Brady ties TD record as Pats thump Broncos, end Tebow's run

[Walter Cronkite]

Tebowmania had no chance against Tom Brady's playoff pedigree.

All the heroics, all the big plays and quite a few records belonged to Brady and the New England Patriots on Saturday night in a 45-10 rout of overmatched Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos. Brady threw six touchdown passes, five in the first half, putting the Patriots into the AFC Championship Game and silencing the nationwide frenzy surrounding Tebow.

The Patriots (14-3), winners of nine straight games, will host either Baltimore or Houston next Sunday for a spot in the Super Bowl. Saturday night's romp snapped a three-game postseason losing streak, two of those at Gillette Stadium, and lifted the Patriots to the verge of their fifth Super Bowl appearance in 11 seasons. They've won three of those, two with Brady as the game's MVP.

"We came in and started fast and it was a big win for us," said Brady, who even got off a 48-yard punt on third down.

"I have no idea about records and stuff like that. Anytime you score 45, obviously with the help of our defense, and special teams played great -- hopefully we can go out next week and play even better."

From the first snap, this was a mismatch. The Patriots were not going to make the same mistakes the Steelers made against this team.

"He's been around the block a few times," cornerback Champ Bailey said of Brady. "He knows how to win games. If you're not ready to punch him in the mouth he's going to eat you up all night."

A nation transfixed by Tebow's play, if not his religious beliefs, tuned in Saturday to see if he had any more magic in store for Brady and company. He had nothing left as the Patriots made this must-see TV only for those who live in New England.

"Any time you're getting beat like that, it doesn't change how you fight," Tebow said. "It didn't matter whether it was the first play or the last play or whether we're down by 42. ... I wanted to be the same player."

With New England up 42-7, the fans began their derisive Teeee-bow chants. On the next play, the Broncos quarterback was sacked for an 11-yard loss -- one of five sacks for New England's 31st-ranked defense.

"We went out and played very hard and good things happened," defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. "A great team win."

And so ended one of the season's most exciting story lines -- one that began when Denver was 1-4 and made Tebow a starter. The one-time third-stringer promptly won six in a row and seven of eight, with a string of stunning comebacks.

"A lot of ups and downs," Tebow said of his second NFL season. "Overall, it's been a very special opportunity for me, something I'm really thankful for. There's a lot of things we're proud of. Obviously, it's hard to see them all right now."

That winning surge ended with a 41-23 home loss to New England, and the Broncos dropped their next two, backing into the AFC West title.

But they rebounded nicely in their first playoff game since the 2005 season with the longest overtime touchdown in playoff history, an 80-yard catch and run by Demaryius Thomas against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like everyone else on the Broncos' offense, Thomas was invisible against the Patriots.

Denver couldn't cover or tackle All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski, who tied a postseason mark with three touchdown catches, all in the opening half. Brady toyed with the Broncos (9-9), throwing more TD passes than Tebow had completions (three) in the first 30 minutes.

"We were playing complementary football, and it was awesome," Gronkowski said. "Obviously, you can't start off the game any better than that."

Brady's sixth TD was to his other tight end, Aaron Hernandez, as the quarterback tied Steve Young and Daryle Lamonica for the most in a postseason game.

The two-time league MVP threw for 5,235 yards during the season, second in NFL history to Drew Brees' 5,476 in 2011. He looked ready to get that much against the Broncos as he moved to third place in career touchdown passes in the playoffs with 36, trailing Joe Montana (45) and Brett Favre (44).

Brady was 26 for 34 for 363 yards and Gronkowski made 10 catches for 145 yards as the Patriots gained 509 yards in all. In stark contrast, Tebow was 9 for 26 for 136 yards.

The Broncos won the coin toss and elected to defer. Bad idea: They never were in the game after that.

Brady hit his first eight passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns. Offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, who's leaving to become Penn State's coach once the Patriots are done, threw in a wrinkle by using Hernandez as a running back. On one of those plays, Hernandez broke free down the left sideline for a 43-yard gain, the team's longest run this season.

But with the ball in his hands and a 14-0 lead, Brady momentarily stumbled. His throw over the middle for Julian Edelman sailed directly to safety Quinton Carter, whose weaving return set up Denver at the New England 24.

Willis McGahee scored on a 5-yard run.

Carter left the game moments later with a neck injury; Denver was already without strong safety Brian Dawkins with a neck problem. And it's secondary had no chance without them.

Yes, Brady had cooled off in the 24-degree temperature (wind chill of 12), but only for a while.

Using the no-huddle, and aided by an effective running game, Brady hit three passes for 31 yards, with Gronkowski getting free over the middle this time for the 12-yard score. Several times, and not just on his romps into the end zone, Gronkowski simply shoved aside would-be tacklers to tack on yards after catches.

Brady's TDs covered 10, 12 and 19 yards to Gronkowski, 7 to Wes Welker, 61 to Deion Branch and 17 yards to Hernandez early in the third quarter. Coach Bill Belichick wasn't about to back off at that point, but the Patriots stalled inside the Denver 5 early in the four period and Stephen Gostkowski made a 21-yard field goal to conclude New England's scoring.

Hernandez left in the fourth quarter with a head injury.

"He's feeling great," Gronkowski said. "Hernandez is a beast and I love playing with him and everything."

On Brady's surprise punt, which Belichick said they had worked on for years without using, Broncos rookie linebacker Von Miller slammed into the back of New England's Dan Connolly, who wasn't looking. Matt Light then shoved Miller, Connolly turned around and got into a pushing match with Miller as several players joined in and shoved each other, spilling onto the Patriots' sideline.

Miller drew an unnecessary roughness penalty.

Game notes
Brady holds team records for most playoff games with three or more TD passes (four); most yards passing in a playoff game (363); most postseason completions (450); most yards passing in postseason (4,770); most TD passes for a career (36); and most postseason victories for a quarterback (15). ... In addition to Carter's injury, S David Bruton left with a concussion in the third period. DT Brodrick Bunkley also left in that quarter, with a concussion.

Source: AP

[Sodomy]

[The Real]

I think Jesus needs to work on his defense.

[The Question]

Tim Tebow is a joke

Tim Tebow's throwing motion is atrocious, just absolutely ridiculously awful and laughable. It has led to multiple fumbles already and takes velocity and accuracy off of his throws. Not only that but it is so long and exaggerated that defenders have time to recover and break up passes. He looks like a pitcher going into a windup when he throws the ball.

His footwork is all over the place. He isn't setting his weight evenly which is contributing to his accuracy issues and throws off his timing.

These first two are usually corrected in HS or, at the very least, the first couple years of college. They haven't been corrected and I have no reason to believe they ever will at this point. This is his second year in the league and while he wasn't a starter last year he still had a full season of practice and coaching. Just because he wasn't starting doesn't mean he had to go stand in the corner and watch the rest of the guys play. The fact that these very fixable things haven't been corrected yet tells me that it has been determined that he will lose even more accuracy and velocity by doing so. These very flaws were brought up when he was being recruited in HS and they're still around in the NFL, they aren't going to change now.

He can't read defenses past his first and maybe sometimes second read. He panics when his first read or two is covered and he has absolutely no idea what to do with the ball. He either runs it or throws it away. He has gotten caught trying to extend plays and lost major yards doing so or turned the ball over.

He has shown the inability to run an NFL style offense. The veer option/read option is not a viable sustainable NFL offense, it just isn't. It's just like the Wildcat or the Run 'N Shoot, a cute gimmick. It could work as a wrinkle in a normal offense but not as an entire offense. The players are too fast, too disciplined, and too well coached to not shut it down.

The offense the Broncos have been running the majority of the season worked so well for him at times because the defense was scrambling trying to figure out where they were supposed to be so Timmy could take off when plays broke down. Notice how his rushing numbers have come back down as their offense has been figured out the past month or so? Yeah that's not a coincidence. Defenders are lined up where they are supposed to be and are flowing to where they are supposed to be, there are no gaps that he can exploit now.

Frankly the whole, "well gee, he works so darn hard that he just hasta get better! He just hasta!" is pretty damn insulting to everybody that couldn't cut it in the NFL. Every one of those guys busts their ass like you wouldn't believe but they're just not as marketable as Timmy so nobody cares. Simply put, he can work as hard as he wants and have the best attitude on the planet and it wouldn't matter. He doesn't have the talent to play QB in the NFL and nothing will ever change that. He could rework his whole throwing motion and correct the footwork and become the next Payton Manning at reading defenses and he still would be mediocre. He's like Scott Frost but Scott never got a chance to show that he could (or couldn't) play QB in the NFL. The fact that people are just so sure that he will get better is beyond baffling to me. 47.6% should tell you all you need to know.