Separation of church and turf

Ok here it is:

Tim Tebow from all appearances is a man of good character, integrity and will power. His charitable contributions are to be commended as is his willingness to display and discuss his faith in God. He ranged anywhere from "great" to "amazing" while playing in college for the Florida Gators.

It is time however, to call a spade a spade. Football teams win football games. Not one man. Peyton Manning being on injured reserve is not the reason the Colts are 0-16 anymore than Tebow is the reason the Broncos are 7-1 under Tebow. The Colts have mismanaged their team from a personnel perspective and they have been consistently out coached. The Broncos, on the flip side, have played great to fantastic defense during these last eight games and have seen a rejuvenated (my word for the night, see my FB post) Willis McGahee power the ground game and keep defenses honest while facing Tebow.

McGahee's contribution cannot be understated. If you have no running game outside of Tebow, teams are going to dare you to throw and make you beat them through the air. McGahee has ensured that defenses have to play the run and allow Tebow to do what he does best.....scramble and improvise. Playing the Bears through three quarters Tebow was a horrific 8-23 for 106 yards, 2 turnovers and a whopping FIVE...yes five passing first downs. Through THREE quarters. In the final three drives Tebow was 13-17 for 130 yards, as the Bronco's scored 13 points versus the zero the first 12 drives.

This is NOT an NFL quality quarterback. Tebow's ability to improvise gives defenses a reason to pause but why the Chicago Bears pulled up their skirts and peed on the turf at the site of Tebow in the 4th quarter is beyond me. Tebow did nothing differently through 12 drives than the last 3. Chicago simply decided to rest on their laurels thinking the game was over. It was late in the game and to that moment they has shut Tebow dow...and they relaxed. The Bears have no excuse and if anything they now have to "bear" the burden of adding to the urban legend of Tim Tebow.

I'll give Tebow this. He does not throw interceptions. This is crazy to me for as much as he scrambles and ad libs but this makes him a mobile version of Neil O'Donnell and Trent Dilfer, not Peyton Manning or Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers. This season Tebow has a 38.7% completion percentage. 38.7%!!!! Ridiculous by the lowest of NFL standards. You can argue that Tebow is legitimately killing the Broncos through three quarters of the game. John Elway is not sold on Tebow as his QB of the future and I can almost guarantee that while Tebow will be on an NFL roster nest year, it won't be with the Broncos.

I know I'll have Tebow fans "crucify" me over this and I am prepared for that feedback. At the end of the day, the Denver Broncos are winning DESPITE Tim Tebow and not because of him. The Broncos on the season are 31st (31st!!!!!) in passing yards, and (wait for it...wait for it......) 1st in rushing yards. In Tebow's eight games as a starter they have beaten Miami (4-9), Oakland (7-6), Kansas City (5-8), the Jets (8-5), San Diego (6-7), Minnesota (2-11), and Chicago (7-6). Only 3 of these 8 teams have winning records and the Broncos were destroyed by the Detroit Lions and in Denver's house. Two of those eight teams are BARELY over .500.

Tebow has only FIVE more completions through eight games than Kyle Orton had through four. Tebow only has three more TD's through those same 8 games than Orton did through his 4.

Bottom line: Randall Cunningham could come out of retirement and run this team as well as Tim Tebow if not better. Cunningham has the same faith, professes it loudly, has overcome adversity and can throw the ball a hell of a lot better (oops. Sorry to Tim and Randall for the slip up) than Tebow. The Broncos will continue to win despite Tebow and not because of him.