It's More Than Just A Playoff Matchup Between the Patriots and Broncos On Saturday
It's Tebow Time in New England and for Josh McDaniels, it's the first time he'll see Tim Tebow in live game action since he drafted him.
Don't forget, it was McDaniels who had enough faith to select Tebow 25th overall in the 2010 draft. He never got the chance to see him play in Mile-High. Tebow got his first start two weeks after McDaniels was fired by the team.
With Josh McDaniels back on the Patriots staff, Denver Broncos fans are not too happy. They claim he has 'insider information' and that the NFL shouldn't have allowed a postseason hire to immediately get to work. But creating a level playing field and a competitive balance are the jobs of the NFL and as fans, we have to sit back and accept whatever they deem acceptable.
 Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady are the ultimate combination. Their reunion will be matched against Tim Tebow on Saturday. (FILE:Icon/SMI) |
So with the law laid by the NFL, McDaniels was cleared to coach and it's a big reunion at Gillette. In addition to his Tebow connection, McDaniels will also be reunited with Tom Brady. The last season these two shared wasn't Brady's best. It was 2008 and he was sidelined for the year during the first game of the season. But 2007 was a year Brady won't forget. Not just because of what happened in the Super Bowl loss to the Giants, but because of the numbers he accumulated.
Brady completed 68.9 percent of his passes that year, a career best. He also threw for 4,806 yards which is second only to this year's astounding 5,235 yards. He had 50 touchdowns in 2007, which beats his second best season by 11 (39 TDs in 2011). We think Brady was good this year, well he's proven he can be better. The addition of McDaniels is definitely in his favor.
The Patriots have already played the Broncos this year and got to see what not to do during Denver's Wildcard game against Pittsburgh. The Steelers committed to the run what looked like 100 percent of the time and they got burned.
Even with this said 'insider information', I think the fact that McDaniels is back will mainly bring a sense of comfort to Brady and the offense. When these two click, Brady has been at his best. As far as Tebow goes, I think McDaniels would have relished the opportunity to coach him but will be glad to coach against him. He's obviously done his homework on this quarterback and that might make it easier to defend against him.
So get your grills ready and make sure you have enough hamburgers to go around because it's a reunion in Foxboro, and there's going to be fireworks.
