I've been quite critical of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow as many others have praised him since he was named the starting quarterback for his team. I'm still not going to ride the Tebow train yet. As I said about Cam Newton early in the year, I've got to see at least one full season, if not two, from these guys before concluding on how they'll fare in the long-term as NFL quarterbacks, barring injury of course.
As has been typical. Tebow didn't throw the ball much, but was efficient when he did, completing 10 of 15 passes for 202 yards and 2 scores. It was the first time he's completed more than 50% of his passes in his 7 starts this year. He also ran the ball 4 times for 13 yards. It should be noted he lost one fumble, just his second turnover in 7 starts this year.
The Broncos defense played pretty poorly throughout, but came up with some big plays that eventually helped lead the team to victory. Mario Haggan took back a Christian Ponder interception 16 yards for the team's first score, putting them temporarily ahead by the score of 7-2. After the Broncos tied the game at 32 a piece, Andre Goodman picked off another Ponder pass which led to the game-winning field goal. The defense also caused and recovered a Ponder fumble. That's really what pushed Denver over the top. Minnesota should have scored more than 32 points. They held the ball for about 38 minutes. They held an 81-49 play advantage. They outgained Denver 489-336, committed 2 fewer penalties for 19 fewer yards. Minnesota converted 27 first downs to only 13 for Denver. The Vikings were 6 for 15 on 3rd down, while Denver was just 3 for 11. But, the Vikings were just 1 of 3 inside the red zone and committed some very costly turnovers.
When it comes right down to it, Tebow and the Broncos came out of Minnesota with yet another victory to vault them to 7-5 and a share of the AFC West lead alongside Oakland. Up next will be a home game against the bruised and battered Chicago Bears, who will be without both quarterback Jay Cutler and stud tailback Matt Forte for the game. The Bears will be coming off a very disappointed 10-3 loss to the 5-7 Kansas City Chiefs. It will be interesting to see how Tebow matches up with the Bears defense and if the Bears can generate any points without the before-mentioned Cutler and Forte. After that, the Broncos will face the Patriots at home, Bills in Buffalo and finish the regular season with the Chiefs at home. Like I said, I'm not going to hop on the Tebow train just yet, especially as he was facing the 29th ranked pass defense in the Minnesota Vikings (so many open receivers), but it was by far and away his best showing thus far as a starter, so I'll be anxiously awaiting to see if he's able to build off this performance en route to a better and more consistent showing to close the season or if this had more to do with the lack of defense he faced and less to do with his actually improving as a passer. We shall see...
As has been typical. Tebow didn't throw the ball much, but was efficient when he did, completing 10 of 15 passes for 202 yards and 2 scores. It was the first time he's completed more than 50% of his passes in his 7 starts this year. He also ran the ball 4 times for 13 yards. It should be noted he lost one fumble, just his second turnover in 7 starts this year.
The Broncos defense played pretty poorly throughout, but came up with some big plays that eventually helped lead the team to victory. Mario Haggan took back a Christian Ponder interception 16 yards for the team's first score, putting them temporarily ahead by the score of 7-2. After the Broncos tied the game at 32 a piece, Andre Goodman picked off another Ponder pass which led to the game-winning field goal. The defense also caused and recovered a Ponder fumble. That's really what pushed Denver over the top. Minnesota should have scored more than 32 points. They held the ball for about 38 minutes. They held an 81-49 play advantage. They outgained Denver 489-336, committed 2 fewer penalties for 19 fewer yards. Minnesota converted 27 first downs to only 13 for Denver. The Vikings were 6 for 15 on 3rd down, while Denver was just 3 for 11. But, the Vikings were just 1 of 3 inside the red zone and committed some very costly turnovers.
When it comes right down to it, Tebow and the Broncos came out of Minnesota with yet another victory to vault them to 7-5 and a share of the AFC West lead alongside Oakland. Up next will be a home game against the bruised and battered Chicago Bears, who will be without both quarterback Jay Cutler and stud tailback Matt Forte for the game. The Bears will be coming off a very disappointed 10-3 loss to the 5-7 Kansas City Chiefs. It will be interesting to see how Tebow matches up with the Bears defense and if the Bears can generate any points without the before-mentioned Cutler and Forte. After that, the Broncos will face the Patriots at home, Bills in Buffalo and finish the regular season with the Chiefs at home. Like I said, I'm not going to hop on the Tebow train just yet, especially as he was facing the 29th ranked pass defense in the Minnesota Vikings (so many open receivers), but it was by far and away his best showing thus far as a starter, so I'll be anxiously awaiting to see if he's able to build off this performance en route to a better and more consistent showing to close the season or if this had more to do with the lack of defense he faced and less to do with his actually improving as a passer. We shall see...
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