Tim Tebow: Why Broncos' QB is More Valuable Than Tom Brady This Season

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is a three-time Super Bowl Champion, two-time Super Bowl MVP and two-time NFL MVP, but when he steps onto the field Sunday he won't be the most valuable player in the game.

That honor, of course, will belong to Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.

Let me preface this by saying that Tebow isn't a better quarterback than Brady; rather, he is currently more valuable to his team than Brady is to his. There are many reasons for this, but the most apparent lies in the most important statistic, that being wins and losses.

When Tebow took over the starting job from the ineffective and since-waived Kyle Orton, the Broncos were a 1-4 team that seemed destined for a top-five draft pick. Since Tebow's first start against the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 23, however, the Broncos are 7-1 and currently have a one-game lead over the Oakland Raiders in the AFC West.

The Patriots are 10-3 under Brady this season, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but perhaps the best gauge of Brady's value is to see how New England played without him. In 2008 Brady missed essentially the entire season, so the starting quarterback job belonged to Matt Cassel.

It is true the Patriots missed the playoffs that season, but they still finished with a sterling 11-5 record. That performance allowed Cassel to receive the starting gig in Kansas City, but the fact of the matter is that Cassel isn't a particularly good quarterback.

What that tells me is his success in New England was based largely upon the system. I realize that supporting cast in 2008 compared to now is very different and the defense was probably much better then, but the offensive system remains the same.

Also, Brady currently has a vastly superior supporting cast compared to what Tebow has to work with. Brady has a wide array of dangerous weapons, including Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski, Deion Branch and even Chad Ochocinco, if he decided to utilize him.

Tebow, on the other hand, has unproven targets like Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker and Matt Willis. I'm not saying Tebow would put up Brady-esque passing numbers if the roles were reversed, but perhaps Tebow isn't given more passing opportunities because the talent simply isn't there in the receiving corps.

Perhaps the best argument for Tebow's value, however, is his running ability. With just 1,290 passing yards and a completion percentage of 48.5 percent, Tebow's passing statistics are far from earth-shattering. When you add in his rushing totals of 517 yards and three touchdowns, though, things suddenly look much more impressive.

The thing with Tebow, however, is that he isn't solely responsible for his own statistics. It's safe to say no quarterback in the NFL has more of an effect on his team's aggregate rushing attack than Tebow.

Denver is first in the league with more than 156 rushing yards per game. While Tebow himself may only account for one-third of that on a weekly basis, the pure threat of him running opens up massive lanes for running back Willis McGahee to exploit.

Tebow has clearly mastered the option offense and the decisions he makes with regards to whether he hands off the ball or hangs onto it have a huge impact on the offense as a whole. So, when you add 156 rushing yards per game to 160 passing yards per game, Tebow is either directly or indirectly accounting for 316 total yards per game.

On top of that, he is becoming a much more efficient passer as the season progresses. He doesn't seem like he is ever going to complete a particularly high percentage of his passes, but an 11:2 touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio in eight starts is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

Again, Brady is great in his own right as he accounts for nearly 320 passing yards per game and often has to make up for a weak defense, but the question remains whether an ordinary quarterback could put up extraordinary numbers when put in that offense.

Cassel certainly outperformed his talent level in the offense by a large margin, so it stands to reason that if the roles of Tebow and Brady were reversed, Tebow would see a large spike in his passing statistics while Brady would see a sharp decline.

Again, I don't think anybody believes Tebow is better than Brady, and that isn't what I'm trying to argue. The fact of the matter is, however, that Denver was a cellar dweller before Tebow took over, and now it's suddenly a first-place team.

Call me crazy, but if both Tebow and Brady were replaced by nameless, ambiguous quarterbacks on their respective teams, the Broncos would likely be preparing for the draft while New England would still be in the playoff hunt.

That is why, in terms of value, Tebow is greater than Brady in 2011.