Everyone who doesn't like Tim Tebow can now rejoice. The New England Patriots were able to defeat the Denver Broncos on the road in an impressive way. The final score was 41-23. But this was a very costly victory, because the Patriots lost defensive lineman Andre Carter due to injury, most probably for the rest of the season according to reports. They will certainly miss his presence, as Carter was the most consistent player for the Patriots defense all season, totaling 10 sacks. This means that other players like Mark Anderson will have to step up, and they showed signs of this as Anderson and others helped stop the Tebow train in its tracks. Not even Tim Tebow could pull off a miracle win or force overtime against the Patriots who seemed dominant after the first quarter. Tebow time never happened. Another win for New England will bring them a step closer to a first round bye and home field advantage against AFC teams in the playoffs. The Patriots are now 11-3, atop the AFC Conference due to Pittsburgh's loss against San Francisco. And despite the loss, Denver remains in the lead for the AFC West division title.

On offense, the Patriots did what they do best, score points. A banged up Denver secondary featuring three rookies helped Brady throw for 320 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Although the Broncos were able to contain Rob Gronkowski pretty well, tight-end Aaron Hernandez had a career day, because Denver was double covering Gronkowski, which meant more room for Hernandez to make plays in the open field, an area where he does most of his damage. Hernandez had 9 receptions, 129 yards, and one touchdown. Stevan Ridley was impressive running for 65 yards on only 11 carries. Brady, Woodhead, and Green-Ellis each had one rushing touchdown. And finally, wide receiver Chad Ochocinco got on the board with his first touchdown catch of the season. Hopefully he can provide an extra target down field for Brady come playoff time. And kicker Stephen Gostowski added 2 field goals, which is how the Patriots were able to generate 41 points against a Denver defense that I knew they would be able to attack.

On defense, the Patriots could not have started off worse. Right out of the gate, Denver's top ranked rushing attack made the Patriots defense look like a high school team. But because the Pats offense kept answering the Broncos scoring, it would come down to who would play better defense and make less mistakes. The Broncos committed the cardinal sin of turning the ball over against New England in a game where they seemed to have the upper hand early. They had four total team fumbles, and lost possession three times, and this completely changed the momentum of the game. Because of all the turnovers, they were unable to find the rhythm they had in the first quarter, and all the time on the sideline for the Pats defense gave New England a chance to recover and get on the same page with their game plan. After Carter was out due to injury, the Patriots switched their defensive setup on the line and were able to adjust to the running game, allowing Denver to score only 10 points after the first quarter. Instead of playing the option opportunistically and situationally, players like Rob Ninkovich started going after Tim Tebow directly, even if he was going to pitch it to another player. Thus, they took him out of the running game, and this allowed the rest of the defense to focus on one ball carrier. With one player going right after him on every snap, Tebow did not have the time and space he would normally have, and because of this, the Patriots were able to cause turnovers, contain Denver's offense, and win the game.