Three to Focus On: Broncos @ Vikings, Week 13

The next stop on the Tebowmania tour is Minnesota, where the Vikings will try to avoid falling to 0-4 against the AFC West in 2011. Overall, the Vikings have lost three straight after a comeback attempt in Atlanta fell short, pushing their record to 2-9, the worst any Vikings team has started a season since their inaugural campaign. Minnesota wasn’t expected to make a playoff push after turning to Christian Ponder (+6.0) at any rate. They do need to come up with some quality wins to build upon next year or else Leslie Frazier will have a hard time avoiding the proverbial hot seat if things don’t go well in the early months of the 2012 season.

The Broncos appeared destined to be in a similar position to the one the Vikings find themselves in when they opened the season 1-4. Their move to a younger quarterback has generated wins in the short term and energized the fanbase. It hasn't clarified the long-term quarterback issues in John Elway’s opinion and each win by Tebow moves the Broncos farther from one the three big name quarterbacks in the upcoming draft. Much of that success has come on the road as the Broncos sole loss since Tim Tebow assumed the starting job has come at home. Will Tebowmania finally begin to run its course, or will the Vikings become the latest team to have to figure out why they were unable to contain the read-option rushing attack of the Broncos in the film room on Monday? Let’s take a look at three matchups that figure to play a role in determining just that.

An Eye on the Injury Bug

First and foremost, the deciding factor in this game may not have anything to do with what happens on the field, but rather with who isn’t on the field. Both teams have some potentially crippling injury concerns to deal with here. The team that can replace its injured players best or get the most out of those playing through pain will have a big advantage to work with. For the Vikings, the biggest worry is of course the fact that Adrian Peterson (+13.9) has been sidelined with a high ankle sprain for another week. Peterson did not practice this week and, with the Vikings going nowhere as far as the postseason is concerned, the team made the smart move and shut him down. In any event, the Vikings need more from Toby Gerhart than the 2.6 yards per carry he has given them the past two weeks.

If the Vikings are without their best offensive player, they might have the consolation of facing a Denver defense without their best. Von Miller (+51.3) is a talent we can’t stop gushing about but we may not have a choice if he can’t play after undergoing surgery to repair torn ligaments in his thumb on Tuesday. Despite the procedure, Miller vows to play on Sunday, but his status likely won’t be decided until game time. Peterson’s importance to the Vikings offense doesn’t need to be stressed, but Miller is quickly approaching that same impact on defense. Not having Peterson will put a lot of stress on Christian Ponder and severely reduces the big play potential of the offense. Not having Miller will force head coach John Fox to alter his blitz schemes and run fits so the red hot defense will take a step back as well.

Broncos’ Offensive Line vs. Vikings’ Defensive Line

Despite the Broncos’ success running the ball with their option attack, they haven’t necessarily imposed their will on teams in terms of blocking. Rather, they rely on defenses not having the discipline to stick to their assignments (they only get three days to practice against it) so they over-pursue a potential ballcarrier, allowing the play to develop elsewhere. Against the Vikings, though, Denver needs to get adequate blocking up front or the talented Minnesota defensive line has more than enough ability to blow those plays up in the backfield before they develop. All five starters on the Broncos offensive line have negative cumulative grades and all but right guard Chris Kuper (-6.6) are double-digits into the red. Their poor grades come mainly on the back of some shoddy run-blocking.

Left tackle Ryan Clady (-15.1) will have a chance to redeem himself after his worst-graded game in a disappointing for him against one of the best pass rushers in the league in Jared Allen (+23.5) who is also looking for redemption after his worst game of the season. Kevin Williams (+12.3) will be a big factor in limiting the Broncos’ inside handoffs and poses a tough challenge for the Broncos interior offensive line. In particular, center J.D. Walton (-18.4) struggles against top competition as well as against 4-3 defenses, so his performance will be important if the Broncos are going to run the ball the way they want to.

Passing Game? We Don't Need No Stinking Passing Game!!!

Combined, these teams average only 332.1 yards passing per game behind their young quarterbacks. The Broncos are unique in that they actually average more rushing yards per game (160) than they do passing (153). How long can the Broncos keep winning without a passing game? As long as their running game works, which will be tough to do on the road vs a prideful Vikings defensive line, the Broncos will be able to dictate the tempo here.

Both teams would like to increase their production through the air, and with a rookie and second-year quarterback in Ponder and Tebow, some improved play from their receivers would be welcome. As it stands, only one receiver on either team has achieved a positive cumulative grade: Percy Harvin (+8.7). With No. 2 receiver Michael Jenkins having landed on injured reserve earlier this week, the Vikings could be in bad shape here as Harvin has sat out practice all week with an unspecified illness. Devin Aromashadu (-3.8) is expected to bump up and take Jenkins' spot in the offense and this is his big chance along with Greg Camarillo (-1.7) also getting more time. The silver lining here is that Ponder likely got in a lot of work with them earlier in the season with the second team reps but against the Broncos secondary with Champ Bailey (+5.2) they could be in for a long day.

For the Broncos, no receiver has been able to develop any sort of rapport with Tebow besides Eric Decker. Eddie Royal (+8.9) may not play but he hasn’t exactly been the kind of asset you can’t afford to lose for a game. Demaryius Thomas would get the start in his place and could keep the job if he makes some plays against a fairly weak Vikings secondary.