Moving swiftly to fill the void, one name being thrown around is the former longtime Jaguars head coach.

According to NFL.com’s Jason La Canfora, Jack Del Rio has “emerged as a possible candidate” to become Denver’s defensive boss, replacing Allen, who bolted to the Raiders after one season on the job.

Del Rio, who spent the last nine years in Jacksonville, knows Broncos head coach John Fox well; he served as his defensive coordinator in 2002, when Fox was the head coach of the Panthers.

Reportedly, both Del Rio and Fox were seen talking at the Senior Bowl this week. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire — sources tell La Canfora that Del Rio will receive “serious consideration” in Denver.

He was recently named the most popular athlete in America by an ESPN sports poll, topping some of the most iconic names in sports history.

After an upset win in the playoffs, Lady Gaga began singing his praises, and now Katy Perry supposedly has a romantic interest in him.

Everybody loves Tim Tebow.

Everybody, except for Patriots defensive tackle Kyle Love.

Love told The Republican Thursday that he’s grown tired of the constant media coverage surrounding the Broncos quarterback, suggesting his 15 minutes of fame has felt more like an hour.

“I can’t speak for everybody, I can just speak for myself. I can say that it does (get old) for me,” Love said. “It gets to the point where you get tired of hearing it. You just have to keep your TV off if you don’t.”

Love went on to add that he’s using Tebowmania as motivation for the Divisional round tilt, a rematch of their regular season contest, which the Pats won handily, 41-23.

However, he should know by now that the spotlight will continue to be focused on Tebow, arguably the NFL’s most polarizing figure in quite some time. After all, his story is one overzealous producer away from becoming Hollywood’s next creation.

He’s led his team to several last-minute wins, and a division title, in improbable fashion, prompting some to wonder whether divine intervention was involved.

He’s even garnered applause from members of the media in postgame press conferences.

But, the legend that is Tim Tebow hadn’t reached iconic status until Sunday night, when a certain … one-of-a-kind (for lack of better words) pop superstar was left in awe after witnessing what can only be described as “Tebow Time.”

Following the Broncos’ 29-23 upset win in overtime against the Steelers, multi-platinum recording artist Lady Gaga, who’s apparently a Giants fan, tweeted to her nearly 18,000,000 followers about Tebow, regarding him as a “champion.”

“Giants fan but wow. #Tebow Thats what the f–k a champion looks like,” Gaga said.

Well-deserved praise from a very distinguished individual.

Facing an elite Steelers defense in the Wild Card contest, Tebow turned in arguably his finest performance of a truly wild 2011 campaign, posting 316 passing yards (the number ironically being a favorite bible verse of his), adding another 50 on the ground, and scoring three total touchdowns.

His 80-yard bomb on the first play in OT sealed the win for the Broncos, who will travel to New England for next Saturday’s Divisional round showdown.

Perhaps most importantly, Tebow didn’t turn the ball over, a glaring concern entering the game that reportedly had the coaching staff ready to insert Brady Quinn if things got dire.

It never came close to reaching that point, however, as Denver advances on to face the already highly-favored Patriots. With a Tebow vs. Brady duel set for primetime, the hype machine will be working to the point of overload this week.

Though, no matter how many times his name is inevitably uttered in the coming days, you can absolutely say this about Tebow: He’s must-see TV — even to those who wear meat dresses and urinate in trash cans.

In fact, the team seems to be counting on it, and has devised a ‘Plan B’ in case of emergency — another Tebow implosion.

According to FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer, the Broncos’ plan against the Steelers will be to insert Quinn — at least on third downs — if Tebow continues to display poor decision-making.

Glazer says Tebow would be shown the bench for good if he “completely struggles,” which very well might happen against Pittsburgh’s vaunted defense.

The shine appears to be slowing coming off of Tebow, whose turned the ball over seven times in the last three games, all losses.

Denver is going to need more than a game-manager under center to beat the Steelers; the running game is likely to get stuffed by an elite run defense. Tebow can’t just go out there and complete six passes — as he did last week — and expect to win. That’s a blowout loss waiting to happen.

Obviously, Quinn doesn’t possess the same athleticism or late-game heroics as the man he’d be stepping in for. However, he’s more of a pure passer and his presence will give the Steelers’ D something else to think about.

Coach John Fox has shown he isn’t afraid to yank a player, no matter how talented, off of the field. He did so last week with rookie sack-artist Von Miller, and there’s a good chance he’ll have to swap out the highly-publicized Tebow.

It’ll be a tough move for Fox to make in front of the home crowd, the same fans that wished for and were granted Kyle Orton‘s removal, though the outcome of the game — and the Broncos’ season — may end up hinging on it.

According to the Denver Post, Broncos VP of Player Personnel John Elway revealed in a radio interview Monday that those in the front office are still unsure whether or not Tebow can become the team’s quarterback of the future.

That much was made evident when host Gary Miller asked Elway if he’s “any closer to feeling if you have your quarterback on this team.” Elway paused before answering “no,” an obvious indication of his confidence — or lack thereof — in the former Florida legend.

Just so it wouldn’t seem like he’s completely against him, Elway praised Tebow for his comeback efforts against the Jets last week, but also stated that he needs to improve upon his third-down numbers going forward.

“Tim Tebow did exactly what he thought he could on Thursday night. When we get in tough situations, he’s a guy that’s going to be able to make those plays,” Elway said on his weekly radio show on 102.3 FM.

“We can’t go 3-for-13 and win a world championship. Those are the type of things we have to keep improving.”

On the surface, Elway’s stance isn’t going to be widely accepted among the Broncos’ faithful, whom most consider Tebow to be the second-coming, though it’s a smart business decision at this point.

Tebow’s gimmicky, option offense isn’t going to last as tape starts to pile up for other teams’ viewing pleasure. If he can close out the final six games with wins, or at least look the part of an NFL quarterback, then Elway (and the Cowboys’ Rob Ryan) might begin to re-consider how they feel.

Until that point, Denver’s long-term answer at the position is still an unsolved mystery.

And he doesn’t mean that in the good way.

Per ESPNDallas.com, Ryan said Friday that witnessing Tebow and the Broncos’ unorthodox, college-oriented style of offense on Thursday night made him lose his lunch (and possibly his dinner, too.)

“It made me, uh, throw up,” Ryan said, pausing mid-sentence to make a vomiting motion. “That stuff comes into play. You get that crap. I don’t like it because it’s college football. The things you see a lot of spread. We’re getting a lot of two tight ends blocking for empty sets.

“Who would have ever thought that? This is the NFL. Those teams don’t win.”

While Ryan has a valid point — that most teams don’t find success running the ball on nearly every down — the Broncos did come out victorious, knocking off Rex Ryan‘s squad with a 95-yard drive in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, capped off by a 20-yard Tebow scramble to paydirt.

However, Dallas’ defensive head honcho didn’t think much of the win, even going so far as mocking Tebow’s now-infamous touchdown celebration.

“That team did win last night, but it was horse—-, and thanks for pointing that out,” Ryan replied when reminded that the Broncos were victorious. “The guy made a hell of a play, though, didn’t he?

“Just a second, I’ll take a knee myself.”

Although the Cowboys and Broncos unfortunately won’t meet this season (barring improbable Super Bowl runs), Ryan would be wise to keep some ginger ale and crackers handy from now on. Tebow Mania, and the re-emergence of the triple option offense, has just begun.

It’s gotten worse. Now an opposing player joined the fray, absolutely ripping Tebow a new one — albeit anonymously.

On Monday, an unnamed Lions defender told Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports what he thought of Tebow’s performance against Detroit; no one will mistake it for high praise.

“Can you believe ’15’?” “Come on – that’s embarrassing. I mean, it’s a joke. We knew all week that if we brought any kind of defensive pressure, he couldn’t do anything. In the second half it got boring out there. We were like, ‘Come on – that’s your quarterback? Seriously?’ ”

Although the above sentiments are a tad harsh, it’s hard to argue that it wasn’t “embarrassing” watching Tebow, who took seven sacks, tossed a pick-six, and coughed up the ball three times in a blowout home loss on Sunday, 45-10.

Lions defensive end Cliff Avril didn’t hide behind anonymity, but added that Tebow was easily rattled by their defensive schemes.

“As long as he felt our pressure, he was going to make crazy decisions,” Avril said.

Head coach John Fox, who reportedly revamped the offense to suit the former Gators star, already acknowledged there’s still a ways to go with Tebow under center, but is sticking with him (for now) as the team’s starter.

If he doesn’t start looking like the franchise’s future at the position, it shouldn’t be long before the Broncos reinsert Kyle Orton at quarterback, relegating Tebow back to obscure third-down packages. As of now, though, it’s obvious he hasn’t earned much — if any — respect from his peers.

During FOX’s NFL pregame show, Jay Glazer reported that Fox has revamped the Broncos’ offense to more of a college-style in an effort to better suit Tebow’s strengths — and possibly mask his weaknesses.

Tebow will operate out of more shotgun and spread formations, similar to the looks he experienced so much success with at the University of Florida.

In Week 7 against the Dolphins, Tebow earned his first career win as a starter, but was shaky for much of the day. He looked most comfortable when given the pass/run option on swings, screens, and other quick-drop passing plays, prompting Fox to implement a change.

Thus far, in the debut of their newfound change in scheme, Tebow is 2-10 passing for 30 yards, and has 8 yards on 2 carries against the Lions, who are currently leading by two touchdowns.

Tebow Mania will need to run wild if Denver wants to earn their third win of the season.

According to the team’s Twitter page, Fox stated Monday that Tebow is still a “work in progress,” but qualified that by saying the 24-year-old should continue to progress over the coming weeks as he settles in the offense.

“I thought he handled it very well…I think that’ll just get better as he develops more confidence in the offense/teammates,” Fox said. “I liked the last 5 minutes more than the first 55.”

It was a much ballyhooed debut for Tebow, who returned to the home of some of the most memorable moments in his incredible collegiate career. However, the honeymoon didn’t last long as he played inconsistently for most of the day, accounting for seven sacks and tossing several passes way off their mark.

When the opposing Dolphins went up by 15, looking to avoid their sixth loss of the season, the Broncos appeared dead in the water — until Tebow sparked a sudden and improbable comeback.

Over a span of three minutes, Tebow led touchdown drives of 80 and 56 yards, and — with the help of a successful onside recovery between scores — tied the game at 15-15.

In overtime, Denver recovered a fumble by Miami quarterback Matt Moore and ended the game on the leg of Matt Prater, who drilled a 52-yard field goal to give Tebow his first win as an NFL starting quarterback.

Considering the praise from his coach, and the natural confidence booster that comes following a much-needed victory, it won’t be Tebow’s last this season, though additional bumps in the road will inevitably occur.

According to NFL.com’s Jason La Canfora, Broncos receiver Brandon Lloyd is being traded to the Rams.

The compensation for said deal is not yet currently known, though it’s likely a conditional pick that would escalate with performance.

The Rams gave up a conditional sixth-round pick in 2012 to the Broncos. If Lloyd catches 30 or more passes, the pick becomes a fifth-rounder, which seems like a likely outcome.

Lloyd was told not to report to the Broncos’ facilities Monday.

Of all the teams interested in him, the Rams are by far the best fit. Not only do they desperately need help at the position, Lloyd had his Pro Bowl season in 2010 under Josh McDaniels, Denver’s former coach and current offensive coordinator in St. Louis.

Although it’s equates to an 11 game tryout for the Rams, Lloyd instantly becomes the team’s No. 1 wideout and a legit downfield threat for quarterback Sam Bradford. His talent was being wasted in the Broncos’ run-heavy scheme, so the change of scenery will be good for him.

If he performs well, Lloyd, who’s headed for free agency in 2012, should receive a contract extension as he looks to build on a promising career, now in the Gateway City.