All I want for Christmas is to see the Broncos beat down the Patriots

...with savagery and ferocity!

Oh what a bleak season this would be for me if it were not for Tim Tebow and the Broncos.  This would be the winter of my discontent.  However, the story unfolding in Denver has made it glorious summer, and all the clouds lowered upon my house, in deep bosom of the ocean buried.

It's week 14 this week, and the Broncos will host the Bears.  However, week 15 is coming, and the Patriots will visit the Broncos in Denver on week 15.  We should not overlook the Bears, but remember, this is a team that could only muster 3 points against the Chiefs.  I guess that is still three more points than my Rams scored.

Congradulations, Coach Fox!  You are the beneficiary of my Christmas wishes this holiday season.  All I want for Christmas is to see your Broncos Godzilla-press-slam the New England Patriots.  Give the following facts,

1. Robust, powerful defense.
2. A vicious straight-ahead running attack with Willis McGahee
3. Tim Tebow getting his passing confidence back.
4. Your franchise's remarkable and continued success in the 2 minute drill

 I see no reason why you shouldn't stick it to them good.  I want to see a repeat of Shannon Sharpe calling the President's office with a request for military intervention.  Why?  Because the Broncos are killing the Patriots.  Go for the jugular!  Don't call off the dogs!

Incidentally, a quick trivia question for you: Who was the top rated passer (by QBR) in the NFL on week 13 on the 2011 NFL Season? Nope, it wasn't Aaron Rodgers. It was Tim Tebow.  Aaron had a QBR of 106.159, which is fantastic, by the way.  On the other hand, Tebow shot 158.19.  He was a fraction away from the cap.  He almost had a perfect game.

I told you he could pass.  Beware:  Tim is getting his passing confidence back.  Y'all are in trouble now.

The Late 1990's Denver Broncos: The Water Boy Redux

It is now time to continue my synastry analysis of the greatest teams in NFL History. Let's continue with the Denver Broncos of 1997-1998.

But first, a quick review of general synastry principles.

1. There are 12 signs in the Zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
2. It all starts with Aries at the Spring Equinox. It all ends with Pisces at the Spring Equinox.
3. There are four elements in the Zodiac: Fire, Earth, Air, and Water.
4. They follow precisely that sequence around the circular orbit: Fire, Earth, Air, and Water.
5. The sequence of elements repeat themselves three times through the 12 signs.
6. There are, therefore, three signs of each element.
7. There are three Fire Signs: Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.
8. There are three Earth Signs: Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn.
9. There are three Air Signs: Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius.
10. There are three Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.
11. You are most compatible with members of your element. Fire is most compatible with Fire, Earth with Earth, etc.
12. Your are highly compatible with members of your companion element. Earth and Water are companion elements. Fire and Air are companion elements.
13. Some elements mix with difficulty. Fire and Earth can blend with some difficulty, making a hard ceramic. Air and Water can blend with difficulty, forming a bubbly foam.
14. Allegedly, Earth is totally incompatible with Air, although you can't prove it using me as an example. Allegedly, Fire is totally incompatible with Water. I buy this doctrine.

The notion under-girding this series is that great teams are all about chemistry, comradeship, and brotherhood. In the final analysis, the players win the game for each other. The reason why an injured man rises to fight again when his body says "no" is because he can bear to let his brothers down. If you got a bunch of guys who are as tight as brothers, they will sacrifice for each other, and all things are possible. If teammates don't like each other and don't get along, you don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning the Super Bowl.

Does anyone remember the Bickering Bills?

With that said, let's consider the back-to-back champion Denver Broncos. The 1997-1998 Broncos were fundamentally a Water team at the skill positions. John Elway, and Shannon Sharpe are both Cancers. Terrell Davis and Howard Griffith are both Scorpios. Rod Smith is a Taurus, just like Shannon's brother Sterling. Incidentally, Taurus is an Earth sign, and goes great with both Cancer and Scorpio.

Then we have our one typical exception and statistical outlier: Ed McCaffrey, who is a Leo. This is not as bad as it may seem. The only guy Ed had to be compatible with is John Elway. It just so happens that Cancer and Leo are side-by-side in the Zodiac; a pair of summer-time signs that treat each other cordially in the neighborhood. Cancers frequently have a little Leo in them. Leos frequently have a little Cancer in them.

John has some Leo in him, and Ed has a bunch of Virgo in his chart. They are more compatible than you might think. In fact they just happen to have a problem-solving & communication score of 174 together. Anything over 150 is considered extremely strong.

The Bronco line was mostly Air and Fire, noted for being compatible, with one outier: Tom Nalen, who is a Taurus. Of course, this only made Nalen more compatible with John Elway. Once again, this suggests the line is a discrete unit, somewhat separate from the skill positions.

Of course, Mike Shanahan is a Virgo, well noted for being compatible with a bunch of Water guys, a couple of Tauri, and Leo. He went on to have some success with a Taurus QB named Jay Cutler. Shanahan had no success with Sagittarius Donovan McNab last year. That was a bad train-wreck. Believe me when I tell you I know how tenuous Virgo-Sagittarius relations can be. Coach Shanahan had a small bit of success last season with with a Taurus kid named Rex Grossman. Rumor has it he might roll with John Beck this season. He is a Leo cusping on Virgo. What a co-inky-dinky...

Offensive Coordinator Gary Kubiak, interestingly enough, is a Leo. He got along great with John Elway and Shannon Sharpe. These days, he gets along great with a pair of Cancers named Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson. We summer-time boys seem to get along pretty well together.

Although not the best elementally aligned football team, you can see that the Broncos were very well aligned with one another. It's pretty clear from the America's Game documentary series that these guys fought like hell for each other. This team liked each other, they respected their leaders, and they had great chemistry.