Brace yourself, America—Tim Tebow is about to silence the critics on NFL Network's Thursday Night Football with an improbable upset victory over the New York Jets.
I know, call me crazy, but this can happen, and I will tell you why.
For starters, Rex Ryan and his Jets are playing on a short week with a long flight to Denver after getting their lunch handed to them in their own house on national television against the New England Patriots—I can tell you one thing, and that's the loss against New England, without a doubt, has rattled Rex mentally.
Rex has never lost against Bill Belichick and the Patriots in the Meadowlands throughout his three years as New York's head coach. With that loss, the Jets had to move on from it tremendously fast as they had to prepare for a Thursday night game at Mile High Stadium—and I will bet that this week has been a long one for the Jets.
With New York possibly having their team morale rather low and traveling a long ways to Denver, a place where visiting teams notoriously struggle due to the elevation, this immediately plays in Denver's favor.
So you're probably saying right now that I have no idea what I'm talking about—but wait, there's more.
Entering Week 11, the Jets have the 15th-worst rush defense while the Broncos have the second-best rushing attack. So where does the advantage fall? Right into the hands of Tebow and the Broncos.
Ever since Tebow was named the full-time starter in Denver back in Week 7, the Broncos have been averaging and incredible 230.3 yards per-game compared to their season average of 158.2. The previous five games without Tebow at quarterback, Denver was averaging only 101.8 rushing yards per game. Essentially, Tebow is a running back playing quarterback, which is certainly unique and is challenging to defend.
The way that Denver has improved their ground game is nothing short of remarkable, as their 230.2 average is 58.7 yards more than the NFL's top-ranked rushing attack, the Philadelphia Eagles.
I know what you're all thinking: "New York will simply stack the box and stuff Denver's running game."
Sure, the Jets will likely stack the box and run blitz quite frequently, but it's not that simple. In last week's game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Broncos were running an offense that they had been working on all week: A run-first style that incorporates a lot of zone reads and options. A much simpler way to put it is that Denver was running a college-style offense, something that Tebow is familiar with.
So, am I saying that a college offense can beat the New York Jets? You bet.
The Jets are known for being an aggressive defense that blitzes on a regular basis, as they blitzed a league-high 57.1 percent of the time in 2010. Denver's option-rushing game will without a doubt challenge New York's blitzes.
When running the option, it requires the defense to stay disciplined, and this is a challenge for NFL defenders, as the option is not used at the pro level. New York's front-seven will have to drag back to their college glory days in order to defend Tebow in Denver's option attack.
Against the Chiefs last weekend, Tebow ran the option to perfection—much like his days as a Florida Gator.
In this particular play against Kansas City, the Chiefs come out with a basic 5-2 defense, as they're anticipating the run. KC has two linebackers over Denver's guards while two standing defensive ends try to contain the outside.
At the snap of the ball, the linebackers are immediately frozen as they look into the backfield and read Tebow and Knowshon Moreno. They begin the process of running a simple zone-read option.
Tebow does a great job of riding Moreno, allowing the play to develop as he reads the playside defender, who happens to be doing his job and containing the outside run. Tebow makes the read and gives the ball to Moreno while the linebackers are still frozen and lost in space.
So what's the result of a play? A 22-yard gain by Moreno on a play that is never used at the NFL level.
All in all, Thursday night's game against the Broncos will certainly challenge New York's aggressive defense.
Denver has the advantage of playing at Mile High as well as running a college offense that NFL defenses are simply not prepared for.
Tim Tebow is a winner as he always finds a way to win. Now that Denver is running an offense that Tebow can flourish in, he will succeed while leading the Broncos to an improbable upset of the Jets on national television.
For more articles like this, check out PatriotsPlus.net.
Ben Gordon Josh Howard Jason Terry Jason Kidd Dirk Nowitzki Jerry Stackhouse
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