Minnesota Vikings: 5 Keys to Beating the Denver Broncos

As if the 2-9 record wasn't bad enough, the Minnesota Vikings added four more names to the list of players on injured reserve. Among them, Michael Jenkins and Husain Abdullah were both starters and key contributors in an already abysmal season that will likely end with the worst record in franchise history.

This isn't very good news with the surging Denver Tebows—wait, I mean, Broncos—coming to town.

The Tebow-led Broncos are 5-1 and keep winning in an improbable fashion that either makes you love or hate the young QB even more.

This resurgence has the Broncos not only back in the playoff picture, but possibly back on track to win their division—a division in which Tebow hath previously smited all his enemies. OK, wait, I mean he beat all of the other teams...

Fortunately for any coming opponents, these wins were all ugly, and this team is still very beatable.

Though this may seem like a simple case of David vs. Goliath, here are five keys to bring down Tebow's Walls of Jericho. Alright, enough Christianity jokes, here are five keys for the Minnesota Vikings against the Denver Broncos.

Stop Willis McGahee

Despite popular belief, Willis McGahee is the best runner on this team.

In nine games as the starter, McGahee ran for 775 yards and three touchdowns. His ability to break tackles allows him to extend plays and pick up key first downs.

McGahee's efforts even earned him the FedEx-Ground Player of the Week award against the Oakland Raiders.

Along with McGahee's ability to pick up tough yards, the Broncos can use the dynamic runner in the option alongside Tim Tebow, which seems to be what the Denver offense is built around.

In essence, take away the run game, take away the option and Tebow becomes one-dimensional—and that one dimension isn't very good.

The Vikings defense has always been relatively strong against the rush and a matchup with McGahee shouldn't be any different.

If the Vikings can take away this aspect of the Broncos offense, they will have a very tough time moving the ball, even against the decimated secondary that Minnesota fields on a weekly basis.

Rough Up Tim Tebow

Though Tebow may not be the conventional NFL quarterback, he is truly an integral part of Denver's offense. In fact, the entire offensive system seemed to switch to an option-heavy one that allows Tebow to do the one thing he can do, and hide all of the inadequacy.

Whether this is a ploy to show the Broncos fan base he is the answer or not, the guy is winning football games and he's doing it the way high school teams win football games.

As I mentioned on the previous slide, taking away the run will force Tebow to stay in a pocket and throw the ball, and that line literally gives him seven to 10 seconds every play to find an open receiver.

Getting to Tebow won't be easy for the Vikings, but defensive players like Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, E.J. Henderson, Everson Griffen and Brian Robison have all gotten to the QB multiple times this season.

Allen has been left sack-less in the Vikings' last two games. He likely won't let Tebow get off so easy, especially when he's only 3.5 sacks away from 100 for his career.

Regardless of statistics, the Vikings need to put pressure on the young QB and rough him up a bit. I'm not talking late hits and penalties, but there is a reason why Detroit was able to stun Tebow and the Broncos 45-10.

Constant pressure on the QB and containment from the edges allowed the Lions defense to sack Tebow seven times and keep the Denver offense completely stagnant.

Tebow has some talented receivers, but he'll have a tough time scrambling to throw to them when he's running for his life. Containing Tebow with a QB spy and constant pressure will keep the Broncos offense from moving the ball and keep "Tebowmania" from entering the land of 10,000 lakes.

Put a Damper on Decker's Homecoming

Remember when I said Tebow has talented receivers? Yeah, the best one is a Minnesota boy from small-town Cold Springs and the defending 4A state champions Rocori High School.

Eric Decker is one of the state's favorite sons, and though he doesn't don the Purple and Gold, he will likely receive a warm welcome at Mall of America Field.

After not receiving much playing time as a rookie, Decker bloomed this season and already has 527 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

His ability to catch even the most hideous of Tebow's passes will likely keep him in a Broncos uniform for years to come—even to the dismay of his loyal fans in Minnesota.

Though Decker will receive a warm welcome in Minnesota, the Vikings can't allow him to have a big day like the one Atlanta No. 1 WR Roddy White had last Sunday.

This could be tougher than it sounds with the terrible secondary the Vikings possess, but Decker needs to get locked down if the Vikings want to stop this offense.

Utilize Weapons Against Denver's Defense

Despite this abysmal record, the Vikings possess some explosive offensive weapons.

Guys like Percy Harvin, Visanthe Shiancoe, Kyle Rudolph and this guy named Adrian Peterson are all able to create headaches for defensive coordinators. The problem lately has been the health of these key players.

If the Vikings are lucky, they will have at least three of these weapons for the matchup with the Broncos. They will certainly need them against a strong defense that can get after the quarterback.

Harvin is quietly having a great season and even looks good in his buddy AP's absence. Harvin is on pace to break the NFL's record for most rushing yards by a WR. Along with that statistic, Harvin has been utilized very effectively in the passing game, catching in traffic like the best of sure-handed veterans.

If the Vikings aren't lucky enough to have the luxury of the best RB in the NFL in their backfield for another game, utilizing Harvin, Shiancoe and Rudolph will be very important in taking some of the pressure off backup RB Toby Gerhart.

The Denver defense, led by DE Elvis Dumervil and rookie LB Von Miller, is one of the best in the league. This hard-hitting defense has kept scores low and allowed the anemic offense to not just stay in games, but be 5-1 under its new QB.

As much credit as anyone wants to give Tim Tebow for the Broncos' wins, it has been the Denver defense that has underscored this resurgence in their season. Spreading the ball around and keeping pressure off rookie QB Christian Ponder will be key in slowing down this hot defense.

Protect Christian Ponder

Minnesota's weak offensive line has not done a very good job protecting its rookie QB so far this season, but hey, better late than never, right?

The most important key to protecting Ponder is by distributing the ball to different weapons that can take the attention off him. If they utilize quick passes and screens, the defense will have to honor the Vikings offense and this won't allow them to put as much pressure on Ponder.

If this can be achieved, Ponder might be able to get away from this defense unscathed. Unfortunately for him, that might not be a realistic expectation, especially considering fellow rookie Von Miller was last week's AFC Defensive Player of the Week and is in consideration for Rookie of the Year.

Miller is already on his way to having a great career in Denver. When paired with DE Elvis Dumervil, this pass-rush combination could be intimidating for any QB, let alone a rookie that is used to running for his life.

Protecting Ponder needs to be an over-arching priority for this team. Though this season is pretty much lost as it is, the Vikings can't afford to add the future of their franchise to their ever-growing list of the injured reserve.

Keeping Ponder upright will give them the best chance to win this game.

Thanks for reading.