Tim Tebow (Denver Post file photo)

One look at the shotgun stats leaves no mistake the Broncos are trying to tailor their offense around quarterback Tim Tebow.

In the two games since Tebow has been the starting quarterback, the Broncos have been passing from the shotgun 79.7 percent of the time — a whopping 23.4 percent increase from the first five games started by Kyle Orton.

Among NFL teams, only the Baltimore Ravens, who have played from behind in each of their past two games, have thrown a higher percentage of passes from the shotgun (86.2) in that span.

Counting all plays, running and passing, the Broncos have averaged 16.7 more plays from the shotgun formation in Tebow’s two starts compared with Orton’s five starts.

Tebow was strictly a shotgun quarterback in college at Florida and struggles with the mechanics of dropping back from under center. Denver’s John Fox, known as a run- oriented head coach to the point his reputation leans toward conservatism, suddenly is Mr. Shotgun.

Much of the Broncos’ offense has included spread formations, which is all the rage in college but is rarely seen in the NFL.

“On some teams, the investment you make in the quarterback position, you want him back there to throw it, and people are a little bit leery of when he runs,” Fox said. “It’s a bigger, stronger, faster league.”

Dark anniversary.

Two years ago Tuesday, it all went wrong for the Broncos. They were 6-0 with first- year coach Josh McDaniels entering play Nov. 1, 2009, at Baltimore.

But then Mitch Berger, signed off the street by the Broncos after they released young punter Brett Kern, started shanking punts, offensive tackle Ryan Harris broke his toe, the Ravens jumped the short passing game of Orton — and the Broncos began a skid that can’t find the brakes.

The Broncos were 2-8 in their last 10 games in 2009 and missed the playoffs. They went 4-12 last season, tying for the NFL’s second-worst record.

They are 2-5 this year. Add it up and the Broncos are 8-25 in the past two calendar years — the league’s worst record in that span. Next worst is St. Louis, which now employs McDaniels as offensive coordinator, at 9-24.

Needing Moore at safety.

With Quinton Carter questionable at best for Denver’s game Sunday at Oakland because of a concussion, fellow rookie Rahim Moore might return as the Broncos’ starting free safety.

Moore started the first five games but was benched in favor of Carter because of tackling struggles. Moore got the message — he had two nice unassisted tackles against the Lions.

Mike Klis, The Denver Post

The October 23 game against the Denver Broncos and the Miami Dolphins had Tim Tebow(notes) making his debut as starting quarterback. Unfortunately, Tebow had many Broncos fans fearing the worst throughout most of the game as the Broncos trailed 15-0.

However, true to Bronco form, the final minutes of the game provided for the winning magic with two touchdowns, a 2-point conversion and the final field goal for the win in overtime. This game has to go into my books as a top comeback win. But, if you look back into Broncos history, this game was not the only one leaving fans on the edge of their seats hoping for a miracle win.

October 4, 1992 against the Kansas City Chiefs

Similar to the end of the game rally by Tebow on October 23, QB John Elway came alive in the final two minutes of this game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Broncos were down 19-6 at the two minute warning, but Elway rallied and threw two touchdowns within those final two minutes to secure the win.

December 11, 1983 against the Baltimore Colts

This game against the Baltimore Colts found the Broncos down 19-0 in the second half. This was Elway’s rookie season and it had been full of ups and downs, but this game became one of the highlights. The second half of this game was all about the Broncos and Elway threw three amazing touchdown passes to secure a Broncos win at 21-19.

September 9, 2007 against the Buffalo Bills

The spotlight in this this game went to kicking team in the final seconds of the game. The Broncos were down 14-12 when Jay Cutler(notes) managed to convert two forth downs and move the Broncos down the field to within field goal range. With only seconds on the clock and no timeouts, the kicking team and Jason Elam(notes) ran out onto the field with only 10 seconds remaining and proceeded to kick the winning field goal. Unfortunately this game was also marked with a career ending injury for Bills TE Kevin Everett(notes) who sustained a severe neck and spinal cord injury and many at the time believed he would be paralyzed.

January 4, 1992 – 1991 AFC Divisional Playoff Game Against the Houston Oilers

While most of this game saw the Broncos behind thanks to Warren Moon, Elway managed to fight back late to get the Broncos behind by only one at 24-23. With no timeouts and a field goal needed for the win. Elway manages to move it down the field with a struggle and a final pass to Vance Johnson which gets them into field goal range. Gary Kubiak gets the snap, though struggles with control of the ball, and David Treadwell kicks it through for the win.

Deborah Braconnier is a former athlete and has followed the Broncos since she was a child. Growing up in the days of the Orange Crush, she had a wall lamp made out of Orange Crush cans supporting her team. Working now as a freelance writer, she brings her love for sports to her writing.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

With John Elway at the helm, the Denver Broncos were always in the game. While arguably his most famous play, The Helicopter, is what changed the momentum that lead to the Broncos’ win over the Green Bay Packers during Super Bowl XXXII in 1998, John Elway earned his nickname, The Comeback Kid, from his 47 fourth-quarter comebacks. Here are some of the most spectacular Bronco fourth quarter drives under Elway’s leadership.

1. The Broncos trailed the Baltimore Colts going into the fourth quarter on December 11, 1983 at Mile High Stadium. Elway made up for his rocky rookie season and earned his nickname The Comeback Kid during the fourth quarter of that game as he threw for three touchdown passes for Denver’s 21-19 win over the Colts, including one touchdown pass for 26-yards to Gerald Willhite with 44-seconds left to go.

2. With five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Broncos were down 20-13 to the Cleveland Browns on January 11, 1987 at Cleveland Stadium. Starting on their own 2-yard line, Elway drove the Broncos 98-yards to an eventual Mark Jackson touchdown to tie the game. A Rich Karlis field goal in overtime won the game, 23-20. The Drive earned them a spot in Super Bowl XXI.

3. The Kansas City Chiefs get an upset defeat on October 4, 1992 at Mile High Stadium. Down 19-6 with 1:98 left in the fourth quarter, Elway threw one touchdown pass to Mark Jackson and another to Vance Johnson to beat the Chiefs 20-19.

4. With 6-seconds left in the game, the Broncos were tied against the Washington Redskins 31-31 on September 17, 1995. John Elway threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Rod Smith to win the game. The catch was Smith’s first catch and touchdown as an NFL player.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Read More: john fox, running back by committee, rbbc, broncos rb situation, Willis McGahee (RB – DEN), Knowshon Moreno (RB – DEN), Denver Broncos

Trouble is brewing in Denver for fantasy owners as the Broncos have declared they really don’t have a set plan for how they will rotate Knowshon Moreno and Willis McGahee at running back. The thinking among fans has been that Moreno would end up starting with McGahee snagging mostly third down carries. That apparently is not necessarily the case.

Offensive coordinator Mike McCoy discussed the issue on Friday and indicated a preference for simply going with the hot hand:

“We’re going to roll them,” McCoy said. “They’re going to play, and if one of them is tired, the other one is going in. Then we’ll just keep them going. Both of them are going to play plenty of snaps, but we’re not going to worry about counting snaps with them.

“If someone is in there playing and they’re on a roll, then they’re going to stay in. When they need to come out, then they’re going to come out.”

When McGahee signed with the Baltimore Ravens he saw his role move from clear number one to running back by committee to clear number two behind Ray Rice.

Now he comes to Denver behind the third year back Moreno who has taken some time to reach his potential. Moreno rushed for 947 yards his rookie season at 3.8 yards per carry. His total yards declined to 779 his second season but he improved his ypc to 4.3. The Broncos went in the tank as the Josh McDaniels experience came to an abrupt end so it’s hard to blame him for fewer overall carries in the rushing game.

Moreno is the more talented back in this rotation and will likely emerge as the proverbial “hot hand.” However, depending on how the Broncos develop he is at best an RB2 and in the short term might best be served as a rotational flex guy. It is hard to tell how the Broncos will develop in 2011 under John Fox, which means proceed with extreme caution.