It was the New England Patriots who first pumped the brakes on Tebowmania with a 41-23 victory over the Denver Broncos in Week 15, but on Saturday, the Broncos will have the opportunity to get the ultimate revenge. If the Broncos intend to advance to the AFC Championship, they'll need to fix some major problems from their first match up.
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For one, Denver will have to slow down the Patriots' vaunted passing game, which ended up overwhelming the Broncos in mid-December. As a team like the New York Giants has shown, arguably the most effective way of doing so is putting pressure on Tom Brady with the defensive line, and the onus will be on Broncos stars Elvis Dumerville and Von Miller to make Brady uncomfortable on Saturday.
Denver will also have to consistently run the ball in order to keep that Patriots offense off the field. After running for over 150 yards in the first quarter of their first match up, the Patriots bottled up Tim Tebow and Willis McGahee, and the Broncos had trouble moving the ball through the air, throwing for only 151 yards.
Game time/date: 6:00 p.m. MT, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2012
Location: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Mass.
TV: CBS
Radio: ESPN Radio, Sirius XM 86 (Patriots), 92 (Broncos)
Odds: Patriots favored by 13.5
Over/Under: 50 points
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.