Patch Blog: Tebow's QB Protection in the NFL Playoffs

Tim Tebow had a great outing against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wild Card Sunday in the world of the National Football League. 

He threw for more than 300 yards, including the 80 yard pass game winner in overtime when he threw to Demaryius Thomas who ran almost the length of the field for the game winning touchdown. 

Tim Tebow had one of the best NFL performances in his young career. But hey, the real credit goes to the a group of guys that are not often the household names.
We all know , and he thanks him every day, but I'm sure he's thanking some other people as well after the game. He's thanking his O'line and his Defense who was all over the Steelers QB.

Let's give some credit to the Denver Broncos offensive line, which consists of: 

Left Tackle - Ryan Clady

Left Guard - Zane Beadles

Center -  J.D. Walton

Right Guard - Russ Hochstein

Right Tackle - Orlando Franklin

These are five men who deserve much credit for not letting Tim Tebow get sacked once, let alone even hit once in the pocket. These trench warriors did everything they can to keep the Steelers defense, ranked first during the regular season, off Tebow. 

Ben Roethlisberger of the Steelers was sacked 5 times by the Denver defense. 

To show the importance of QB protection in playoffs (playoffs?!), let's go back two seasons. 

When the New Orleans Saints were on their playoff run en route to their first ever Super Bowl victory in 2010, their defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was keen on "punishing" the other teams' Quarterbacks. 

- NFC Division Round Saints hit Arizona Cardinals QB Kurt Warner three times and sacked once, and hit him on an interception that took Warner out of the game. (Picture: Warner under pressure in the 09-10 season playoffs.) 

- NFC Championship Game: Saints hit the legendary and controversial Quarterback Brett Favre six times, which led to two interceptions thrown by Favre. 

- Super Bowl XLIV - Saints defense forced 'The Great Peyton Manning' (the guy who's in all those commercials), hit him three times and rattled him enough to throw an interception returned for a touchdown. 

The five Denver offensive linemen, Tim Tebow, and the rest of the Broncos go into Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, this division round weekend to play the New England Patriots and their prominent future Hall of Fame Quarterback Tom Brady.

If Tebow keeps his play up with his O-line, giving him the protection against the Patriots Defense, which is ranked 31st (not a typo) during the regular season, and the Denver defense disrupts Gisele Bündche's husband Brady, then the Broncos might find themselves in the AFC Championship game, to possible beat the Ravens/Texans and host the Lamar Hunt trophy. 

And who knows? All this hype they might even make it to the Super Bowl.