Inside the mind — err, mic — of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow from Sunday’s 24-23 win over the Houston Texans.

Sound FX: Take-a-Tebow! [NFL Network via DenverBroncos.com]

Head coach Gary Kubiak of the Houston Texas looks on as he faces the Denver Broncos at INVESCO Field at Mile High on December 26, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. The Broncos defeated the Texans 24-23. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

We’re a mere matter of days before the Denver Broncos enter a full-fledged institutional rebuild. John Elway will be hired in some executive facet or another, the team will consider their options at GM (including possibly retaining Brian Xanders), and then the head coaching search will begin.

One name repeatedly tied to the gig is current Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak. A longtime Denver player and assistant coach, Kubiak is a popular candidate among many fans, and his Texans’ recent 23-24 loss to the Broncos was rumored to have sealed his fate in Houston.

Those rumors have changed. Reports Tuesday and Wednesday suggest Kubiak will be retained in Houston.

“After the Texans lost at Denver, I thought (Texans owner) Bob McNair would fire Gary Kubiak. Now I don’t. I believe Kubiak will be back,” Houston Chronicle columnist John McClain wrote on Twitter.

McClain isn’t alone. Sports Illustrated‘s Peter King and the NFL Network’s Jason LaCanfora have mirrored McClain’s sentiments.

LaCanfora takes it a step further, suggesting that Wade Phillips could join Kubiak next year in Houston as defensive coordinator.

In other words, Kubiak would be Texans head coach. Phillips would be Texans defensive coordinator. It’s the exact setup some Broncos fans have been pining for in Denver, only 1,032 miles south.

Quarterback Tim Tebow drops back to pass against the Houston Texans at INVESCO Field at Mile High on December 26, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. Â (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

Following his first NFL home start in which he threw for over 300 yards and scored twice, Broncos rookie quarterback Tim Tebow has been nominated for two NFL weekly awards.

A finalist for both the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week honors for games played Dec. 23-28, and the GMC Never Say Never Moment of the Week for games played Dec. 23-27, Tebow’s week 16 performance certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed.

This his second rookie of the week nomination this season, he won the award in week ten after rushing and throwing for a pair of scores against Kansas City.  This is the first time however, that he (or any other Bronco) has been nominated for the GMC Never Say Never Moment of the Week this season.

Fans can vote for one of the five rookie of the week finalists and one of the three Moment of the Week nominees at NFL.com until Friday.

You can vote for Tebow by going to NFL.com/Rookies and NFL.com/GMC and casting your vote.

Wide receiver Brandon Lloyd #84 of the Denver Broncos makes a leaping catch for a 41-yard reception against corner back Jason Allen #30 of the Houston Texans during the third quarter at INVESCO Field at Mile High on December 26, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. The Denver Broncos defeated the Houston Texans 24-23. (Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

First, the news: the entirety of the Denver Broncos named to the 2011 Pro Bowl is represented in one wide receiver Brandon Lloyd.

The only snub would be cornerback Champ Bailey (Devin McCourty, really?). But it’s hard to argue more than one member of the 4-11 Broncos deserved a ticket to Honolulu.

Lloyd leads the NFL in receiving yards (1,375 off 72 catches for a mile-high 19.1 average), and his 10 touchdowns tie him for 2nd in the AFC. The mark is well-deserved; Lloyd has been making circus-catch plays for Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow as the one pleasant surprise of the Broncos’ 2010 season.

Now, the hilarity: how does Mr. Lloyd feel about the first such award of his career? Any words for the teams and coaches in his career that underused him over his previous seven years in the league?

“Oh, I want to say ‘F— you,'” Lloyd said in a conference call Tuesday. “And I mean that in the most professional way.”

(Love it, love it, love it. Brandon Lloyd just found himself on this Broncos blogger’s jersey wish list.) Click here to read the rest of this entry »

QB Tim Tebow greets members of the Houston Texas after the game at INVESCO Field at Mile High on December 26, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. The Broncos defeated the Texans 24-23. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Following a 24-23 comeback victory over the Houston Texans Sunday, there’s plenty to be excited about in Broncos Country.

• Here is some awesome video footage of the Broncos locker room after the game.  [DenverBroncos.com]

• Receiver Brandon Lloyd now has 1,360 rec. yards this season for the second most in team history for a year.  (Rod Smith had 1,602, in 2000).  [Broncos PR man Patrick Smyth]

• This season (eight games, two starts), rookie quarterback Tim Tebow has gone 25-of-46 through the air for 449 yards, three touchdowns and one interception while adding 30 rushes for 133 yards and 5 touchdowns.  [NFL.com Stats]

• The Broncos are planning to bring back the orange jerseys full time in 2012 when Nike replaces Reebok as the NFL’s jersey provider. [Denver Post]

• “No matter what Tebow does,” linebacker Mario Haggan said, “good things seem to happen.” [DenverBroncos.com]

• Tim Tebow is bringing the mania back to Bronco Mania [Denver Post]

• Tebow just has the “It” factor. [Max Denver]

• We may be witnessing the beginning of a new quarterback era in Denver. [AFC West ESPN Blog]

If you haven’t been watching this all night like myself, enjoy:

Quarterback Tim Tebow #15 of the Denver Broncos eludes a sack attempt by defensive end Antonio Smith #94 of the Houston Texas at INVESCO Field at Mile High on December 26, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Down 17-0 in the third quarter to the Houston Texans, there were worried murmurings of the Denver Broncos suffering the first home shutout in their history.

Tim Tebow had other ideas.

In his home debut, the rookie quarterback seemed to channel the great John Elway, rallying the Broncos to a 24-23 victory over the Texans that — at least temporarily — did much to silence his numerous critics.

Tebow eluded sacks. Tebow escaped the pocket, gained first downs, and ran out of bounds when it precluded him to. Tebow completed passes of 21, 24, and 50 yards.

More impressively, Tebow shook off his first quarter mistakes and delivered a winning performance. Most impressively, Tebow executed a 74-yard fourth quarter drive, climaxed with a six-yard touchdown run, to give the Broncos their first lead of the game late in the fourth quarter.

Then Syd’Quan Thompson intercepted a tipped Matt Schaub pass, and the Broncos went on to win in Week 16 NFL action.

The win eliminates any talk of the Broncos claiming the #1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft, but the need to draft Andrew Luck there seems to have disappeared. Broncos faithful just got their first true look at what could become of the Tim Tebow Era. It was a promising look, indeed.

vs. Broncos (3-11) vs. Texans (5-9)
Sunday, December 26, 2010
INVESCO Field at Mile High
1:05 p.m. MT

The Denver Broncos (3-11) on Sunday will host the Houston Texans (5-9) at INVESCO Field at Mile High in their second-to-last game of the 2010 season. Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. MT.

INACTIVES UPDATE: RB Knowshon Moreno will play. Broncos Inactives: L. Maroney, C. Jackson, D. McBath, J. Byers, S. Daniels, E. Olsen D. Thomas and K. Orton is the 3rd QB.

Texans WR Andre Johnson is inactive.

Live Blog

The Rules: Keep it clean, no insulting other commenters. Join us beginning 15 minutes before the game for the best in-game commentary in Broncos Country! GO BRONCOS!!

I was going to make this my Christmas wish list for the Broncos next head coach, but since bringing in a proven General Manager before hiring another coach is on the list, I’ll call it my Christmas wish list for the Broncos. Here’s my open wish list to the Broncos:

All I want for Christmas is Patrick Peterson. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

• Bring in a proven GM, someone like, Bill Parcells maybe.  Then bring in a Head Coach.

• You’re going to have a really high draft pick, don’t draft Andrew Luck and give up on Tebow, trade down and accumulate more picks to be able to draft more defensive players.  More on what players/positions below.

• Find a way to keep Champ Bailey — he’s still one of the elite cornerbacks in the game.

• Switch back to a 4-3 defense.  Such a move would be a hard one to make and would take some time to adjust to, but since most of the players on the roster have played on a 4-3 in the past, it would be a feasible task.  The 3-4 experiment looked like it was working at the beginning of the 2009 season, but the defense has fallen apart since, and it’s time to wipe the plate clean and start from scratch.

• Move Mario Haggan and D.J. Williams to the outside and make Joe Mays the center of the new 4-3 defense.  Both Williams and Haggan have played OLB and Mays–I think–is going to be a great one for years to come.  With those three as the linebackers, the Broncos can move Robert Ayers and Elvis Dumervil to LE and RE respectively, giving them the opportunity to do what they were drafted to do on every down — rush the passer.  Outside linebackers Wesley Woodyard and Jason Hunter provide great depth to the linebacker group and would make fine situational players.  And if the Broncos coaching staff don’t think they can get three good starters out of the seven above mentioned linebackers, they’ll have have a chance to go after some in the draft and free agency.

• Using the draft and free agency, bring in a NT, DE, CB, S, LB, RB, FB and O-line depth.  Basically, get a whole new defense and some players to fix the offenses’ rushing woes.  I’ll leave the draft Mocking to Mr. East, but I’ll just throw out there that I love Patrick Peterson (CB, LSU), Jared Crick (DE/DT, Nebraska), and Nick Fairley (NT, Aubrun). Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Arian Foster -- the Denver Broncos worst nightmare. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Every week, NFL Coaches watch films of the team’s last game and then watch films of the team’s upcoming opponent.  The goal is to know your opponent, some defensive players are so dedicated to film watching that they can perfectly predict what an offense is going to do in every down and situation.

The exercise is not just limited to watching film on offenses though, teams wanna know what defenses will throw at them as well.  So with that in mind, here’s what I’ve concluded from watching some game film:

1. The Broncos need to completely Release the Tebow
2. It could be a long day for the Broncos defense

More after the jump. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Place kicker Matt Prater #5 of the Denver Broncos attempts a field goal against the Seattle Seahawks at INVESCO Field at Mile High on September 19, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

On Thursday, the Denver Broncos placed kicker Matt Prater on injured reserve, bringing the 2010 season to an end for the kicker who suffered a groin injury three weeks ago.

Prater started the season on fire, connecting on 9 straight field goals through the first five games.  From weeks 1-to-13, Prater scored 76 points for the Broncos, making 16-of-18 field goal attempts and going 28-of-29 on extra point tries.  Field goals aren’t his only specialty though, as 20 of his kickoffs were touchbacks.

In his place, third-year place kicker Steven Hauschka will handle the kicking duties — as he’s done for the past two games, while Prater’s been recovering from his injury.  Hauschka has gone 5-of-6 on field goals with a long of 46 yards.  He’s also made his 3 attempted extra points, scoring 18 points for the Broncos over the past two weeks.

In place of Prater on the active roster, the team promoted offensive lineman Jeff Byers from the practice squad.