So by now you are aware that the Denver Broncos (9-8) beat the Pittsburgh Steelers (12-5) 29-23 this afternoon as Tim Tebow threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime.
Yesterday, the Cincinnati Bengals couldn't come through with a win (shocking, I know) at the Houston Texans, meaning the winner of today's AFC Wild Card game would advance to face the New England Patriots (13-3) next Saturday night (8 p.m.) at Gillette Stadium.
In terms of things falling into place for the Pats, they couldn't have asked for a better scenario to unfold for them. Denver was a heavy underdog but they managed to outlast Pittsburgh after building up a 20-6 halftime lead.
All New England has to do is beat the Broncos and they'll be in the AFC Championship game the following weekend against the winner of Sunday's Texans at Baltimore Ravens matchup.
As we learned first-hand from last season, you can't read too much into regular season meetings when you play the same team in the playoffs. The Patriots had blown the Jets out in December but then New York came into Gillette and shocked the Pats under a similar scenario: top seed, homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
New England sent Denver into a tailspin-they lost their last three regular season games but still backed into the AFC West-by winning 41-23 at Mile High on December 18. It seemed like the NFL had figured out Tebow but all he did today was shred one of the top defenses for 316 passing yards, two touchdowns plus 50 yards rushing and a touchdown.
Nobody in the world deserves as much attention as Tebow gets but at this point, it's impossible to argue that the guy isn't a winner that's beloved by his teammates and isn't that all that really matters?
Thomas (4 catches, 204 receiving yards) is a great young wide receiver along with Eric Decker, who hurt his knee today on a hit by Steelers linebacker James Harrison. Decker is scheduled to get an MRI tomorrow, I doubt he'll play this weekend. You can't really fear Willis McGahee at this stage in his career but he put up 1199 rushing yards in the regular season. He was held to 19 carries for 61 yards today and it looked like a fumble by him might cost Denver the season.
Denver also has a very underrated defense filled with playmakers, namely defensive end Elvis Dumervil, linebacker Von Miller (sure to be defensive rookie of the year) and the ageless cornerback supreme Champ Bailey. Their kicker Matt Prater is also one of the NFL's best.
The biggest issue for New England is that they don't want to be in a one-score game entering the fourth quarter, aka Tebow Time. The former Florida Gator and Heisman winner has an uncanny ability to lead his team back in crunch time so the best way to squash that is to build up an insurmountable lead like the Pats did the first time they played the Broncos.
I'm not going to hold my breath on it but is it too much to ask for the crowd to be loud on Saturday night? Hopefully the Pink Hats are phased out and mostly true Patriots fans make up a majority of the crowd. There is no excuse not to go crazy: the weather should be mild, it's a Saturday night, a trip to the AFC Championship game is on the line and it's a very winnable (Pats opened as 14-point favorites) contest. If people can't get excited for this one, well I guess Gillette will never be a good atmosphere.
Tweet
Follow @RichSlate
No comments:
Post a Comment