BSNblog

Tebowmania keeps rolling right along as Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos found a way to beat the San Diego Chargers in week 12. But you have to look a little deeper at the Tebow magic to uncover its secrets. With the notable exception of the incredibly impressive victory over the Oakland Raiders in week nine, the Broncos have been riding a streak against sub-par teams with terrible offenses. Nowhere in the Tebow lineage will you find the Packers, Lions or Saints. Tebow actually faced the Lions in week eight and was pounded 45-10. It is the Denver defense that is winning these games. A quarterback with ability would have made everyone of these wins a blowout. Tebow turns them into overtime thrillers.

The price per head Vikings’ fans are curious to see where the Minnesota fortunes lie after the 2012 draft. Christian Ponder will be given a second chance at being the Minnesota starting quarterback in 2012 if only because of the conditions under which he won the pay per head starting job in the first place. After an incredibly abbreviated training camp, Ponder watched as veteran Donovan McNabb started the season. After four weeks of less than great play from McNabb, the Vikings turned to Ponder. After an extended stint as the Vikings’ starter, it is easy to say that Ponder is a bust. But Minnesota will give the kid an entire offseason and training camp to improve before making that determination.

Denver Broncos

The Denver offense is 31st in the league in passing and 25th overall. No matter how much magic a team has going for it, those numbers will eventually start to cause problems. Despite a quarterback that can only play effectively for five minutes a game and a head coach that won’t battle for a half yard in overtime, the Denver defense has managed to get better and better each week. A 5 dimes review of the Bronco’s defense shows a unit that has continually set up Tim Tebow for game-winning drives and Tebow can only capitalize some of the time. Tebowmania will die out when Tebow starts losing. But that won’t be this week.

Minnesota Vikings

People forget that the Vikings are getting hammered by injuries. Things are so bad that defensive end Jared Allen had to take over as the long-snapper when regular long-snapper Cullen Loeffler was injured. It is just one in a long list of injuries that have conspired to make the Vikings non-competitive. All-pro running back Adrian Peterson is gone for what appears to be the rest of the season, but the Vikings still battled in week 12 against the Falcons. But, in the end, there just isn’t enough in Minnesota to stop Tebow and the Broncos.

The Bottom Line

The NFL is seeing a lot of surprises in the AFC this year and the Broncos are definitely one of them. Tebowmania could be a fixture this season in the AFC, but don’t look for it to change the course of NFL history.

BSNblog Pick: Denver Broncos