We linked to the quote yesterday, but its significance may have been missed: John Elway gave Tim Tebow as high an endorsement as he could yesterday, a move that may seem surprising giving his tepid praise of the quarterback in the past.

“Tim Tebow’s not going anywhere,” Elway said. “I mean, he’s going to be a Bronco and we’re going to do everything we can and hopefully he’s that guy.”

My take: I’d rather not worry about it at all, especially during the season, and even more during a critical playoff push. Do you think Bill Belichick is going to talk about whether Tom Brady is the future of his franchise, no matter the circumstance? No. Let’s focus on Buffalo and let our offseason do the Tebow-commitment talking.

• AFC West storylines are the cream of the NFL crop. [Sports Illustrated]
• Bills coach Chan Gailey says he doesn’t think an option offense can last longterm. [Denver Post]
• Tebow’s fourth quarter passer rating is first in the AFC at 106.3. [Denver Post]
• Brian Dawkins sat out practice Tuesday. [MaxDenver]

Defensive end Elvis Dumervil (left) and outside linebacker Von Miller (right) have made the Broncos defense relevant again. (Image courtesy of CBS Denver)

The Broncos have been getting after quarterbacks in recent weeks, thanks to the efforts of rookie outside linebacker Von Miller and defensive end Elvis Dumervil.

Over the past seven weeks, Dumervil has recorded at least half a sack each week (which is the longest streak of his career and the longest active streak in the NFL).  Miller is also one of just three players with at least a half sack in 10-plus games this season despite missing Week 13 with a thumb injury.

Arguably, Miller and Dumervil have become one of the top pass rushing tandems in the NFL.  Statistically, the Broncos rank in the top five among the best pass rush combos in the league. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

• Champ Bailey says Sunday’s loss shows the Broncos aren’t quite playoff-ready. [MaxDenver]
• Then again, the Patriots look to be the AFC’s No. 1 seed. [Boston Globe]
• This is the third time in four years the Broncos have boasted an 8-5 record. First two times: no playoffs. [CBS4 Denver]
• Broncos-Pats pulled in monster ratings for CBS. No wonder they wanted the game so bad. [Denver Post]
• Demaryius Thomas is starting to put something together. [Denver Post]
• John Elway‘s job description focuses on the long-term, but he’s already moving the Broncos in a win-now direction. [Denver Post]

Quarterbacks Tim Tebow #15 and Brady Quinn #9 of the Denver Broncos take the field during warm ups before playing the New England Patriots at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on December 18, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The Denver Broncos‘ double-digit loss to the New England Patriots could have been a lot worse — the Oakland Raiders could have won.

But the Raiders didn’t, and while the Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers kept hope alive with impressive wins this weekend, they would need a lot of help to make the playoffs. The Broncos still control their own destiny.

In fact, Denver can clinch the division this week. A win in Buffalo and a Raiders loss would seal the division for Denver. Oakland plays Kansas City this week — get your Chiefs hats on, everybody.

Ways the Broncos can win the AFC West

(Excerpted from ESPN’s AFC West Blog)

1) Denver beats Kansas City in Week 17

OR

2) Denver beats Buffalo in Week 16 AND Oakland loses 1 of last 2 games

OR

3) Oakland beats Kansas City in Week 16 AND San Diego loses to Detroit in Week 16 AND San Diego beats Oakland in Week 17

Of course, winning both games would seal the division anyway. We’ve seen the Chargers rally late and win the division in miraculous fashion before — let’s not allow history to repeat itself.

The Broncos are now eying the Buffalo Bills. Â (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

After being defeated by the New England Patriots on Sunday, the Denver Broncos are not pointing fingers or dwelling in the past; the team is ready to move on.

“I don’t want to blame it on any particular area or people. I think all in all we hung with them physically, but mentally I thought there were certain areas as far as dropping the ball on the ground and the turnovers were really the big difference,” Coach John Fox said after the game.

“This was a setback no doubt about that, but sometimes setbacks are setups for bigger things to come. That’s the way we’ll approach it.”

According to Lindsay Jones of the Denver Post, the locker room was very quiet after the game, but there was still positivity in the air.

“Everybody is very positive; just encouraging each other. We’ll go at it here in a few days and get ready for Buffalo,” said quarterback Tim Tebow.  “[We have to] improve a little bit each and every day.”

The team will now get back to work and start preparing for their Week 16 game against the Buffalo Bills on Christmas Eve.

“We just got beat today. They are a great team over there, back to the drawing board tomorrow. We are going to stick to our formula for success and that is taking it one day at a time, one play at a time,” said rookie outside linebacker Von Miller.

At the end of the day, the Broncos still control their playoff fate — win and their in.

We can still control our own destiny, and we have two weeks to do it and are going to start against Buffalo,” noted defensive end Elvis Dumervill.

After the game, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was heard telling Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow "we'll see you again." (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

The Broncos offense started the game hot, but turnovers, broken coverage and missed tackling did them in in the end.  Denver is now 8-6 following a 41-23 loss to the New England Patriots.

There is good news, though.  The Oakland Raiders (7-7) also lost on Sunday, so the Broncos still have a one-game lead in the AFC West with remaining games against the Buffalo Bills (5-9) and Kansas City Chiefs (6-8) coming up.

The last time Denver was beaten this badly (against the Lions a few weeks ago), the team rebounded the next week with a solid performance and a victory over the Raiders.  As fans, we can only hope Denver has the same kind of response this week.

Several Broncos players had good performances on Sunday.  Quarterback Tim Tebow had 287 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns; receiver Demaryius Thomas had seven catches for 116 yards and defensive end Elvis Dumervil recorded his eighth and a half sack of the season.

At the end of the day, you can never expect to win after committing over half a dozen penalties and turning the ball over three times.  It will be a long week in Denver.

Here’s hoping that this humbling loss will be the wake up call perhaps we all needed.  Now that we’re all back down to earth, maybe the team will be able to bounce back win a Christmas Eve victory in Buffalo Saturday.

Quarterback Tim Tebow #15 of the Denver Broncos throws the ball against the Chicago Bears at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on December 11, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

Usually I post a game recap minutes after the game clocks move to 0:00… but since I’m at the game today that isn’t possible. I wrote this post beforehand and scheduled it for you all to talk about the game. Hopefully you’re all busy chatting about an amazing Denver Broncos victory with dreams of Super Bowls dancing in your heads!

If not, that’s okay. It’s all about the playoffs. I can’t wait to get back to you all and talk about what transpired in this pivotal game. Dish about it here!

Quarterback Tim Tebow #15 of the Denver Broncos breaks a tackle against outside linebacker Rob Ninkovich #50 of the New England Patriots at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on December 18, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

After scoring on three straight drives on the way to a 16-17 lead over the New England Patriots, the Denver Broncos literally fumbled the ball away three consecutive times and are now down by a score of 27-16 at halftime in Denver.

The offense came out hot, with quarterback Tim Tebow, running backs Willis McGahee, Lance Ball and Jeremiah Johnson each rushing for at least 25 yards, but turnovers and the absence of safety Brian Dawkins on defense has hurt the team.

Denver was outscored 20-3 in the second quarter and is yet to sack New England’s Tom Brady.  If the Broncos are going to have yet another comeback, they’ll need to protect the ball on offense and pressure Brady in the second half.

The only way Denver is going to be able to come back in this game is by creating turnovers in the second half — and by protecting the football better on offense.  If there was ever a time the Broncos needed Tebow to come up big in the second half, that time is now.

Tebow went 5-of-8 for 68 yards passing in the first half and added 38 yards and a score on the ground.  The Patriots will receive the second half kickoff.

 

I’m attending the game today!!

Unfortunately that means I won’t be online to delegate a game blog. Chat about the game in the comments. If you find you miss me, you can follow me on twitter where I’ll be posting photos and nonsensable Broncos-crazed tidbits.

LET’S GO BRONCOS!!! CALL THE NATIONAL GUARD!!! WE’RE GONNA KILL THE PATRIOTS!!!

Jesus Christ appeared on Saturday Night Live last night, visited Tim Tebow, and admitted he prays to Matt Prater. Hilarious.