The Curious Case of Timmothy Tebow
I'm willing to bet that you are as sick of hearing/seeing/reading about Tim Tebow as I am. Ever since he took over as the starter for Denver its as if no other player in the NFL existed. 20 year old records were being shattered left and right, perfection was being chased, but media coverage was pinned almost solely on 2nd year QB who had managed to string a few dramatic wins together.
My hope is that now that Denver has been eliminated from the playoffs, that the media will now move on and we wont have to hear much, if anything, about Tebow until next season. And that's the way it should be when your team gets absolutely dismantled, out-coached, out-played and downright embarrassed on national prime time TV.
I see the debates on TV and even on "the book" as to whether Tebow is a good QB or a bad QB. I'm here to show you beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is in fact, a horrible QB. Let's take a look at his stat line for the season shall we. Tebow completed 126 passes out of 271 attempts, for a miserable completion percentage of 46.5. That was good for 34th among QB's. You may also note that there are only 32 NFL teams and he placed 34th which means he actually is less accurate than a couple of back-ups. His 1,729 yards was good for 32nd and his 6.8 yards per attempt puts him at 28th. His 12 throwing TD slot him in at 27th. The one bright spot in his passing statistics is that he only threw 6 interceptions, the 3rd fewest in the league. The other half of the coin is Tebow as a runner. He had 122 attempts for 660 yards and 6 TD, a 5.4 yards per carry average, and to top it off he had 6 fumbles.
What these stats show is that Tebow is an above average runner (for a QB) but a below average passer. Now here is where all the fan boys will start crying about how many games Tebow won and that stats don't aren't everything. I will agree that stats aren't the only basis for judging a player but at a certain point they become impossible to ignore, especially at the QB position in the NFL. Tebow took over in week 4, with Denver sitting at 1-2. He led them to an 8-8 final record, meaning he went 7-6 as a starter. Not spectacular by any means, especially when gentleman like Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady won twice as many games on their own. Tebow got all the praise and recognition for two reasons: the games were dramatic, and he is an unorthodox player. Denver won 3 OT games and a handful of games on last second field goals. In fact, 7 of the 11 Tebow started games were decided by 7 points or less. That kind of drama alone will earn a team media spotlight, especially when they win those games. Add to that the fact that Tebow is not a conventional QB and you get the perfect media firestorm. The QB is the figurehead for a franchise. He's the one who takes the fall and the praise depending on the outcome, deservingly or undeservingly so. If the QB is exceptional, you will hear about him often and in positive lights, If he's bad you won't hear about him as much and it will usually be in a negative light. If hes simply mediocre, you may not hear much about him at all. This is basically how sports media operates on a normal basis.
Now the fan boys are saying that some of the losses aren't Tebow's fault. More often than not, if the QB has a bad day, his team isn't going to win consistently. Sure there are exceptions and as we've seen so far in the playoffs, anything is possible on the football field. Football is the pinnacle of a team sport. There's the coaching staffs who come up with the game plan for the week and then have to adapt on the fly to what the other team counters with. You have defense and special teams which can also turn the tide of a game. Despite all these things, winning a football game comes down to the QB executing the plan. Can a QB play a great game and still lose, of course. Drew Brees threw for 462 yards with 4 TD and 2 INT and lost. Its hard to blame him for the loss since the Saints were winning when he stepped off the field. Let's look at Tebow's two playoff games.
Against the Steelers, he went 10 of 21 (47.6%) for 316 yards and 2 TD. He also added 50 yards rushing and 1 TD. Despite the bad completion percentage, those are good stats. In the end they barely escaped with a victory via a 80 yard OT TD pass. (The ball was in the air only 17 of those 80 yards however). He essentially had a nomal day outside of accruing more yardage than usual due to several big plays. Tebow more than doubled his season average of yards per attempt this game, finishing at 15 yards per attempted compared with 6.8. This mainly reflects how the opposing defense played. Denver did not attempt more passes than usual, nor did Tebow complete more than usual, they just got more big plays.
Now lets look at the tale of the tape in the loss to the Patriots. 9 of 26 (34.6%) for 136 yards, an average of 5.2 yards per attempt, 0 TD. He had 5 rushes for 13 yards as well. These stats are more in line with his season averages. Good enough stats and just enough plays to beat 7 teams who didn't make the playoffs but not good enough to beat a future hall of famer. Add to that only putting up 10 points and what you get is a 45-10 massacre.
"But Cam, its not Tebow's job to stop the Pats offense, thats the D's job. Its not Tebow's fault they lost." You're right guys, its not. However, it is Tebow's job to score more than 10 points especially considering he was facing the 31st ranked D in the NFL that was staring a WR in their secondary. Sure maybe the pats out-coached the broncos, they certainly outplayed them. Then again they have a real QB in Tom Brady, who made Denver's D look like a retarded pop-warner team.
In conclusion, Tim Tebow is most certainly not a good NFL QB. He may be a leader, and charasmatic and all that stuff, but that alone will not win games; an accurate arm and intelligence acomplishes that. Denver beat up on bad teams and won by the slimmest of margins repeatedly. History has shown that that outcome is the exception, not the norm. They do have a solid run game and a good D, which will keep them in almost every game, but unless Tebow can improve, they face more 45-10 drubbings at the hands of the leages premier teams.
My hope is that now that Denver has been eliminated from the playoffs, that the media will now move on and we wont have to hear much, if anything, about Tebow until next season. And that's the way it should be when your team gets absolutely dismantled, out-coached, out-played and downright embarrassed on national prime time TV.
I see the debates on TV and even on "the book" as to whether Tebow is a good QB or a bad QB. I'm here to show you beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is in fact, a horrible QB. Let's take a look at his stat line for the season shall we. Tebow completed 126 passes out of 271 attempts, for a miserable completion percentage of 46.5. That was good for 34th among QB's. You may also note that there are only 32 NFL teams and he placed 34th which means he actually is less accurate than a couple of back-ups. His 1,729 yards was good for 32nd and his 6.8 yards per attempt puts him at 28th. His 12 throwing TD slot him in at 27th. The one bright spot in his passing statistics is that he only threw 6 interceptions, the 3rd fewest in the league. The other half of the coin is Tebow as a runner. He had 122 attempts for 660 yards and 6 TD, a 5.4 yards per carry average, and to top it off he had 6 fumbles.
What these stats show is that Tebow is an above average runner (for a QB) but a below average passer. Now here is where all the fan boys will start crying about how many games Tebow won and that stats don't aren't everything. I will agree that stats aren't the only basis for judging a player but at a certain point they become impossible to ignore, especially at the QB position in the NFL. Tebow took over in week 4, with Denver sitting at 1-2. He led them to an 8-8 final record, meaning he went 7-6 as a starter. Not spectacular by any means, especially when gentleman like Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady won twice as many games on their own. Tebow got all the praise and recognition for two reasons: the games were dramatic, and he is an unorthodox player. Denver won 3 OT games and a handful of games on last second field goals. In fact, 7 of the 11 Tebow started games were decided by 7 points or less. That kind of drama alone will earn a team media spotlight, especially when they win those games. Add to that the fact that Tebow is not a conventional QB and you get the perfect media firestorm. The QB is the figurehead for a franchise. He's the one who takes the fall and the praise depending on the outcome, deservingly or undeservingly so. If the QB is exceptional, you will hear about him often and in positive lights, If he's bad you won't hear about him as much and it will usually be in a negative light. If hes simply mediocre, you may not hear much about him at all. This is basically how sports media operates on a normal basis.
Now the fan boys are saying that some of the losses aren't Tebow's fault. More often than not, if the QB has a bad day, his team isn't going to win consistently. Sure there are exceptions and as we've seen so far in the playoffs, anything is possible on the football field. Football is the pinnacle of a team sport. There's the coaching staffs who come up with the game plan for the week and then have to adapt on the fly to what the other team counters with. You have defense and special teams which can also turn the tide of a game. Despite all these things, winning a football game comes down to the QB executing the plan. Can a QB play a great game and still lose, of course. Drew Brees threw for 462 yards with 4 TD and 2 INT and lost. Its hard to blame him for the loss since the Saints were winning when he stepped off the field. Let's look at Tebow's two playoff games.
Against the Steelers, he went 10 of 21 (47.6%) for 316 yards and 2 TD. He also added 50 yards rushing and 1 TD. Despite the bad completion percentage, those are good stats. In the end they barely escaped with a victory via a 80 yard OT TD pass. (The ball was in the air only 17 of those 80 yards however). He essentially had a nomal day outside of accruing more yardage than usual due to several big plays. Tebow more than doubled his season average of yards per attempt this game, finishing at 15 yards per attempted compared with 6.8. This mainly reflects how the opposing defense played. Denver did not attempt more passes than usual, nor did Tebow complete more than usual, they just got more big plays.
Now lets look at the tale of the tape in the loss to the Patriots. 9 of 26 (34.6%) for 136 yards, an average of 5.2 yards per attempt, 0 TD. He had 5 rushes for 13 yards as well. These stats are more in line with his season averages. Good enough stats and just enough plays to beat 7 teams who didn't make the playoffs but not good enough to beat a future hall of famer. Add to that only putting up 10 points and what you get is a 45-10 massacre.
"But Cam, its not Tebow's job to stop the Pats offense, thats the D's job. Its not Tebow's fault they lost." You're right guys, its not. However, it is Tebow's job to score more than 10 points especially considering he was facing the 31st ranked D in the NFL that was staring a WR in their secondary. Sure maybe the pats out-coached the broncos, they certainly outplayed them. Then again they have a real QB in Tom Brady, who made Denver's D look like a retarded pop-warner team.
In conclusion, Tim Tebow is most certainly not a good NFL QB. He may be a leader, and charasmatic and all that stuff, but that alone will not win games; an accurate arm and intelligence acomplishes that. Denver beat up on bad teams and won by the slimmest of margins repeatedly. History has shown that that outcome is the exception, not the norm. They do have a solid run game and a good D, which will keep them in almost every game, but unless Tebow can improve, they face more 45-10 drubbings at the hands of the leages premier teams.
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