Setting the record straight on Timothy Richard Tebow

Denver Broncos' quarterback Tim Tebow is as polarizing an athlete as we will ever see.

I think Ryen Russillo said it best this morning on the Scott Van Pelt Show when he pointed out that nobody hates Tim Tebow, people just hate people who disagree with them about Tim Tebow.

For many people, I’m a ‘disagreer.’

As much as I like Tim Tebow as a person, I don’t think he’s a very good NFL player.

To explain this however, I need to get a couple things out in the open.

The first is that I really do like Tim Tebow as a person and wish he was as good as everyone says he is.

I appreciate someone who stands up for what they believe in in the face of a world that seems to stand for everything that goes in the face of his beliefs. I’m not saying I like him just because he’s a Christian, though. For example, I liked Ricky Williams for similar reasons when he turned down millions of dollars because he’d rather smoke weed.

Two different people opposing the culture they thrive in for two separate reasons, both of which I appreciate.

The second thing I need to get off my chest is that I hate the Denver Broncos. Now I don’t believe my argument would be any different if Tebow were doing this as a member of the St. Louis Rams, but the fact that he is doing it for a team fighting the Raiders for a playoff spot is frustrating.

Now on to Tim Tebow as a football player. There are a few things we know for sure about him: he’s 7-1 as a starter in the NFL this season on a team that was 1-4 before he got there. He was one of the greatest college football players of all time. The Broncos have an excellent defense. The Broncos don’t have a ton of talent on offense. Denver hasn’t faced the toughest schedule in the world under Tebow (more on this later). And many believe he isn’t a very good passing quarterback.

Whichever side of the argument you fall on, I think those are things we can all agree on.

The reason I’ve decided to write this article now, is because I think that Tebow’s latest victory is the perfect example of why I have yet to jump on the “Tim Tebow, future hall-of-famer” bandwagon.

With 4:34 left on the clock in the fourth quarter of the game against Chicago, Tebow had led the Broncos to just 221 total yards and zero points.

If you ask me, the credit everything that would happen next doesn’t belong to the greatness of Tim Tebow, but instead belongs to the ridiculousness of the Chicago Bears.

Let’s start with Chicago’s offense. On the two drives just before the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Bears had finally begun to move the ball, scoring all 10 of their points.

Then they went into “all-we-care-about-is-running-clock” mode.

In the fourth quarter, the Chicago Bears had four drives. In the fourth quarter the Chicago Bears ran exactly 12 plays (11 runs, 1 pass). In the fourth quarter the Chicago Bears gained a total of 13 yards.

While the Bear offense is terrible and the Bronco defense is excellent, the point here is that the Bears’ gameplan was obvious: play it safe and get the game over with.

My problem with this strategy, however, was more on the defensive side of the ball.

Defensively, the Bears had held Tebow in check the entire game. Brian Urlacher had done a great job of containing his ability to run the ball, and with the help of some drops from receivers, the Broncos passing game was non-existent (Tebow was 3/16 passing going into the fourth).

Then came everyone’s favorite defensive strategy: the prevent defense.

For anyone who watched the Broncos’ final two drives in regulation the strategy was clear: allow Tebow to complete short passes but to prevent the long ball.

As a result, Tebow hit wide open receiver after wide open receiver, and slowly but surely the Broncos moved the ball. Tebow was never required to make a tough throw or break an impressive run, just throw it to the wide-open receiver in the flat and gain ten yards at a time.

After the Broncos marched down the field and cut the lead to 10-7, an unsuccessful onside kick attempt gave the Bears the ball back with the chance to run the clock down to about 15-seconds.

As fate would have it, Marion Barber forgets to stay in bounds and suddenly the fighting Tebows were gifted with an extra 40-seconds to work with on offense.

So with 53-seconds remaining and the ball at their own 20, Timothy Richard Tebow glided onto the field.

For anyone who thinks I am downplaying the following plays, here is a youtube link with the final drive of regulation:  (skip ahead to 1:53 for when the drive finally begins).

On first down, Tebow finds a wide-open Eric Decker for eight yards.

On second down, it’s a wide-open Lance Ball who gains 13.

Spike.

Next it’s a wide-open (not even a defender in the screen) Matt Willis for 17 as the Bears let him get out of bounds to stop the clock.

Next Tebow looks to find Demaryius Thomas in tight coverage but the pass falls incomplete. As much as I’d like to point out that the first throw of the drive into coverage falls incomplete, it may have been pass interference, so I’ll let it slide.

With 18 ticks remaining, Tebow throws another incomplete pass, this time at the feet of his running back. (This turned out to be a great decision, and while I don’t know if he did it on purpose, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt).

With 14 seconds left, Tebow runs out wide for no gain, bringing out Matt Prater for a 57-yard field goal.

Naturally, the kick is good and we’re headed to overtime.

Bears win the toss, and elect to receive with exactly 0% of the world thinking they have any chance to win this game.

Of course, no longer playing not-to-win, the Bears mount an impressive drive. Also as expected, things went completely wrong.

After marching the ball to the Denver 33 in just six plays, our good friend Marion Barber coughs up the football. (Note: this game was over, Gould wasn’t missing that field goal, but whatever).

I’m pretty sure Tebow floated onto the field for the overtime drive, but regardless, the Broncos took over at their own 34 (here’s video for this drive).

Facing a second and 12 a few plays later, Tebow makes probably his best throw of the game when he finds Thomas along the sideline for a gain of 16. Can’t tell if this was actually a great throw or a great catch, but it’s probably a combination of the two.

Then, as expected, a couple plays later Prater knocks home another monster field goal to win the game.

So to summarize this game: the Broncos needed the Bears to go into the prevent-the-win offense and defense, Marion Barber to run out of bounds in the fourth, Marion Barber to fumble in overtime and for Matt Prater to nail two monster field goals in order to win.

Now before everyone who loves Tebow begins to scream, “YEAH, BUT THEY WON!” I ask them to consider how much needed to go wrong for the Broncos to squeak by a really bad team.

Speaking of bad teams, Tebow has now beaten: Miami (4-9), Oakland (Carson Palmer’s first start), Kansas City (5-8), the Jets (8-5), the Vikings (2-11) and the Bears (0-3 without Cutler).

In those eight games, including the loss to Detroit (8-5), the Broncos have a total point differential of +2. They’ve won seven games by an average of 5.28 points.

To go one step further, if you look at how these teams were doing heading into their matchup with the Broncos, the 7 teams have a combined 3-11 record in the two games prior to playing Denver. 3-11!

While I am sure none of this will change anyone’s mind, it’s food for thought. For those who agree, it’s ammo, and for those who disagree, it’s angering.

Either way, I think we can agree on one thing: Tim Tebow seems like a pretty good person. Right?

Advertisement