Tim Tebow reacts after the win in overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers (Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE)

Many have attempted to breakdown the Denver Broncos’ season, but it’s hard to do it justice.

In the latest attempt to break it down, Michael Silver from Yahoo Sports compiled an oral history of Tebowmania for GQ. Here are a few of the highlights:

I’m more of a purist, a drop-back passer, and there were times that it was almost difficult to watch. Like, this isn’t supposed to be happening, and I don’t know how to filter it through my brain. - Kurt Warner after the Broncos beat the Jets by 4 points.

He keeps his body in great shape. He’s a strong guy. He’s incredible in the weight room. It’s just, “What’s next? What’s next?” With his mentality, there’s no surrender. He gets his body prepared for those type of hits, and I don’t think it’s the guys that hit him, I think it’s him hitting the guys. - Von Miller after the Broncos beat the Chargers in week 12.
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Christian Ponder is another QB looking to lift his down and out team. (Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

The Denver Broncos (6-5) hit the road for the second straight week, this time to play the Minnesota Vikings (2-9). The Vikings have lost three straight while the Broncos are looking for their fifth win in a row, a feat that the team has not accomplished since the 1998 season. The Vikings have won 7 of the last 12 meetings with the Broncos, but this has been one of the most tumultuous times in team history. Kickoff is set for 11:00 am MT.

Offense

Broncos: The Broncos lead the league in rushing with 159.7 yards per game and an astounding 201.4 yards per game in their last seven games. They are forcing defenses to play their style of football – heavy run and read option. That’s why teams have not been able to apply a lot of pressure to Tim Tebow. Tebow has had all day in the pocket, and if the trend continues, he could have a big game in the air against the Vikings. Minnesota is ranked 29th in pass defense. Since Tebow has been in the starting lineup, Denver’s wide receivers have not been catching as many balls. However, their yards per catch have increased. They are using the run to move the ball down the field, and the pass to score touchdowns. The big matchup up to watch will be left tackle Ryan Clady against the league’s second best pass rusher, Jared Allen.

Vikings: The Vikings did the same thing that the Broncos did by benching their veteran quarterback in favor of their younger quarterback. In fact, Donovan McNabb was released from the team yesterday. Christian Ponder has the offense under his control and he’s a very good scrambling QB that can extend the play. He’s got a descent arm, but he’s prone to those rookie picks and taking sacks in bad spots. He has 6 TDs and 6 INTs on the year. Adrain Peterson (ankle) did not participate in Thursday’s practice, but the team hopes that he will at least be limited in Friday’s practice. If not, Toby Gerhart will get the call. Gerhart won’t necessarily make defenders miss, but he will power through an open hole created by his blockers. The Vikes will orchestrate more runs for Gerhart’s style of play. Percy Harvin will reunite with former college teammate, Tim Tebow. Since their bye three weeks ago, the Vikings have had trouble putting points up on the board in the first half. They have just 7 first half points in the last three weeks.
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Tim Tebow will meet his match in Jared Allen on Sunday. (Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

Whenever the Broncos get ready to play a new team, they are in some ways at a disadvantage from the outset because of the unorthodox style of offense that they run.

“One of the things that is a disadvantage for us is we don’t get to see a lot of people do what we do offensively, so we don’t really get to see how the opponent is going to play,” John Fox said. “Our players and coaches have done a good job adjusting to that early in the game.”

In the team’s last four wins, they have put up a total of 17 first quarter points compared to 31 fourth quarter points. Once the Broncos see how a defense is playing them, they adjust accordingly.

Against the 2-9 Vikings, the Broncos will face a team that is 9th against the rush, and 4th in sacks with 33 on the season. That does not bode well for an offense that saw their quarterback run for a league-record 22 times last week against San Diego. Tim Tebow had 67 yards that day, and he’s averaging 50.6 rushing yards per game.

“It’s almost in some ways like having a running back in the backfield because those numbers are the kind of numbers that we’d like to get for Adrian (Peterson) each week,” Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier said.
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