Usually when a quarterback is completing 44 percent of his passes, his lone appearance on the sports pages is when his team cuts him. Not so with Tim Tebow.
Fans in Denver have been very quick to latch on to unorthodox QB Tim Tebow, who is 4-1 with the team this season.
Despite the ragged passing statistics, "Tebowmania" has swept through the NFL like a swarm of weevils through a cotton field. People can't stop talking about the former Heisman Trophy winner, except not in the same way they keep talking about Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady.
Rarely has a quarterback with such dismal passing stats captivated the masses like Tebow has in Denver. The executive vice president of his team, some guy named John Elway, said the former Florida star is not the future of the Broncos' franchise. Yet Tebow is 4-1 since he took over for the since-waived Kyle Orton as the Denver quarterback. He has helped the Broncos get in position to compete for the AFC West title heading into today's game in San Diego.
Let's face it: Tebow is a great football player, but not a great NFL quarterback. Even his coach, John Fox, said he could not exist in a standard NFL offense. So rather than try to force a square peg into a round hole, Fox has squared the hole and given Tebow an offense similar to the one he ran in college.
Last Thursday night's game against the Jets was a perfect example of the result. Tebow literally stunk for 55 minutes.
Yet in the final five, he amazingly led his team 95 yards and wound up in the end zone with the football for the winning touchdown.
How long, however, can the Broncos exist with Tebow in charge? Right now, he obviously gives the Broncos the best chance of winning.
Last Sunday, former Steelers coach Bill Cowher suggested Fox come up with an "Orton package" to use if his team fell so far behind that the passing game was the only means of catching up.
With Orton now in Kansas City, that package would have to be tailored to Brady Quinn. The former Notre Damer is Fox's only other option, so the rest of the 2011 season rests squarely with the unorthodox throwing left-handed Tebow, who unfortunately can't have his talented legs transplanted onto his shoulders.
You have to sympathize with the young man, who really is as nice a guy as he portrays.
Not only must he field criticism from those outside his organization, he also gets hammered from within. Fox says he can't play traditional quarterback in the NFL. Elway says the jury still is out on him, hardly a ringing endorsement. Even former Denver quarterback Jake Plummer took a shot at Tebow for wearing his religion too brightly on his sleeve.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. For one thing, Denver is going to have to get more production out of its running backs than it did against the Jets. The backs gained only 47 yards rushing, 21 less than Tebow totaled. For the Tebow option to work, he must have that option, simple as that.
The Broncos' defense also is going to have to play all-out on every snap to keep each game close because it's unlikely Tebow's attack is going to accumulate a lot of points.
The margin of error will be very thin, but at least there will be a margin of error.
But what happens in 2012? It's obvious Tebow is going to have to improve as a passer if he is going to please his bosses.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment