More Concerned With Tebow After Comeback Win

I was originally going to write a simple player evaluation on Tim Tebow's performance, but all of the garbage coming out of Denver is forcing my hand.  I have the ability to look at the situation objectively and stay away from the bandwagon that has run through the local media.  Tim Tebow played 54 minutes of terrible football, 54 minutes out of 60.  For 6 minutes of average play he is on the front page of the Denver Post as "Tim-tastic".  The perception of this player needs to change when it comes to on the field play.

Woody Paige of the Denver Post was on ESPN today blaming the offensive coordinator for Tebow's lack luster 54 minutes of ineffectiveness.  He claims that the game plan was too conservative and didn't allow Tebow to sit back and throw the ball like he did in the last 6 minutes.  He said that the game plan reflected a coach that didn't have any confidence in his QB to complete passes.  I agree with the second statement.  Why should he have confidence in him?  He doesn't show you anything in practice and then you just have to trust it will be there in a game?  Then in the game he he shows you everything he did in practice for 54 minutes.  Where is the confidence supposed to come from? 

Lets look at the game as a whole.  Tebow was 13 for 27 with 161 yards through the air and 2 TD's.  Is there anything special about completing 48% of your passes?  It impresses me a little because up until the last 6 minutes it was 33%.  He was 5 for 15.  Of the 27 passes that Tebow threw, 12 were accurate.  So, he completed 48% of his passes when he threw only 44% of his passes accurately.  I need to point out that inaccurate passes aren't just uncatchable balls, but can be passes that are thrown outside of an area that gives the wide receiver the best chance to catch the ball and then do something with it if possible.  Tebow threw 15 inaccurate passes and most of them were uncatchable. 

The 2 TD's are the only thing in the stats that can be praised, but in reality, neither throw was very good.  The first TD was thrown to a wide open receiver and the ball was to far in front of the receiver and low.  Thomas had to dive for the ball and barely made the catch (I actually think he trapped it against the ground but there isn't enough evidence to prove it).  The second TD was a TE screen  that Tebow lofted to Fells who then did the rest by scoring from about 5 yards out.  Tebow's ball stayed in the air so long that Fells had to wait for the ball and the defense was given time to react.  Instead of an easy walk in TD, Fells had to fight through a tackle at the goalline in order to score. 

Tebow, the most mobile of the Denver QB's, was sacked 7 times against Miami.  Miami had 8 sacks in all their other games combined.  Tebow did have 47 yards from scrambling though so I guess that means something.  I noticed some things in the game yesterday though that is cause for concern when he does scramble.  If Tebow gets pressure from his right he tends to spin out of it to his right.  He doesn't slide to the left or step up in the pocket, for the most part he tries to spin towards the pressure in an attempt to escape.  This takes his eyes away from his receivers and leads to him getting in more trouble or running as soon as he turns around again.  Another thing is when he doesn't spin he tends to sprint towards the line of scrimmage instead of working towards a sideline with the hopes of completing a pass.  He doesn't give himself a chance to see the field before he has to take off and run and at times he doesn't realize where he is on the field with respect to the line of scrimmage.  One time during the game yesterday he was 4 yards past the line of scrimmage and looking to throw the ball.  He didn't, but if he thought he had an open receiver he would have.  The last issue I saw was Tebow's lack of protecting the ball when he is running around.  The ball is typically held with one hand and away from his body.  Eventually this will turn into fumbles

Tebow also has some throwing issues while scrambling and from the pocket besides his well documented poor fundamentals.  When Tebow is scrambling the ball is held in his throwing hand, but it isn't in a ready position to throw.  He holds the ball low instead of high and isn't protected by his other hand.  When it comes time to throw he has to bring the ball to his ready position and then go through his elongated motion.  Tebow missed a receiver that was no more than 10 yards right in front of him while running to his left.  He missed this receiver by throwing the ball 7 feet over his head because instead of throwing the ball, Tebow flicked it to the receiver.  In the pocket it was evident on several throws that Tebow wasn't sure where to throw the ball at first.  He hesitated and pumped the ball several times during the game in a manner that showed confusion instead of intent to deceive.  While doing this Tebow kept the ball far away from his body for an extended period of time leaving it exposed to being stripped and the balls he threw after doing it were terrible.

I will admit that the last 6 minutes for Tebow were a lot better than the first 54, but better isn't great.  Even when everything was clicking for the Denver Broncos Tebow wasn't amazing.  For the most part he was hitting wide open receivers in the middle of the field.  He had 1 really good throw and 1 truly great throw.  Like I said earlier, neither of the TD passes were spectacular and the 2 point conversion that he ran in was one of the worst defensive plays I've ever seen.  Was he good for the 6 minute and did what he needed to to win? Yes.

The one thing I think everyone has forgotten about yesterday's "amazing" comeback win is who it was against.  Miami is the second worst team in the league and for 54 minutes they looked better than the Broncos.  What makes anybody think that playing that poorly for 54 minutes would have turned into a win against any other team in the league besides the Colts?  If Tebow has only 2 yards of net passing through 3 quarters in any of his remaining games then it won't matter how well he plays in the last 5 minutes.

So far this year Tim Tebow has played in 6 quarters.  Of those six he hasn't even played well for a full 2 quarters.  If he can't find a way to be consistently average then the Broncos won't win another game this season.  As of right now, with the evidence over a game and a half, I have the Broncos winning 1 more game this season.  It will be the last game of the season against the Chiefs and it will only happen if Tebow gets better.  Stop praising mediocrity Denver and call it like it is, a comeback win against a team you should have beaten with ease.