Tebow Time

The Broncos are 1-4 after starting Kyle Orton as their “best chance to win now.” I agree with Fox’s sentiment, but his complete lack of execution has led him to looking like a buffoon who now needs to eat his own words.

But with Tebow at the helm, logically they should lose even more games going forward. This will finally give Fox enough evidence to get rid of Tebow. If he stinks it up for the rest of the year, the Bronco organization will finally have enough poor performance on game tape to broom him in the off season.

But will he?

Let’s take a quick look at the rest of the Broncos schedule:

After their week 6 bye (which gives them about two weeks to “totally revamp the offense”) they face the currently winless Dolphins. Tebow has a great shot to win that game only because the Dolphins have been in free fall since week one.

Update: In a strange turn of events, Tebow confirmed the arguments for both sides. He played like a high school quarterback until the final 10 minutes when the Broncos were forced to open up the pass game. He managed to engineer a 15 point comeback, and the defense sealed the game with a force fumble that turned into a field goal. This game answered no questions.

Week 8 they face red hot Detriots Lions. Tebow is too raw of a passer to hang with Stafford right now, so the Broncos will lose this one.

Update: Tebow struggled awfully the whole game and if not for the game being totally out of hand he would have been benched for Quinn. It is not out of the realm that Tebow could be benched at a moment’s notice

Week 9 is at Oakland, who are one of the most underrated 3-2 teams in the league. Darren McFadden will gash them and their secondary will give Tebow fits. Another loss here.

Update: This win is either an indication that the Raider’s goofed up offering so much for Carson Palmer or that the play called “Tebow Option” is going to give defensive coordinators headaches. He ripped off two big runs of over 20 yards and routinely out ran the Raiders linebackers to the sidelines. An athletic or heady set of linebackers would take this play away, but the fact that a linebacker has to spy Tebow on nearly every play means that the defense is playing with one less person. If Tebow beats the Chiefs, he is going to become really tough to bench.

Weeks 10 and 11 the Broncos get Kansas City and the formerly formidable Jets. Both games are a coin toss, so lets say the Broncos win one and lose one.

Update: In an ugly 17-10 win over the Chiefs, the Broncos ran the quarterback option again and managed another upset. In the first 5 minutes, starting running back Willis McGahee was injured and replaced by Knowshon Moreno. Knowshon didn’t make it to the second quarter before tearing his ACL. So down to their third string running back, the Chief’s allowed the Broncos ran the football 55 times for 244 yards in the victory. Tebow was an incredible 2-8 with 69 yards and a 56 yards TD. Beating the Chiefs is no grand task, but beating them in a NFL Madden-esque fashion like this is. Admittedly, most fans would have liked to see more out of Tebow in this game, but another win only helps to prove that right now Tebow is the Broncos best option.

Update: In a 17-13 upset over the Jets, Tebow and the Broncos generated little offense all game. However, with the ball on the five yard line and only minutes left in the game Tebow managed a 95 yard scoring drive to win the game. He threw, ran, and willed his team to another win. Overall, the win was a team effort and Tebow is happy to know that he has his team behind him.

Week 12 is at San Diego…I give Rivers the win.

Update: This is becoming downright silly. Now 5-1 on the season, no one can possibly argue that going to Tebow wasn't the wise choice. Even if he isn't their quarterback for the future, playing him now and getting him on tape is a wise idea. And since he has done little but win, win, win there is not way that keeping Orton in their would have acheived much else. The Broncos are playing better each week, get ready for more wins. The only truly tough matchups left are a Jay Cutler-less Chicago and New England.

Week 13 is against the Vikings…Tebow is arguably better than either McNabb or Ponder, so I’ll give him this one.

Update: Yup, better than Ponder. It is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine Tebow not starting for the Broncos next year.

The next three games are versus Chicago, New England, and Buffalo…all currently significantly superior teams. That’s three more losses.

Update: Tebow stunk for 57 straight minutes and didn't put up a single point, but won anyway. Now 7-1 this season, Tebow is primed to fail against the Patriots. He has to lose that one!

Update: Yup! Badly in fact. Then again I can't name too many players that are going to beat Brady, but who am I to shrug off Tebows second loss of the season.

Update: Tebow got crushed by the Bills. They played great defense and Tebow threw three picks. Credit to the Bills for playing inspired football despite all their issues over the past few weeks.

Week 17, Tebow faces the Chiefs again and just to be nice we will give him a win here.

So I am projecting Tebow to go 4 and 7 as a starter. That would leave the Broncos at 5-11 for the season and back to square one at the quarterback position.

But I just don’t see this happening. The Broncos have more young players than old ones and Tebow's natural leadership will get them to step in line behind him. Young role players returning from injury include Julius Thomas, Eddie Royal and Demarius Thomas, and all of them are looking for a future in the NFL – and hoping that Tebow becomes the catalyst.

The reality is that Tebow doesn’t need to dominate games to win, he just needs to make good decisions and get the football to his playmakers. Tebow is a legit rushing threat and his presence is like adding a runningback into the backfield. Most defensive ends won’t run him down and defensive backs are too small to tackle his 6’3, 245 lb. frame. Teams will be forced to keep an additional safety or linebacker in the box to spy Tebow, leading to more opportunities for receivers and tight ends. Tebow won't win a lot of games a la Tom Brady, but expect some gutty, wild wins this season.

I expect Tebow to outperform my projection for him and to win 7 games this year, making the Broncos an 8-8 team. He won’t save the world…and he is unlikely to get them into the playoffs. But he is a step in the right direction for the entire team. And his presences should not stop management from drafting another QB if they feel the need…it sure didn’t stop the Carolina Panthers.