Denver’s defense took them to the playoffs that season, plus if they guy from Chicago just stayed in bounds, Denver would have been out of the playoffs.
How many points did the defense put on the board?
Was it enough to win?
Nice revisionist history there. No the Denver D did not get them to the playoffs. They got to the playoffs because once Tebow entered the scene the Broncos time of possession dramatically flipped when they became a running team.
Defensive stats for the season:
Through the first five games of the season with Orton the D gave up:
22, 23, 17, 49 and 29 points. Following Tebow that began to change, but the D still had horrid games like giving up 49 to Detroit in a game where the Broncos turned the ball over three times on fumbles.. but the offense could not stay on the field in that game.
Two critical games down the stretch in which Denver’s “great” defense almost cost them were games against Oakland and Minnesota. Both games in which Tebow trailed badly in the 4th and orchestrated inexplicable come from behind wins.
For some reason Tebow simply thrived in the 4th quarter and led all NFL QBs that season in 4th quarter QB Rating.