Third-and-12 at the Denver 18 (14:56, 2nd quarter): After a 21-yard pass to Eric Decker was overturned via instant replay challenge, momentum seemed to be on Pittsburgh’s side. Denver faced a third-and-long from deep in its own territory trailing 6-0, but this was the play that swung the momentum back to the home side as Tim Tebow found Demaryius Thomas deep down the left sideline for a 51-yard gain. The big play set up Tebow’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Royal two plays later that gave Denver a 7-6 lead.
Second-and-10 at the Pittsburgh 20 (13:21, 2nd quarter): Ben Roethlisberger connected on a 52-yard pass to Mike Wallace, but the Broncos successfully challenged the ruling. Instead of a long gain into Denver territory, Pittsburgh faced a third-and-10 and would go three-and-out, turning the ball back to the Broncos.
Second-and-7 at the Denver 30 (12:15, 2nd quarter): The Tebow-to-Thomas connection struck again, this time for 58 yards. Again, two plays after the long pass play, the Broncos found the end zone. This time, Tebow kept it himself and charged up the middle for an 8-yard rushing score to give the Broncos a 14-6 advantage.
3rd-and-16 at the Pittsburgh 14 (9:23, 2nd quarter): With heavy pressure from D.J. Williams, Roethlisberger heaved a pass down the field that ended up in the arms of Quinton Carter. The rookie safety returned the interception 9 yards to the Pittsburgh 18. The Broncos pushed the ball inside the Steelers 5-yard lie before settling for a 20-yard field goal to increase their lead to 17-6.
Second-and-6 at the Denver 35 (4:31, 2nd quarter): Tebow hit Daniel Fells over the middle for a gain of 40 yards to push Denver into scoring position. Prater added his second field goal of the game to give the Broncos a 20-6 lead.
Third-and-4 at the Denver 40 (0:39, 2nd quarter): With the Steelers at the edge of field goal range, Roethlisberger couldn’t handle a high snap from Doug Legursky. Roethlisberger recovered the loose ball, but not before Pittsburgh lost 23 yards on the play. Instead of having a chance to add points before the intermission, Pittsburgh had to punt.
First-and-10 at the Pittsburgh 23 (8:12, 2nd quarter): Roethlisberger threw what replays showed to be a backwards lateral to Mike Wallace. The whistle blew when the ball hit the ground, making what could have been ruled a Broncos fumble recovery non-reviewable. The play remained an incomplete pass, and Pittsburgh would go on to drive down the field for a touchdown to make the score Denver 20 Pittsburgh 13.
First-and-10 at the Denver 48 (7:43, 4th quarter): With the Broncos driving down the field looking to extend a 23-16 lead, Ryan Mundy forced a Willis McGahee fumble that was recovered by LaMarr Woodley. Pittsburgh used the turnover to knot the game at 23-23 after Roethlisberger threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery on the team’s ensuing drive.
First-and-10 at the Denver 45 (0:29, 4th quarter): Pittsburgh had moved the ball into Denver territory in the final minute of regulation when Elvis Dumervil stip-sacked Roethlisberger for a loss of 11 yards. Roethlisberger recovered his fumble, but the 11-yard loss led to a last-play Hail Mary attempt that resulted in another Broncos sack.
-Stuart Zaas
just like after a loss it’s all loss predictions and after wins, the orange kool aid is flowing and the predictions are all for wins……….
I’ll wait til at least mid-week………
Hope the old computer didn’t fry, bay! hahaha
ya well bay dont call it a comeback… gonna wait til i cool down from now on and think about it and then put in a cupla winning predictions and get right in there in the top ten. sure hope we make it to the superbowl, i need alotta 7 point predictions to do it!
Tebow, Broncos open as 13.5 point underdogs vs. Patriots
Posted: 01/09/2012 10:41:53 AM MST
Updated: 01/09/2012 11:40:47 AM MST
By Ryan Casey
The Denver Post
On the heels of their overtime victory over the Steelers, the Broncos are 13.5-point underdogs against the New England Patriots for Saturday’s divisional playoff game.
The Patriots, seeded No. 1 in the AFC, had a bye in the first round, and will host the second round game.
New England beat the Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Dec. 18, 41-23 — a game that ended Denver’s six-game winning streak. The Broncos held an early lead, but squandered it away with three second-quarter turnovers.
Denver was a 7.5-point underdog against the Steelers on Sunday, but upset them 29-23 in overtime when Tim Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas on an 80-yard pass play for the victory.
Broncos-Steelers ratings. Early numbers show Sunday’s game got a 47.3 Nielsen rating, and a 76 share on CBS4.
Yep, all you need for top ten is 9 points and with your minus 5 means you need 14 or two wins.
I have been predicting Broncos wins all year. I think I only predicted on loss. That was the GB game.
one* loss
I just let it work through in the back of my head, and go with whatever number eventually seems ‘right.’
in this game I am basically just going with what I thought the first one would be like. I think the rematch works in our favor. Plus we have played better on the road this year anyway. So … that’s how I came up with this prediction.
I gotta be doing something right, as I am in the top 25 right now.
We can’t complain about that blown whistle/call on the backwards pass. We’ve had our share of opportunistic blown whistles.
Im bummed I don’t have a single point. Shoot, I may pick a very lopsided score just so that I can get any type of points. I think the only way we win is if we can keep the pansies from scoring less than 30. Running game will have to be top notch next week.
Denver broncos 27
Patriots 24
alexanserg, one win and no other placing, so a bit of luck involved in those 7 points but great job nonetheless.
And in fact it was the Packers game, the only one you predicted us to lose….
broncsbomber……..I would never solely blame a loss on a blown call. They happen and it’s up to the team to deal with them and preservere..
However, I think they need to review that type of play. If it’s a backward pass, which can clearly be seen on replay, then the call of an imcomplete pass should be able to be overturned.
baylinorcrush says:
January 8, 2012 at 6:43 pm
“And Tebow cemented his starting job for next year for certain.”
Glad to see you back on the bandwogon bay…. LMBO!
You welcome buddy.
As you know I always call it as I see it.
After the last three games there was no way I could give a vote of confidence to Tebow long term because he showed none.
And this playoff game flipped the whole thing around one more time.
But it’s the first time ever he showed me he could consistently throw the ball accurately in a game, and therefore he earned the job long term is the only way Elway can go now, he’ll bring in another QB or two but just for backups and development if something was to happen to Tebow. That’s how I see it anyway. So, it’s cemented now in my mind.
Something occurred to me while watching the play calling.
We all thought Fox and McCoy were just incredibly conservative. It may be that this whole time they were actually incredibly aggressive and ambitious.
I now suspect we have been purposely using half the playbook (or the minimum required to make it into the playoffs). Now they are using the whole second section labeled “do not open ’till playoffs.”
We changed our Defensive scheme a little, started calling more pass plays, and just generally came out with a few brand new looks.
I couldn’t find the quote again, but I read something from one of the steelers about how “that wasn’t the same Broncos we saw on film.”
not to be a downer after such a great win………but our D MUST play better against NE. They bent to the tune of 445 total yards…….and almost broke. So many yards were gained because of, you guessed it, HORRIBLE TACKLING!
Ugh. I forgot that I got those points on a loss prediction. That makes it so hollow. lol.
But I also didn’t make any prediction bad enough to lose points so …
Bay, I thought Tebow actually played ok against the Patriots last time.
What do you think of the KC and Buffalo games though? Did he just lose all confidence? Tebow didn’t look like himself at all in either of those games. He stepped in to his throws and looked comfortable again against the steelers.
Do you think it was a confidence issue? Or just a really bad slump?
In the words of Terrel Davis “Starting my day feeling good about what happened last night. Get ‘em Broncos!”
Broncos – 35
Patriots – 32
I will say our defense does need to play better, because a healthy Tom Brady is far more of a threat than a 80% Big Ben.
We must capitalize on all opportunities that come our way. Champ had one slip away. A couple of fumbles could have bounced in our favor (2 Big Ben fumbles) and we must protect the ball, we cannot have any turnovers against NE.
WOW…WOW…WOW! What a way to finish Broncos. You guys, my whole family has been fighting colds and my Brother-in-law still took the kids so my wife and I can witness the Mile High Magic in person, again.
A great game and win. These guys are coming together. Keep getting streaky and shock the world some more. Can’t say enough for the game Ayers, and the boys up front brought. Tebow had time and made things happen. DT was lights out except one pass that would’ve set up first and goal. Refs seemed like they missed some very important calls, atleast three (two face masks and a lateral). We overcame!
Fans were in it and so much fun. I wished you all could have experienced the jubilation live. Great atmosphere and truly deserving for our faithful.
Bronc On … Go Broncos! Let’s do it again in New England.
Hmm … What a quote! “Starting my day feeling good about what happened last night.”
As an alcoholic, you can very rarely say this. Just ask the normally optiimistic and fairly level-headed Bronco_Turtle
How much fun is this??? Nice to see everyone so cheery on the blog today!
Haven’t heard much from Shaz….unless I didnt back track far enough.
LOL!!!
I think Shaz quit posting during the 2nd QTR. I think her fragile emotional center must have exploded. She’s not equipped for this much elation!!!
You Go Shaz!!!
I think it was all a matter of the other teams game plans that figured him out and the fact that our game plans didn’t adapt to them figuring us out. And the Steelers put a game plan on those premises but Fox and McCoy’s game plan for the first time was to open it out and allow Tim to pull the trigger like Elway asked and when he hit the first couple long ones it snowballed into major confidence and he kept it going and the Steelers were so shocked by that and so sold with their game plan that they could never adapt to do anything different. Basically the coaching staff for Pittsburgh was the main culprit in their defeat, the players hands were shackled as what to do once Tebow got hot, like no QB pressure whatsoever and they could never switch mode. It obviously will be different for the Pats, they just saw what Tebow can do when you allow him the time to gain confidence.
LOL!!!! ( I keep forgetting that and it makes things mot come across right – thanks Royalty!)
Big Ben completed a little over half of his passes, yet you didn’t hear any mention of it. Either that or I have selective hearing, lol.
I think Bay is right. The running game has to work against the Pats early in the game. Or it could get ugly.
Lets hope they keep up letting him open it up.
Thought that play when Tebow ligned up at WR was kind of funny. Would have been awesome had it worked. That play where Ben scrambled to his right and found Cotchery in the endzone, if Bush makes a play at the ball he could had knocked it out.
Headed for the DMV. Man, I hate that place!!!
Have a great day…Tebow will be fine…McG will be the man against the PATS…!!! LOL
Way to go Daddy! You deserved that win and your loyalty is unwavering, a great witness, both on the blogs and in life.
Go Broncos!
Basically we need the complete opposite performance of our first meeting this season with the Patriots.
I’ve been blocked from posting on gameday blog, does anybody know how long or if I will be allowed to post again?
If they are putting 8 or 9 in the Box, we can (an have to be able to) beat them deep. If they are playing the passing game, our run game should be extremely productive. And if they focus too much on either of those, Tebow can run roughshod over them.
If we can just keep the D honest, then we have enough ways to get production on Offense that we should have no problem rolling up at least 25 points on the league’s worst regular season D.
Beyond that it will just be about limiting Brady, and limiting mistakes. If we don’t make any game breaking errors (like, IDK, fumble three times in a row behind our own 20 yard line) this should be a very winnable game.
I beleive Tebows problem all year was he was looking for a bigger window in the NFL that didn’t exist … they told him not to turn over the ball so he was always second guessing himself .. if u hesitate for a secodn that window will close and u will have to throw it away … he hesitated in Buffalo but the difference was he still threw it .. ergo .. INT city … plus we were forced into a 1 dimensional game. Pitts messed up … they believed the hype that Tebow could absolutely not pass and completely commited to the run … horrible defensive game plan.
I think this team can take it. I personally think NE is their biggest obstacle to getting to the SB … Houston and Baltimore don’t scare me as much as NE … jsut cuz they can pile on the points.
TRB
Other thing that scares me about NE is that OLine is pretty solid (they also hold alot in my book) … when oh when will that cast come off Von Millers hand?
TRB
I really think if Miller didn’t have that cast on his hand he would’ve for sure stripped Ben on that play where he was inches away from getting there.
I can’t stop laughing about how EVERY SINGLE TIME we win a game, suddenly everyone starts talking about how OF COURSE we were gonna win, because the team we beat was JUST THAT BAD.
And the trend continues.
48 hours ago Pit were 8.5 point favorites, and we were being told by everyone that we might as well just pack our bags now and save everyone the effort.
Now, according to so many NFL fans comments around the web, Pit is a poor team, with a half-filled roster, that just barely limped into the playoffs at 12-4.
NE better hope it wins, otherwise Tom Brady is probably gonna become “just that over-rated system guy with no chance at the HOF.”
Dilfer actually said something last night that made sense to me. They were talking about defenses preparing for Denver’s offense. Dilfer basically said that it was going to be extremely difficult for them to prepare for us because of the extra threat of Tebow. With the performance Tebow put on in the passing game, now defenses have to prepare for that as well as the running game as well as the possibility of Tebow stinging them with his legs. As was well displayed on the play in OT we showed run, and we passed. Genius!
alex,Brady has won 3 SBs,he’s a lock for the HOF already,imo.
John Fox trying to keep Broncos calm before Patriots playoff game
Posted: 01/09/2012 01:11:01 PM MST
Updated: 01/09/2012 01:11:02 PM MST
By Tom Kensler
Just as the Broncos were able to bounce back from an ugly 7-3 loss to Kansas City in the regular-season finale, Denver coach John Fox doesn’t appear concerned that his team will have to come down from the euphoria of beating Pittsburgh.
Up next is Saturday night’s second-round AFC playoff game at New England and the team mood of the Broncos had better right. Fox said it will be.
“We give them 48 hours (to get over a victory or loss) , then they have to get back to regular,” Fox said today during his weekly Monday briefing with the media.
“Our message is always: ‘Be the same guy,” he explained. “Be even-keeled. Don’t get too high, too low. It’s never as bad as some people may say you might be. Or you’re never as good as some people may say you might be. To stay even, stay even-keeled is what we try to explain. They listen.”
Not’s not to say all games are equal, Fox acknowledged.
“(Veteran players) have done a great job explaining to younger guys the preparation part of it,” Fox said. “The preparation part of it is where you can step it up a notch.
“Just like when we’re on that run during the regular season, every week is a bigger game. In reality, that’s not the case. It counts the same. But it’s your preparation that has to step up. We understand that.”
Fox was asked if it’s daunting to think of facing New England on Saturday night in Foxborough, Mass., after a short week — and with the Patriots coming off a bye.
“To me, it’s not where, but who,” Fox said. “(The Patriots) are a very good football team. They have a lot of experience. We will have to deal with crowd noise. That’s a little bit of an issue. But this won’t be the first game where we had to deal with that.
“It will be a huge challenge. But at this point in the playoffs, it always is.”
Our problem next week will be if our Defense steps up or not.We will score on the Pats,no doubt,but can we outscore them?
Our secondary better step it up,especially on their TEs!
We will have to score at least 35 points to win,imo.
Its qutie simple … dual threat QB wins every time … the only reason they could stop us was because they commited to the run and thats wat we did … ran and sucked at passing. I mean anyone can stop a run game if they commit to the run heavy. I mean … we face like 9 man fronts cuz they don’t respect Tebows arm … now being forced to play both will make it much easier to move the ball. Gotta make em play honest. And torching the top pass D will earn us that hopefully.
alex,
I said it. Someone on NFL.com went as far as to say the game was rigged to get ratings and for a feel good story … doesn’t matter what the kid does … there will always be a reason … whether its the Defense, or its the kicker dong all the leg work or they win because of McGahee and the run game. I mean face it … that man is the catalyst … the man is the only major change on this team …. for goodness sakes we made the playoffs and beat the steelers … year injured …w atever so were we … its the NFL … you are supposed to bring it. I don’t want him to get all the credit but damn can the haters give him some credit … and if u take offense to that statement … maybe u are a hater cuz I said no names (cuz i am talking in the general sesne) so please no one attack me.
Soon they will say its because he has elite receivers
TRB
Didn’t we win like 5 straight road games this year?