Tim Tebow Starts, All is Well with the World
Tim Tebow had played before Sunday. He had seen action as a Denver Bronco. It was minimal. Very minimal. He had thrown a pass, a touchdown. He has rushed for three scores as well. While that sounds great in the eyes of a Tebow fan, it was done in minimal touches. Basically, he was used rarely, if at all, over the first 13 games of the season. He spent most of that time watching, learning.
That was to be expected through. Tebow is a project of the truest kind. He wasn’t expected to be Sam Bradford, the new quarterback from the start. He wasn’t even expected to be Colt McCoy, who was given significant time throughout the season. He was expected to be a long-term project. Someone who would need plenty of work before ever getting a chance to lead the Broncos. Mechanics needed to be altered and time would be given. Then Denver was bad. Then they got worse. Then the starter got hurt.
When Josh McDaniels was fired, many thought Tebow’s chances went from slim to none. But the Broncos aren’t a good team. In fact, they’re downright bad. The worse they got, the more we heard that Tebow might get a shot. A chance to do more than run or pass at the goal line. With Kyle Orton nursing bruised ribs – and let’s be honest, there was no reason for Orton to play anyway – Tebow got his shot. He didn’t necessarily become the starter, but he got to start (if that makes sense). And, much to the relief of Tebow fans and Florida diehards, he wasn’t all that bad.
Let’s start off by saying Tebow is still a work in progress. His mechanics could still use some (a lot of) work and he needs to improve his accuracy. His overall motion is still cringe-worthy at times and he definitely could use more experience. BUT…he didn’t disappoint. If you only saw the first quarter, you may have thought “wow, this isn’t what I expected.” Tebow looked like his old self on an early 40-yard touchdown run and memories of him running through and over collegiate defenders suddenly came to mind. Minutes later he hit Brandon Lloyd for a 33-yard touchdown. Not an ideal pass, but it resulted in a score and if that’s the goal, Tebow accomplished it. He cooled down as the game went on, but ended the day with 138 passing yards on 8-of-16 throwing, no interceptions, 78 yards on 8 carries, and the two touchdowns.
Denver didn’t win so there will be some that deem his debut as a failure. Tebow is now 0-1 as a starter. I’d go back to that line about the Broncos not be very good overall for more of the reason they aren’t winning games. Tebow also wasn’t intercepted, ran the ball well and, hey, got to start, so others will say it was a great success. It was actually more along the lines of average. He showed signs that he can play quarterback in the NFL and he showed signs that prove there is still a lot of work to be done. Tebow wasn’t spectacular on every play, but he wasn’t awful either. He was decent. Decent enough to warrant another shot. Decent enough to think he might still have a future as a quarterback. Decent enough to keep us all intrigued in what that future could bring.