The Denver Broncos pulled off one of the great upsets in NFL Playoff history with Tim Tebow's 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas, but not even that was enough to move the Broncos out of the bottom of SB Nation's NFL Playoff Power Rankings. The Broncos come in at No. 8.
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As Joel Thorman writes about the Broncos, there's no tangible explanation to explain how the team wins ugly:
The Tim Tebow show is ranked last of all the teams in the 2012 NFL playoffs field. The Broncos are one of those teams with ugly stats -- 25th on offense and 24th on defense -- and they play even uglier. [...] So, yes, we'll rank the Broncos last while recognizing that there's no real explanation for how they win.
However, the victory over the Steelers was anything but ugly. Tebow didn't have the greatest pass completion rate, but he was able to throw the long ball effectively all game long for the big plays that kept the Broncos in the game and gave the team the victory.
The New England Patriots, the Broncos' opponent in Sunday comes in at No. 4, the midway point of the rankings. They have a great offense led by Tom Brady, but the defense leaves much to be desired. Will the Patriots win its first playoff game since winning the AFC against the San Diego Chargers during the 2007 season?
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For more on this game, visit Broncos blog Mile High Report and Patriots blog Pats Pulpit. Head over to SB Nation NFL for more coverage of the 2012 NFL Playoffs.