The 45 to 10 rout by New England displayed a complete meltdown by the Broncos on both offense and defense.

Denver wasn't competitive in the game so they obviously are not good enough to compete for the AFC championship.

The pattern of defeat against elite teams in the NFL started with the 49 to 23 loss to the Packers. Kyle Orton was the

QB of that game but the results for the team were similar to both losses to New England with Tim Tebow at QB. Orton was then able to beat the Packers while playing for Kansas City.

These trends show that the Broncos personnel issues are not being just caused by the QB position. Part of the reason the defensive secondary played so poorly was that team leader Brian Dawkins was not in the game.

Tebow had a terrible game with only 136 yards passing and 13 yards rushing.

I really thought this team might be competitive against New England after the big win against the Steelers, but

it was obvious Brady just picked them apart. Gronkowski had a nice game with 10 receptions 145 yards and 3 TDS.

The Broncos made some progress this season by making the playoffs and beating the Steelers in the first round. However, a series of personnel issues in the defensive secondary and line need to be addressed.

Mike McCoy's game plan for the offense needs to be evaluated as does the horrible performance by Tebow and

every member of the Denver offense.

Hopefully, Elway and Xanders can rebuild the team enough for a better playoff run next season.