Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos are turning conventional football wisdom on its helmet this season.

In a league dominated by precision passing, Tebow and the Broncos win with the run. NFL teams, on average, are passing on 57 percent of their plays this season. Super Bowl champion Green Bay is throwing on 60 percent of its plays.

Denver is throwing on a league-low 47 percent.

The elite quarterbacks in the NFL are laser-like in their accuracy. New Orleans’ Drew Brees is on pace to set an NFL record for completion percentage, hitting 71.5 percent of his passes. The Packers’ Aaron Rodgers, the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, seemingly could throw a football through the eye of a needle, blindfolded and wearing handcuffs.

Denver’s Tebow is completing 48.6 percent of his passes, the worst rate in the league. Yet Tebow has produced 15 touchdowns with just two interceptions, and he’s 7-2 as a starter.

Tebow brings his compelling act to Ralph Wilson Stadium today to face the Bills.

Denver (8-6) hopes to clinch the AFC West title. Buffalo aims to end its seven-game losing streak.

The story line of Denver’s season has captivated football fans nationwide: Can Tebow, devout Christian, ultimate All-American role model and late-game savior, lead the Broncos to an improbable playoff berth?

All the while, the football establishment wonders: Can Tebow enjoy long-term success playing quarterback like this?

“He’s not a great thrower of the football, and he’ll never be a great thrower of the football in my estimation, because you’re not going to get him to change,” said former Bengals great Boomer Esiason in a Boston radio interview this week. “And why would you ask him to change, especially with the way he’s been playing the last few weeks in the fourth quarter alone. … I don’t think he’s the long-term solution at quarterback for the Denver Broncos.”

“It’s amazing to watch it,” said former Raiders great Rich Gannon. “It’s not the prettiest thing, but he’s making plays at the end. The throwing concerns you — the inaccuracy.”

It concerns the Broncos’ brain trust, too, which is why coach John Fox has adjusted his team’s style. Denver ranks No. 1 in the league in rushing. John Elway, Broncos executive vice president of football operations, had been non-committal toward Tebow earlier in the season. This week, Elway gave Tebow an endorsement, saying “he’s not going anywhere.”

“We’ve seen, I believe, improvement over the last six games,” said Hall of Famer Troy Aikman in a Sporting News webcast a week ago. “Is that going to be enough? I don’t know. There’s a part of me that still thinks when this season ends, however it ends for the Denver Broncos, that John Fox and John Elway probably are still going to be standing there and saying, ‘I don’t know if this is the guy for us.’‚”

The question, for most former quarterbacks who watch Tebow, centers on how much better the second-year player can get. Ultimately, the Broncos are going to have to expand their passing offense.

Tebow mostly runs a one-read offense. He does not routinely follow a progression across the field in looking for his receivers.

“He has to improve in some of the things that all NFL offenses have to take for granted,” said former Giants great Phil Simms, who will work today’s game for CBS. “That means, looking at the first receiver, and when he’s not open, throw it to the second one. Just get a routine 8-yard completion and let’s move on. I haven’t seen that yet from them.

“They haven’t gotten there,” Simms said. “It’s not that important now, because of how they’ve managed their football team, but it will be important in the future.”

In last week’s 41-23 loss to New England, the Patriots played more man-to-man defense in the second half, and Tebow struggled. Receivers did not get open quickly, and it forced Tebow to make tougher throws into smaller windows. Tebow was 6-of-15 passing in the second half and 11 of 22 overall. The Bills may try the same tactics today — if they can get Denver into passing situations.

Denver is averaging 163 rushing yards a game. Buffalo’s run defense ranks 29th Ñ allowing 139.5 a game.

Former Bills back Willis McGahee needs just 10 yards today to surpass the 1,000-yard mark in rushing for the season. Tebow has rushed for 610 yards, best among all NFL QBs by a yard over Carolina’s Cam Newton. Tebow is averaging 5.8 yards a carry.

Denver’s Fox sloughs off the accuracy question with Tebow.

“Percentage of passes can vary sometimes with the type of passes you throw,” Fox said. “We spend more time running it than we do throwing those short passes, which kind of improves that completion percentage. That’s just one little statistic. I think the biggest one is his record. They don’t predicate much with the rating with his running ability. That’s been as big an impact as his passing ability.”

Denver’s offense also has benefited from an improving defense. During their recent six-game winning streak, the Broncos allowed only 17 points per game. Denver’s 39 quarterback sacks are tied for fourth most in the league.

Denver clinches a playoff spot today with a win and a loss or a tie by Oakland (7-7) at Kansas City.

Whatever happens, it looks like Tebow has earned enough credit with Elway to get the chance to develop more as a passer next season.

“I think the big picture with Tim is we’ve got to see the whole body of work,” Elway said this week. “And so really what you want to see with him is the improvement that’s going to happen over time.

“Because he’s done what we knew he could do, and where we’ve seen his progress is what he does within the pocket,” Elway said. “We know Tim’s a great player, and what we’ve got to do is make him a great quarterback. And what I’ve learned is you’ve got to be able to win from within the pocket. … Do I think he’ll get there? Yeah, I do.”

mgaughan@buffnews.comnull

DENVER — Both ends of the quarterback spectrum collide today when the New England Patriots visit the Denver Broncos with Tom Brady and Tim Tebow squaring off in a matchup of quintessential vs. quirky QBs.

“Everybody’s looking forward to the Brady and Tebow matchup,” Broncos linebacker Joe Mays said of the two men who will be on the field together only for pregame warm-ups and postgame handshakes.

The two popular players have little in common except a propensity to captivate the league, deliver in the clutch and win in the end.

Despite a suspect secondary and a series of second-half collapses, the AFC East-leading Patriots (10-3) are on the verge of clinching a playoff berth because of Brady’s prolific passing attack featuring Rob Gronkowski with 15 TDs, an NFL record for tight ends, and Wes Welker, who already had 100 catches.

Turning slow starts into fantastic finishes, the AFC West-leading Broncos (8-5) have won seven of eight since Tebow took over as their starter. He’s come through with five fourth-quarter comebacks by almost magically changing from struggling scrambler and imperfect passer into clutch performer in crunch time.

The Patriots have topped 30 points 10 times, the Broncos have managed 18, 10, 17, 17, 16 and 13, yet won five of those games with a recipe of dominant defense, spectacular special teams and Tebow.

Aside from a blowout loss to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers when Kyle Orton was still their starter, the Broncos, who are hurting in the secondary with safety Brian Dawkins (neck) and cornerback Andre’ Goodman (concussion) recuperating, haven’t faced a team like the Patriots or a quarterback like Brady.

“He’s mastered so many things about the quarterback position,” Tebow said. “Footwork and accuracy, and he’s also been blessed with good players around him, but he’s still been one of the best in the league for a long time.

“He’s someone that I’ve watched and seen probably thousands of cut-ups of him. He does a lot of things very well, very cerebral and understands the game very well. For a young quarterback like myself, he’s definitely someone to look up to and learn from, what he does well and try to implement that in my game.”

Brady and his teammates watched the end of last week’s Broncos’ win over Chicago while they were flying home from Washington, D.C. on Sunday, and they came away impressed by Tebow, who was bullied by the Bears, completing 3 of 16 passes for 45 yards through three quarters before connecting on 18 of 24 throws for 191 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime.

“I appreciate good quarterback play,” Brady said. “I’m always watching around the league, whether it’s Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees having phenomenal years. Obviously, Tim is having a great year. You watch guys and the way that they perform under pressure and it says a lot about who they are and the way their teammates feel about them.

“It’s a big challenge. It’s going to be a very electric environment out there. We’ve had some really great games against the Broncos over the years. I’m sure this will be no different.”

The prolific Patriots would love to score early and often to keep Tebow from even having the chance to work his last-minute magic on them.

The Broncos are intent on starting faster. In the first half, they’ve scored six times in 49 drives behind Tebow. In crunch time, he’s engineered scoring drives 16 times in 28 possessions.

“For some strange reason we come out slow and sluggish,” Broncos running back Willis McGahee said. “… then we get the train moving.”

Through the first three quarters, Tebow has completed 39 percent of his passes for 520 yards with a passer rating of 65.1.

In the fourth quarter and overtime, he looks like, well, Brady, with a 61 percent completion rate, 770 yards through the air and a passer rating of 107.9 — about Brady’s overall rating.

Tebow also has 517 yards on 94 keepers, an average of 5.5 yards a carry. Against San Diego last month, Tebow ran 22 times, six fewer carries than Brady’s had all season.

“He obviously has a skill set as a quarterback that not many have,” Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich said. “But he’s a great quarterback and his team follows him just like we follow Tom.”

Tebow is breaking the mold that Brady and others have built as a pocket passer, showing there’s more than one way to win in today’s pass-happy NFL.

“I think everybody has strengths and weaknesses at every position,” Brady said. “As a quarterback, you try to play to your strengths. I think that’s what we all try to do.”

Tebow isn’t just unorthodox in his athleticism but in his approach.

Wired with a microphone as part of NFL Films’ “Sound Effects,” last Sunday, Tebow showed a remarkable poise under pressure. When Elvis Dumervil recovered Marion Barber’s fumble in overtime and the Broncos’ sideline went wild, Tebow calmly trotted out to the field singing a hymn.

“I’m not exactly sure what song I was singing, maybe ‘Our God is an awesome God,”‘ Tebow said. “I know I was singing that one a little bit. It was in my head from the car.”

With the Broncos foundering early on again, Tebow’s position coach Adam Gase asks, “Why do we have to do it this way?” Tebow puts his right hand on Gase’s shoulder, smiles and says, “It’s all right. We’ll figure it out, man.”

Demaryius Thomas sat bummed out on the bench after letting a long touchdown toss slip through his hands at another point. Tebow puts his arm around him and says, “You’re good. Hey, no big deal. It just makes it closer for a little bit longer. You’re about to catch the game-winner. And then you’ll be the hero of the game.”

The latest image fans have of Brady, on the other hand, is his sideline screaming match with offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien at Washington following his first interception in more than a month.

“We’re both pretty emotional guys,” Brady said after the game.

That bad pass notwithstanding, Brady is once again at the top of his game with 33 TD passes and 11 interceptions.

“Everything that he does, he does well,” said Welker. “Accuracy, getting us in the right play, understanding what the defense is trying to do and putting us in good situations. It just continually gets better.”

While Brady has the pedigree as a pro with two MVP trophies and three Super Bowl rings, he didn’t enter the league with nearly as much fanfare or scrutiny as Tebow, the raw thrower but two-time national champion and Heisman Trophy winner from Florida who’s considered by many the best combination college quarterback ever.Tebow was a first-round pick, taken 25th overall. Brady was the 199th player selected in 2000 — yet, he owns the best record for any quarterback in the Super Bowl era with a 121-35 regular season mark.

“He didn’t come in this league with a silver spoon, so to speak,” Broncos coach John Fox said. “And he’s mastered his trade.”

Like Tebow, Brady had his own doubters, waiting until the sixth round to hear his name called on draft day.

“I think you just really have confidence in yourself that you can achieve whatever you think you can achieve,” Brady said, “and then you try to work hard at it, and then when you get your opportunity you try to take advantage of it.

“… Not everyone is a high pick or not everyone gets a lot of chances right out of the box, but when you do get your opportunity, you really try to take advantage of your opportunity and do your best and give everything you have.”

Tebow has, and he’s winning at a .727 clip to Brady’s .776 mark. He’s thrown 11 TD passes and two interceptions.

“He’s a winner,” said Patriots cornerback Antwaun Molden, who was with Houston last year when the Texans lost 24-23 to the Broncos in what was Tebow’s first career fourth-quarter comeback.

“Be alert. Every play he can hurt you,” Molden said of the lessons he learned that day. “Some say he can’t pass. … The guy can pass. And he can also run. He’s more accurate than what people think.”

Tebow topped 300 yards that day, something Brady’s done 42 times in his career.

What Brady hasn’t done much of is beat Denver. The Broncos are his bugaboo. At 5-1, they’re the only team with a winning record against him.

Still, perennial Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey said Brady is the ultimate test for this bunch of Broncos.

“He’s one of the best ever, and I think a lot of people want to find out who’s going to be the next guy,” Bailey said. “But he always reminds everybody who’s still the best.”

———

AP Sports Writer Howard Ulman contributed to this report

———

Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter at http://twitter.com/arniestapleton

From Denver — The division-leading Denver Broncos passed a significant milestone this week, although it probably escaped the notice of most everyone at team headquarters. It was a year ago Tuesday that the Broncos fired Josh McDaniels as coach, setting the stage for the hiring of John Elway and John Fox.

So far, that move has worked out well, as the Broncos and Oakland are atop the AFC West with four games left in the regular season, and Denver has the tiebreaker against the Raiders.

“If you look at where we were a year ago, that’s probably the lowest point since Pat Bowlen owned the team,” said Elway, the Hall of Fame quarterback who now runs the front office. “Having lived in this community before I got the job, because I was out there and saw it, everybody kind of lost interest in what the Broncos were all about. That had never happened here before, because there’s such a great following with this team, not only in Denver but in the whole Rocky Mountain region.”

That’s hard to imagine now, considering how the interest level in the team locally and nationally has once again reached dizzying heights.

A lot of that interest is driven by quarterback Tim Tebow, of course, and his string of spectacular finishes. But Denver’s refashioned defense deserves as much of the credit, with No. 2 pick Von Miller making a compelling case for defensive rookie of the year.

The Broncos (7-5), who play host to Chicago on Sunday, could become the seventh team in NFL history to make the postseason despite a 1-4 start. This was a franchise that had utterly collapsed after winning its first six games under McDaniels, going 6-22 in the 1 1/2 seasons that followed.

Now, the team has five consecutive road victories, something the Broncos hadn’t done since 1998, when Elway was quarterback.

“There were some growing pains,” said Fox, who transformed the defense from a 3-4 to a 4-3. “Then, we started to click. When you know what you’re doing, you play a lot faster.”

Elway pinpoints Week 7, that dramatic victory at Miami when Tebow made his first start of the season, as the day the defense began playing as a cohesive unit. It might have come together sooner, he reasons, but the lockout and compressed off-season had everyone running behind.

“It was such an odd off-season because John didn’t even get a chance to meet the players until they got to camp,” said Elway, sitting in his second-story office at team headquarters. “That’s one of his great traits. He has the ability to get the most out of each guy because he has a personal relationship with each one of them.”

One of the amazing things about the up-from-the-ashes rise of the Broncos is that they defied the widely held belief that teams with an established coach and quarterback would have a huge advantage this season. In some cases — such as Green Bay and New Orleans — that’s true. But the New York Jets couldn’t argue that, nor could Philadelphia or San Diego.

Then consider San Francisco, Oakland and Denver, teams with new coaches and uncertainty or change at quarterback. The 49ers have already won the NFC West. The Raiders have a new coach and quarterback, in Hue Jackson and Carson Palmer, as do the Broncos, who began the season with Tebow as the third-stringer.

This season’s coach-of-the-year award probably will go to newcomer Jim Harbaugh, who resurrected the 49ers with essentially the same cast of players, directing them back to the playoffs for the first time since 2002; or to Green Bay’s Mike McCarthy, who has not only dodged the Super Bowl hangover but is four wins away from the second 16-0 regular season in NFL history.

Fox is among the coaches who should be in that discussion too, even if what he has accomplished so far falls short of what’s happening in San Francisco and Green Bay. He has done an outstanding job of making the Broncos relevant again, and he and his staff have adapted the offense to best suit an unconventional quarterback.

The Broncos aren’t the first franchise to do a U-turn under Fox. Carolina was 1-15 the season before he got there, 7-9 in his first year, and in the Super Bowl at the end of his second. His nine-season career in Carolina ended with a fizzle, though, with the Panthers going 2-14 in 2010.

Said Elway: “He had something to prove when he came here.”

So far, with the season heading into the stretch run, he’s proving it.

sam.farmer@latimes.com