The NFL Divisional Playoffs continue Saturday night as the Denver Broncos travel to take on the New England Patriots. The game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. kickoff and it will be televised nationally on CBS. Currently the Patriots are favored anywhere from 13.5 to 15 points depending on the book with the total sitting solid at 50 points.
Free Analysis: It's the first road playoff game for Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos this season in a rematch from Week 15 of the regular season. New England is no stranger to playing in the second round of the playoffs, but you'd probably also be shocked to know that this team hasn't won a playoff game in almost four years. Broncos QB Tim Tebow has been an extraordinarily polarizing figure in his first year starting for the club. Tebow threw a game-winning 80-yard touchdown pass in overtime to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers last week in a game the Broncos lead throughout the majority. In New England/Denver's first matchup this season the Broncos were a bit overwhelmed, building a lead early but then falling behind and losing 41-23. The Patriots recovered three Broncos fumbles and didn't turn the ball over themselves. Tebowmania has pretty much taken over the country but he also has his doubters out there. It seems as if any person you ask has an opinion on the quarterback, but we forget to remember that he's still an extremely young, raw quarterback. Why are people expecting him to be Peyton Manning? He's not going to be at this point in his career, no matter what you think of how he throws the football. Another storyline in tonight's game will be Josh McDaniels' return to the New England staff. McDaniels left the Patriots' offensive coordinator's position to take the Denver head coaching job and was instrumental in drafting Tebow before ultimately being fired. Ironic. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady had combined for a 14-2 postseason record and three Super Bowl wins before New England was denied a perfect season by the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. The year after Brady went down with his knee injury and the team missed the playoffs. Even worse, the team then lost its playoff opener at home each of the next two seasons. Denver, this season, stumbled into the playoffs losing in their final three regular season games. After a six-game win streak, Tebow was just 30 of 72 (41.1%) for 439 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions while losing those games. John Elway urged Tebow to "pull the trigger" in the playoffs and he was able to beat Pittsburgh when he had to. The Steelers were essentially forcing him to beat them by throwing the ball down the field and the final play of the game was exactly that. Ironic again. With as bad as the Patriots secondary is, Tebow and Demaryius Thomas might be able to continue to get the ball downfield. He won't have wide receiver Eric Decker for the game, who suffered a sprained knee last week. Safety Brian Dawkins and defensive end Elvis Dumervil both will be gametime decisions but there is a possibility that neither one will get to go. I'm not sold on either defense in this game, and we could have a lot of points scored in the contest.
Free Pick: I like the Broncos getting two touchdowns in this contest and I really like the over at 50. The last game saw the final total soar over 50 points and Denver still turned the ball over three times. There's always a possibility that New England could roll up 40 points by themselves and I really doubt the Pats defense will hold the Broncos under 10 points. The total has the best chance of being beaten in this game so we will make that the official play here today.
Free Picks: Broncos at Patriots Betting
Extreme value in teasers and Can Tebow handle adjustments this week plus other factors NFL bettors need to know about Broncos at Patriots (Saturday, January 14, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Marco D'Angelo and analysis from host RJ Bell.