Bears plan on stuffing Tebow and Co.

Tim Tebow runs the ball more than any quarterback in the NFL, and he’s clearly the Broncos’ headliner — but they are a dangerous running team even when he stays in the pocket.

“They run the ball with power, too,” Bears defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said. “It’s not just an option (offense). No. 23 (Willis McGahee) is a heck of a back. They can run downhill with counters and powers and all those things.”

Tebow has run for at least 59 yards in five of Denver’s last seven games with a high of 118 on 13 carries against Oakland in a 38-24 victory. For the season, he has 468 yards on 82 attempts (5.7 average)

Said Marinelli: “The quarterback probably runs as much after he drops back to throw. He drops back and, if it’s not there, he’ll take off and run. He’s gotten as much yardage as a runner off of drop-back passes as he has with the option.”

As for the 6-foot, 235-pound McGahee, who averages 4.9 yards per carry, he is a load. He’s listed as questionable for today but is expected to play.

Regardless of who’s running the ball, it will be one of the more physical games the Bears play all season.

Only the Texans have run the ball more often.

“When you know that a team is going to run the ball that much, you know to get

your chin strap strapped up and get your big-boy pads on because it’s going to be physical,” linebacker Lance Briggs said.

For a team that considers itself tough against the run, like the Bears, this is a challenge they relish.

“We’re very confident in what we do, what we can do, and what we will do,” Briggs said.

Briggs contends that the Bears can contain Tebow since they’ve been able to handle other mobile quarterbacks.

“Nothing against Tebow,” he said, “but Cam Newton is a better athlete. He’s faster. Every man out there is going to help us stop that offense.”

It’s almost as if the Bears would be embarrassed to be defeated by the Broncos’ offense. But coach Lovie Smith says Denver’s scheme is nothing to laugh at, even though it’s been ridiculed as gimmicky and worse.

“I don’t know if it was ever a joke,” Smith said. “People always try to look for things that someone does wrong, but they have a five-game winning streak. With Tebow, people want to talk about the things he can’t do. But as coaches we’re looking at the things that he has been doing.

“They’re doing a great job keeping you off balance, mixing in enough option plays to make sure you’re option sound. Most NFL defenses don’t go out and defend the option each week.

“If it was a joke, it’s not now for sure.”

What makes the Broncos more difficult to defend than other ground-oriented offenses is that no other team runs as much option with the quarterback as a primary ballcarrier. But it’s wrong to categorize the Broncos as strictly an option team.

“Don’t be mistaken,” said Bears linebacker Nick Roach, who is replaced in obvious passing situations by a nickel cornerback but should be on the field more than usual today. “If you look at the film, they still run a good amount of three-receiver sets; they just run the ball (from that alignment).”

Smith was asked if he had to go back to his playing days at Big Sandy (Texas) High School, to devise a game plan for the Broncos’ option.

“I didn’t go quite that far back,” he said. “I would’ve thought you would know we weren’t an option team at Big Sandy; it was a different attack. But we have relied on some of our college way of thinking about option football, and it came like riding a bike. It came back to us pretty quick.”

Even if the Broncos run the option some of the time, it’s more often than anyone else in the NFL runs it, which makes defensive preparation more difficult.

“It’s harder,” Smith said. “It makes you go back. You should have a sound defense for every play. But, when you put in option football as a possibility, it does make you focus on fundamentals and being in the right spot, being in the right gap, trusting your teammates with our defense.

“This week has made us concentrate on us even more, and that’s always good when you have to do that.”

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