Tim Tebow may deserve all of the recognition he gets but Tom Brady should earn all of the respect.
Brady leads his New England Patriots against Tebow’s Denver Broncos on Saturday, 14 January, at 8pm on CBS. The two face off in Massachusetts in the division round of the American Football Conference playoffs.
Tebow has become a phenomenon at quarterback for Denver. The Florida stand-out took over starting duties midway through the season and guided the Broncos to the AFC West title. Against the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers last week he had a mind-numbing 316 passing yards and two touchdowns to go with the quickest game-winning touchdown pass in overtime in postseason history.
Brady meanwhile has been resting thanks to a 13-3 regular season mark that netted the Patriots the number one seed and home-field advantage. New England marched to the AFC East division crown and won their last eight games. Brady threw for 5,235 yards this year (second most in a single season behind Drew Brees’ mark of 5,476 yards) to eclipse Dan Marino’s 1984 record of 5,084 yards. The former Michigan standout added 39 touchdowns with only 12 interceptions.
Tebow sports the hot hand but Brady has overwhelming firepower. Few teams have a passing attack that can rival what is seen in New England with Brady’s double threat tight-ends Rob Gronkowski (17 TDs and 1,327 receiving yards) and Aaron Hernandez (seven TDs, 910 yards). Toss in Wes Welker (1,569 yards, nine TDs) and Deion Branch (702 yards, five TDs) and the Broncos will have their hands full.
Undoubtedly Tebow is making believers out of everyone in more ways than one. On the field he continues to amaze with his clutch performances and ability to frustrate defences with his running approach and timely throws. However Brady’s offensive strength is not likely to falter in the playoffs for a second straight time. Expect the Pats to win in a shoot-out.
Outside of Tebow versus Brady, there is intrigue in the running back battle between Ray Rice and Arian Foster. Rice leads the Baltimore Ravens against Foster’s Houston Texans on Sunday, 15 January, at 1pm on CBS. Thanks to the likes of Rice, Baltimore went 12-4 to claim the AFC North crown, a second seed and a home game in Maryland.
Rice had a solid season with 1,364 rushing yards and 12 TDs. Foster had a fantastic wildcard round showing against the Cincinnati Bengals. In Houston’s first ever playoff win, he ran for 153 yards and two TDs.
In addition to their rushing prowess, both sides have dominant defences. Baltimore ranked in the top four in all of the major defensive categories with 16.6 points allowed, 288.9 total yards allowed, 92.6 rushing yards and 196.3 passing yards allowed per game. The defensive stars are Ray Lewis (team-high 95 tackles), Terrell Suggs (team-high 14 sacks) and Lardarius Webb (team-best five picks). Houston, a top five defensive team, held a respectable Bengals offence to just 10 points.
The Texans deserve credit for making and winning in the playoffs. But they lack their top two quarterbacks, meaning Baltimore should earn a narrow victory with timely throws from a flaky Joe Flacco.
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