is too caught up on Tebow’s 45-percent completion percentage.

We’ve been told the NFL is a passing league and that’s the only way to win in 2011. We are told that Tebow can’t sustain this sort of success.

Why?

The Broncos are leading the league in rushing yards the past three weeks despite losing Willis McGahee for the majority of two of them and Knowshon Moreno for the season.

Somehow, the Broncos' offense can thrive with a guy named Lance Ball getting 20-plus touches. How is this possible?

The element of surprise.

With the chance of Tebow tucking and running on every play, the defense takes an extra split-second to determine which player has the ball. That second has been able to provide at least four yards per carry.

Teams have trouble staying at home in their gaps, meaning the holes are always there when the ball is reversed or pitched by Tebow as he patiently waits for the defense to attack him. 

The scary thing is that the team is just getting used to the new playbook. Now they’ve had 11 days to institute new wrinkles that have yet to be put on film.

The defense, led by Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil, has been nothing short of brilliant the past month. Miller is the runaway leader for Defensive Rookie of the Year at this juncture, and Dumervil is finally healthy.

During the three-game winning streak, they are allowing under 16 points a game. The pass rush is ferocious once again, and you can expect Phillip Rivers to be forced into more bad decisions.

I say more bad decisions because it has already been the worst season of Phillip Rivers’ career. Through 10 games he has 11 touchdown passes and 23 turnovers, as he morphs into some sort of TO machine, coughing up the ball in every way imaginable.

The Chargers' running attack has been plagued by injuries all season long, and the defense seems to be exerting less than 100 percent effort. With all the talent on that side of the ball, it’s proof the team has tuned out head coach Norv Turner.

These are two teams going in opposite directions and you have to take the team with the extra rest and momentum.

Remember: Tebow was inserted into the lineup for the second half of their first meeting, and the Broncos outscored the Chargers 14-6 in the second half as Denver was just shy of another miracle win at the buzzer.

There is something about this Tebow guy that goes against all conventional thinking. Continue to take advantage of it until Vegas catches up.

Prediction: Broncos 23, Chargers 11