"The Broncos are choking. Can Tim Tebow save them? Better not fail, or else Tebow will make his boss look dumb and cheap.

If Denver can't beat Kansas City and outcast quarterback Kyle Orton? with an NFL playoff berth at stake, then it will be the costliest fumble of Broncos executive John Elway?'s career and rank among the worst blunders in franchise history.

It smelled like desperation at Dove Valley on Monday afternoon, so I figured it was a good time to ask Denver coach John Fox:

Is Fox confident the better quarterback will be on his side against the Chiefs?

"I know we made that decision," replied Fox, well aware his team cut Orton in late November, banking $2.6 million in payroll savings with the transaction. "As I would say about anything moving forward, time will tell."

Now Orton could really make Denver pay.

Should his heroics cost the Broncos a spot in the Super Bowl tournament, there would be no positive way to spin it. In order to be penny-wise, Elway, Fox and general manager Brian Xanders would get pounded for being so dang foolish as to set up Orton for sweet revenge against a city that never particularly liked him."