Denver Broncos vs. Minnesota Vikings: 5 Reasons for a Broncos Victory

The Broncos enter their Week 13 matchup at Minnesota at 6-5 and very much in the thick of the AFC Playoff hunt.

This game is a tale of two teams that have been heading in the different directions since their young, inexperienced quarterbacks took over.

Since Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder's first start versus the Packers over a month ago, he has shown glimpses of greatness, but otherwise has looked like your typical rookie quarterback.

The Vikings have gone 1-4 in Ponder's starts, for a collective record of 2-9 on the season. Clearly, the Vikings are playing for the future and giving Ponder as many reps as possible in hopes that he can turn around a franchise that, as recently as the preseason of 2010, were considered Super Bowl contenders.

The Broncos, on the other hand, have gone 5-1 under the enigma that is Tim Tebow. Denver has won games by dominating the ground game with the repeated usage of their read-option attack, their stifling defense that has ranked second in third down conversions over the last several weeks and Tebow's clutch play late in games.

Simply put, the Broncos are clearly playing for a playoff spot in early December, while the Vikings are clearly playing for, well, the future.

With star running back Adrian Peterson out of this game, it makes things a lot easier for the Broncos. It also makes it that much more of a trap game if they let their guard down.

That likely won't happen. Here are the five reasons why the Denver Broncos should win their fifth straight game and further improve their position for playoff spot as we progress through December.

The Vikings Are Missing Adrian Peterson

When healthy, running back Adrian Peterson is arguably the league's best running back.

At this moment, Peterson's value to the Vikings has never been more important.

Peterson missed the most recent game at Atlanta, and the Vikings proceeded to run for a total of 64 yards; their leading rusher was Toby Gerhart with 44 yards on 17 carries.

Did I mention that Gerhart entered the game not even in the top 50 for total rushing yards on the season? Gerhart has been the backup running back the entire season.

Despite an anemic passing attack that ranks 30th in the league, the Vikings still rank fifth in rushing yards, second in rushing TDs and third in yards per attempt.

If that doesn't display just how valuable AP is to the Vikings, I don't know what will.

With Minnesota relying heavily upon Harvin and Gerhart to carry the rock against Denver's stifling defense, it does not look good for Minnesota's offense.

Because of AP's absence, Christian Ponder will be expected to do more than he can at this point of his career.

Which is a great thing for Denver.

The Vikings Are Not Good Defensively

Minnesota ranks 30th in points given up.

They have an intimidating run defense that ranks in the top 10 for rushing yards and yards per attempt, but they rank in the bottom three in terms of passing yards and passing touchdowns given up.

Expect the Broncos to force their imprint on the game by repeatedly rushing the football. The total rushing yards should be well over 100 on the day, but the yards per attempt likely won't be impressive.

Remember the Jets game?

Expect the Broncos to have a game along those lines. Except expect Tim Tebow and the Broncos to air it out a little bit more, with the Vikings having such a horrendous secondary.

The Vikes don't have Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis; that is an advantage for the Broncos.

It wouldn't come as a shock if the Broncos follow the same game plan that they've followed all season long where they run the football to death for the first three quarters before opening up the playbook in the fourth quarter for Tebow to air it out and win the game.

The Broncos will take advantage of Minnesota's underwhelming pass defense.

The Bronco Defense Is Simply Too Good

The defense has been allowing 15 PPG in their five victories since Tebow took over.

The quarterbacks that led those teams to losing efforts? Matt Moore of the Dolphins, Matt Cassel of the Chiefs, Carson Palmer of the Raiders, Mark Sanchez of the Jets and Phillip Rivers of the Chargers.

With the exception of maybe Cassel, Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder is no better than any of those experienced quarterbacks.

Why would there be reason to believe that a rookie quarterback will dissect a Broncos defense that has simply been one of the hottest defenses in the NFL over the past month?

Ponder has shown glimpses of being a franchise quarterback; he has already had two games in which he has accumulated a 102.0 quarterback rating. He also led the Vikings to a shootout with the Packers in his first career start where they fell a touchdown short of upsetting the undefeated Packers.

But he has also had games where he has been downright bad. In his three other starts, he has mustered a quarterback rating of less than 59.2 in all three of them. In those games he threw for fourth touchdowns and six interceptions.

Ponder will likely be a good quarterback one day. But like the majority of quarterbacks, he will have to go through his growing pains before he can make that step.

For now, Ponder is a rookie quarterback who can make impressive throws and runs, but has a tendency to turn the ball over in close contests.

Don't be surprised if this happens multiple times due to the absence of his safety cushion, Adrian Peterson.

Minnesota Is One of the Worst Teams in the NFL

Really, at this point in time, who are the Vikings better than?

At 2-9, they are obviously better than the 0-11 Indianapolis Colts. They are better than the 2-9 St. Louis Rams, as the Rams' -130 differential in point margin attests to.

Outside of those two teams, though, who are the Vikings really better than?

A lot of people cite this as a trap game because Minnesota is not expected to win. They're playing at home, but the Broncos have won four straight, Tebow-mania is running at an all-time high and the Broncos are due to fall flat on their faces eventually.

Then you factor in that Adrian Peterson isn't even playing in this game?

Come on.

This Team Will Not Have an Emotional Letdown

The Broncos have repeatedly displayed their resiliency over the course of the 2011 season.

They became the first team since the merger in 1970 to come back from a 15-point deficit with just three minutes remaining in the game and win.

They battled back from a 10-point deficit in the second half in Oakland to defeat the Raiders for an all-too-important divisional victory.

They had a 95-yard offensive drive culminating in a 20-yard touchdown run by Tim Tebow that lifted the Broncos to a 17-13 victory with under a minute remaining.

They just won a brutal game in overtime to a Chargers team that had led the entire game and were playing for their playoff lives at home.

Do you really think the Broncos are going to have a letdown against the third-worst team in all of the NFL when playoff spots are on the line?

Give this team more credit. They will not lose to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.