Denver Broncos lose their third straight, falling to the Kansas City Chiefs 7-3, despite a masterful 6-22 performance by Tim Tebow
For the third consecutive week, the Denver Broncos lost. Luckily for them, they play in the AFC West and found a way to win the division with an 8-8 record. The Broncos, being division winners, have the 4th seed in the playoffs and will play host to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the opening round this upcoming weekend.
It seems that just 2-3 weeks ago, ESPN "analysts" and sportwriters couldn't think of enough good things to say about Tim Tebow. He was magical in the 4th quarter. He was a winner. He motivated his teammates to play harder and never give up. Blah. Blah. Blah. Throughout all of this, I remained firm on my belief that the Denver Broncos recent successes were more due to the defense, running game, special teams and lack of turnovers than Tim Tebow's play. Granted, he had a lot to do with not turning the ball over much, but there's a big difference between leading a team to victory and not losing a game for a team. Tebow was more the latter than the former. I've also said that I am still not sold on Tebow being a long-term success at the NFL-level and he'd need to improve many parts of his game in order to accomplish this. Some may call me a Tebow-basher or -hater, but I just try to state things as I see them.
In Sunday's game against the then 6-9 and injury-ridden Kansas City Chiefs, the Broncos lost 7-3. For the game, Tebow completed just 6 of 22 pass attempts (27.3%) for 60 yards (2.7 per attempt), 1 interception, 1 lost fumble and a quarterback rating of 20.6. I don't care how bad a day has been for a quarterback, those numbers are atrocious. Not only that, but he only ran the ball 6 times for 16 yards (2.7 per carry). As I have said time and time again, when a new, unique presence makes himself known in the NFL, he will likely have a leg up on the opposition for a few weeks until the league has enough tape to make proper adjustments to that player's strengths and attempt to make him play to his weaknesses and be forced to make adjustments of his own. I've said this about Cam Newton, whom started off so strongly this year, before going through a rather inconsistent second half of the season. I'll be curious to see if he suffers the 2nd year regression many players experience, if defenses better adjust to his playing style or if he builds off this season and improves into next. I say the same thing about Tebow. Given the results these past 3 weeks, the league appears to have adjusted to Tebow. It will now be his turn to do likewise.
Let's now look at Tebow's numbers this year. First off, the reason why he gave the impression he was effective through his first few starts was that he wasn't turning the ball over. With two more turnovers against the Chiefs on Sunday, he has now turned the ball over 11 times in 11 starts. That doesn't sound horrendous, but given the fact he turned the ball over just once in his first seven starts and has turned it over ten times in his past four, that says a lot right there.
For the season, Tebow has completed 50.0% or more of his passes just 4 of 11 times and over 50% of his passes in just 2 of his 11 starts. For the year, he's completed 126 of 271 passes (46.5%) for 1,729 yards (6.38 p/att), 12 touchdowns and 6 interceptions with a rating of 72.9. He ranks dead last (34th) in completion percentage, 4.3% behind Jacksonville rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert. He's 28th in yards per attempt, 1.02 above the cellar dwellar, Mr. Gabbert. In just 11 starts, he's been sacked 33 times, which is the 12th most of any quarterback, just 12 (out of 40 behind the leader, Alex Smith of San Francisco. Out of 34, Tebow ranks 28th in quarterback rating, 7.5 ahead of Blaine Gabbert, whom is at the very bottom of the league in this category. Tebow ranks dead last in yards passing per game (34th), averaging 124 passing yards per game, 24 fewer than Gabbert. Also, in just 11 starts, Tebow is tied for 3rd in the league in fumbles, 2 behind the leader (Gabbert). Tebow ranks at or near the bottom in all of these categories: Completion percentage, yards per attempt, sacks, quarterback rating, passing yards per game and also fumbles. Once again, how in the world can this guy be talked about as being one of the league's top quarterbacks, in any respect?
Looking at the team, yes, the Broncos were 7-4 with Tebow at quarterback, however, as I'll again showcase, this was much more due to the defense than the offense. In 6 of his 11 starts (54.5%), the defense allowed 15 points or fewer and 24 points or fewer in 7 of 11 games (63.6%). In these seven games, the defense allowed a total of 92 points or an average of 13.1 points. Even if you include the 32 they allowed against Minnesota, the defense allowed a total of 124 points in those 8 games or an average of 15.5. The team was 7-1 in those games, their only loss coming this past weekend against Kansas City, where they fell to the Chiefs by the final score of 7-3. The team allowed just over two touchdowns a game in 72.7% of Tebow's starts, where he won 7 of 8 games. The defense was horrendous in the other three games, allowing 126 points or an average of 42.0 points and the team was 0-3 in those games. Offensively, the team scored 18 or fewer points in 8 of 11 games and 23 or fewer in 9 of 11. In these 9 games, the team scored a combined 131 points or an average of 14.6 per. Somehow, the team went 5-4 in these games. The team scored just over two touchdowns a game in 81.8% of Tebow's starts this year and have a winning record in those starts. Even if you include the 38-point output the team scored against Oakland and 35 points they scored against the Minnesota Vikings, the Broncos scored an average of just 18.5 points per game in Tebow's 11 starts. The 14.6 would rank the Broncos 29th out of 32 teams, ahead of only Cleveland, Kansas City and St. Louis. The 18.5 ranks them 25th, ahead of only: Washington, Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Kansas City and St. Louis.
I've said it over and over again. When the defense plays like they have in 8 of Tebow's 11 starts, the special teams steps up and the running game is effective, all Tebow needs to do is NOT turn the ball over to do his job, more or less. Tebow may receive all the publicity, because of his name, his face, his fame and his being the quarterback of the team during 4th quarter comebacks, but he's not the one whom should be receiving the credit for these wins. The guy is last or near last in the league in most all passing categories, in addition to sacks and fumbles. The offense has often times been anemic with Tebow at the helm. The guy is going to need to improve by leaps and bounds if he wants to be an effective NFL quarterback for the long-term. First thing's first, though. He'll need to face the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense. With what defenses have done to Tebow in the past 3 weeks and the Steelers having plenty of tape on him to make proper adjustments, I find it difficult to see the Broncos making it past the first-round this upcoming weekend. Soooo...how are those Tim Tebow-Aaron Rodgers/John Elway/Tom Brady comparisons coming? That's what I thought...
It seems that just 2-3 weeks ago, ESPN "analysts" and sportwriters couldn't think of enough good things to say about Tim Tebow. He was magical in the 4th quarter. He was a winner. He motivated his teammates to play harder and never give up. Blah. Blah. Blah. Throughout all of this, I remained firm on my belief that the Denver Broncos recent successes were more due to the defense, running game, special teams and lack of turnovers than Tim Tebow's play. Granted, he had a lot to do with not turning the ball over much, but there's a big difference between leading a team to victory and not losing a game for a team. Tebow was more the latter than the former. I've also said that I am still not sold on Tebow being a long-term success at the NFL-level and he'd need to improve many parts of his game in order to accomplish this. Some may call me a Tebow-basher or -hater, but I just try to state things as I see them.
In Sunday's game against the then 6-9 and injury-ridden Kansas City Chiefs, the Broncos lost 7-3. For the game, Tebow completed just 6 of 22 pass attempts (27.3%) for 60 yards (2.7 per attempt), 1 interception, 1 lost fumble and a quarterback rating of 20.6. I don't care how bad a day has been for a quarterback, those numbers are atrocious. Not only that, but he only ran the ball 6 times for 16 yards (2.7 per carry). As I have said time and time again, when a new, unique presence makes himself known in the NFL, he will likely have a leg up on the opposition for a few weeks until the league has enough tape to make proper adjustments to that player's strengths and attempt to make him play to his weaknesses and be forced to make adjustments of his own. I've said this about Cam Newton, whom started off so strongly this year, before going through a rather inconsistent second half of the season. I'll be curious to see if he suffers the 2nd year regression many players experience, if defenses better adjust to his playing style or if he builds off this season and improves into next. I say the same thing about Tebow. Given the results these past 3 weeks, the league appears to have adjusted to Tebow. It will now be his turn to do likewise.
Let's now look at Tebow's numbers this year. First off, the reason why he gave the impression he was effective through his first few starts was that he wasn't turning the ball over. With two more turnovers against the Chiefs on Sunday, he has now turned the ball over 11 times in 11 starts. That doesn't sound horrendous, but given the fact he turned the ball over just once in his first seven starts and has turned it over ten times in his past four, that says a lot right there.
For the season, Tebow has completed 50.0% or more of his passes just 4 of 11 times and over 50% of his passes in just 2 of his 11 starts. For the year, he's completed 126 of 271 passes (46.5%) for 1,729 yards (6.38 p/att), 12 touchdowns and 6 interceptions with a rating of 72.9. He ranks dead last (34th) in completion percentage, 4.3% behind Jacksonville rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert. He's 28th in yards per attempt, 1.02 above the cellar dwellar, Mr. Gabbert. In just 11 starts, he's been sacked 33 times, which is the 12th most of any quarterback, just 12 (out of 40 behind the leader, Alex Smith of San Francisco. Out of 34, Tebow ranks 28th in quarterback rating, 7.5 ahead of Blaine Gabbert, whom is at the very bottom of the league in this category. Tebow ranks dead last in yards passing per game (34th), averaging 124 passing yards per game, 24 fewer than Gabbert. Also, in just 11 starts, Tebow is tied for 3rd in the league in fumbles, 2 behind the leader (Gabbert). Tebow ranks at or near the bottom in all of these categories: Completion percentage, yards per attempt, sacks, quarterback rating, passing yards per game and also fumbles. Once again, how in the world can this guy be talked about as being one of the league's top quarterbacks, in any respect?
Looking at the team, yes, the Broncos were 7-4 with Tebow at quarterback, however, as I'll again showcase, this was much more due to the defense than the offense. In 6 of his 11 starts (54.5%), the defense allowed 15 points or fewer and 24 points or fewer in 7 of 11 games (63.6%). In these seven games, the defense allowed a total of 92 points or an average of 13.1 points. Even if you include the 32 they allowed against Minnesota, the defense allowed a total of 124 points in those 8 games or an average of 15.5. The team was 7-1 in those games, their only loss coming this past weekend against Kansas City, where they fell to the Chiefs by the final score of 7-3. The team allowed just over two touchdowns a game in 72.7% of Tebow's starts, where he won 7 of 8 games. The defense was horrendous in the other three games, allowing 126 points or an average of 42.0 points and the team was 0-3 in those games. Offensively, the team scored 18 or fewer points in 8 of 11 games and 23 or fewer in 9 of 11. In these 9 games, the team scored a combined 131 points or an average of 14.6 per. Somehow, the team went 5-4 in these games. The team scored just over two touchdowns a game in 81.8% of Tebow's starts this year and have a winning record in those starts. Even if you include the 38-point output the team scored against Oakland and 35 points they scored against the Minnesota Vikings, the Broncos scored an average of just 18.5 points per game in Tebow's 11 starts. The 14.6 would rank the Broncos 29th out of 32 teams, ahead of only Cleveland, Kansas City and St. Louis. The 18.5 ranks them 25th, ahead of only: Washington, Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Kansas City and St. Louis.
I've said it over and over again. When the defense plays like they have in 8 of Tebow's 11 starts, the special teams steps up and the running game is effective, all Tebow needs to do is NOT turn the ball over to do his job, more or less. Tebow may receive all the publicity, because of his name, his face, his fame and his being the quarterback of the team during 4th quarter comebacks, but he's not the one whom should be receiving the credit for these wins. The guy is last or near last in the league in most all passing categories, in addition to sacks and fumbles. The offense has often times been anemic with Tebow at the helm. The guy is going to need to improve by leaps and bounds if he wants to be an effective NFL quarterback for the long-term. First thing's first, though. He'll need to face the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense. With what defenses have done to Tebow in the past 3 weeks and the Steelers having plenty of tape on him to make proper adjustments, I find it difficult to see the Broncos making it past the first-round this upcoming weekend. Soooo...how are those Tim Tebow-Aaron Rodgers/John Elway/Tom Brady comparisons coming? That's what I thought...
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