Tim Tebow’s First Start Ends on a High Note–And For Now, That’s All That Matters
As many expected, it wasn’t pretty, and it certainly wasn’t conventional, but Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos emerged from Miami victorious, something that nobody can take away from them.
If you’ve been listening to any sports talk, watching ESPN or NFL Network, you’ve been hearing things like the Broncos offense was “abysmal” and Tebow specifically was an “F as a quarterback” according to people like Trent Dilfer. Yes, the Broncos played some bad football in the first three quarters, but to say that Tebow was “abysmal” is a bit of a stretch.
The Broncos did move the ball in the first half, well enough to set up two Matt Prater field goals from 49 and 43 yards, both of which were missed. They did that with Tim Tebow attempting a mere five passes in the entire first half.
The biggest thing fans need to take away from this game is this: Tim needs to get better, but so does the play-calling and chemistry between the offensive players. Tebow showed that he is what he is–a raw, young quarterback who has a lot of things to work on. But there is a thing about Tebow that has fans believing their team is never out of a game.
For the first time ever, the Broncos won on the road against the Dolphins. Ever.
For the first time in NFL history, a team came back from down 15 points (ironic that it was 15?) with 3 minutes remaining.
First time ever.
Tim Tebow is also one of the only guys I know out there (other than maybe Mike Vick) who can take your fantasy points from about six to close to 30 in about three minutes.
The guy is so polarizing, and both groups of people who think he will succeed and the other side that thinks he will fail have valid points to their argument.
On the one hand, Tebow missed three receivers on Sunday that I can remember who were wide open and had a chance to possibly score once they caught the ball. Eric Decker, Daniel Fells, and Knowshon Moreno were both wide open on three different plays, and Tebow was simply unable to hit them. Not to give any excuses, but Tebow was pressured like crazy and rarely had any time to step into a throw on Sunday, including two of those plays (Decker, Moreno).
Tebow is quick to run, which is another argument some of his detractors use a lot. Of course he is quick to run, Denver receives an insane amount of pressure from so many different angles when he is under center. He was sacked an abnormal amount of times on Sunday and was hit 15 times.
Fifteen quarterback hits is absolutely unacceptable, and the Broncos have to know that. The problem is, offensive coordinator Mike McCoy made no adjustments to it. Tebow rarely had a quick read on pass plays from what I can remember and you have to get a guy a two or three step drop to hit a quick out or quick slant to take advantage of the three-man coverage.
It’s not rocket science, so Mike McCoy will see that on film and will see a ton of pressure coming from Detroit next week, and he will have to make adjustments, plain and simple.
Look at the last touchdown the Broncos had, a screen pass to tight end Daniel Fells. The Broncos were getting blitzed all-out by Miami, and when Tebow let the rush develop, Fells was absolutely alone in the flats, nobody within 10 yards of him.
Why was Denver not doing that more throughout the game? Why was Denver running the quarterback draw on third down and long?
Some people speculate that Mike McCoy was setting up Tebow to fail, and they would have a case, but I don’t buy it and I think you’ll see adjustments next week similar to those the Broncos had to make between Houston and San Diego last year.
One thing you’ll also notice is that Tebow didn’t have any interceptions. Yes, some of his throws were inaccurate, but none of his passes were picked off and none were blatantly dropped by defenders either. Tebow knows how to take care of the ball, and he is clutch.
The Broncos won the game, and no one can take that away from them. It was ugly through the first three quarters, but when the team needed to make plays, they made them–in all three phases of the game.
That needs to be something that happens more consistently–in my opinion–for Tebow to keep a strangle hold on his job as the starter in Denver. He is the most exciting player arguably in the league not because he is the best or because he is the most gifted in every aspect of his game, but because of what he was able to do yesterday and truthfully since that Houston game last year. Tebow has been dynamite in the fourth quarter for the Broncos, and you can’t help but smile, shrug, and be excited when he does incredible things like we saw on Sunday.
I don’t care that it was Miami, I don’t care that they were lucky. The fact is–it HAPPENED.
And no one can take that away.