FOXBORO -- The Patriots’ defense that will face Tim Tebow and the Broncos on Saturday night is a different group that the one that met Denver last month.

The first time the Patriots faced the Broncos on Dec. 18, New England was without two of their better run defenders in safety Patrick Chung and linebacker Brandon Spikes, both of whom were both in the middle of extended stretches on the sidelines because of injury (Chung with a foot problem and Spikes with a knee issue). In addition, the Patriots had defensive end Andre Carter in the lineup, who was providing some of the most sustained pressure of any pass rusher in a New England uniform since 2008.

In that game, the Broncos -- the best team in the league over the course of the regular season when it came to running the football -- finished with 252 yards (and an astounding 8.1 yards per carry) against New England, including seven rushes of 10 yards or more in the first half. The Patriots were able to make the necessary adjustments to shut down the Denver offense and came away with a 41-23 win. However, it’s debatable how much damage the Broncos would have done early if both Chung and Spikes were in the lineup to begin with.

According to Pro Football Focus, Chung grades out as a +2.0 against the run, and while he’s not the Patriots’ best defensive back when it comes to overall run defense (that would be cornerback/safety Devin McCourty, who is +5.1), he provides a stable and consistent presence at the safety spot that few others on the New England roster can bring.

The third-year safety out of Oregon didn’t mince words when talking about the Denver offense earlier this week, saying they’ve improved since that December contest.

“Yeah, I honestly feel they have, because they’re still in the playoffs and they’re still making plays and they’re still winning games,” Chung said. “So I mean, it speaks for itself, man. You’re not going to be in the playoffs if you’re not good, and they’re a good team.”

As for Spikes, he has provided a boost since his return in the regular-season finale, but he still has a track record of inconsistency over his first two seasons with the Patriots -- he’s known more for his occasionally feisty Twitter feed than his play on the field. There have been some impressive flashes of excellent play this season and last, including a sensational game against the Cowboys. (On one late play in that one, with the help of teammate Vince Wilfork, he sniffed out a shovel pass on the goal line and blew the play up in the backfield. The key red zone stop held Dallas at bay and set the stage for a dramatic New England comeback win.)

However, his knee injury left him on the shelf for an extended period -- he played in just eight games this season as a result of the a sprained medial collateral ligament suffered Nov. 6 against the Giants. That, combined with a suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, have some questioning whether or not Spikes can be a consistent contributor for the Patriots.

“Whenever a player comes back in, there’s always an adjustment period,” said coach Bill Belichick when asked about Spikes. “That’s true of every player. I don’t think it’s any different for him than it would be for anybody else.

“He has two years of experience. He’s a physical inside linebacker that’s been a productive guy for us. The more players we have that can contribute, the better. He’s one of them.”

However, when Spikes has been mentally and physically right, he’s been very good against the run (PFF has him graded out as a +5.8 when it comes to rush defense). To that end, he should provide a good complementary presence when it comes to slowing down Denver’s top-ranked rushing offense, which is led by Tim Tebow, Willis McGahee and Lance Ball. And maybe provide some familiarity as well.

“I’ve gone against him enough times in practice,” Tebow said of Spikes, a teammate at Florida. “All the spring practices we had, we had some fun going against each other. You’d like him on your team, but it will still be fun going against him. He’s a great player and I wish him nothing but the best. I look forward to giving him a hug.”

The third area where the Patriots are different heading into this game is the loss of Carter. The defensive end went down early in that win over Denver with a quad injury that ultimately landed him on injured reserve for the rest of the season. He has been replaced at that spot by a handful of players, but much of the responsibility has fallen to Mark Anderson, a situational pass rusher who was actually second to Carter in sacks and quarterback hits when Carter went down. (The two ended up tying for the team lead in sacks, with 10, while Carter ended up leading the team in quarterback hits, 22 to 14.)

That afternoon against Denver, Anderson was actually able to get several favorable matchups against tackle Ryan Clady, and finish with a pair of sacks. One of the ways the Patriots were able to generate pressure was to blitz far more often against the Broncos than they had to that point in the season. According to Pro Football Focus, New England blitzed Tebow on 11 of his 32 dropbacks, or 34 percent. It was the fourth-highest percentage for the Patriots all season, and considering they had blitzed on 22 percent of their snaps heading into that game, a little surprising. (In fact, since Carter has gone down, the Patriots have blitzed more often. Entering the Denver game, New England was blitzing at a rate of 22 percent. Over the final three games, they blitzed at an average of 31 percent.)

Regardless of the personnel changes, Tebow believes he’ll be in for a challenge Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.

“I feel like they’re a very good defense,” Tebow said of New England. “I feel like they’re coached well. I feel like every game they go into they have a different game plan. There are different things they’re trying to accomplish and maybe they’re trying to get to certain things in a different way. I think they’re overall coached very well; they have a lot of great players there up front and in the secondary. They make a lot of plays. I think for us, we just have to be very sound and execute.”