NFL Playoffs 2012: Tom Brady Shines, Tim Tebow Falters

The New England Patriots are back in the AFC Championship after dismantling the Denver Broncos on Saturday night, 45-10. New England quarterback Tom Brady was everywhere against the Broncos, shredding what's been a solid defense to the tune of six touchdowns -- five of which came in the first half.

More from SI.com: Grading the Patriots and Broncos

Following the game, Sports Illustrated's Peter King noted Brady is looking unstoppable again while pointing out the gap between the Patriots' quarterback and Tim Tebow.

The advantage for Tebow will be that he'll have a normal offseason -- with minicamps and practices with Denver's first offensive units that he hasn't had in either of his two offseasons as a pro. The question will be whether offensive coordinator Mike McCoy will be able to improve Tebow's accuracy to the point where he can be an effective NFL starter. This game showed the huge gap between Tebow and Brady.

Clearly there's a massive gulf between the two, but Brady has also shown he's certainly in the upper echelon of NFL quarterback yet again. It shouldn't come as a surprise, but on a weekend that saw Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers both fall, Brady turned in another jaw-dropping performance while dismantling the Broncos.

There are still plenty of questions about the Patriots -- a soft schedule with the Broncos being, perhaps, the best team they've faced makes one wonder just how good this team is -- but on Saturday New England looked flat unstoppable. It all sets up a tough AFC Championship matchup against a physical Baltimore Ravens team next week on CBS.