Posted by
Steve on Monday, December 05, 2011 11:37:32 AM
Normally in this space I talk politics or science. But, there is a phenomenon occurring in the National Football League (NFL) that warrants discussion. The phenomenon is Tim Tebow and what he has done to the Denver Broncos.
Last season the Denver Broncos were a terrible team. In fact, they were so bad they got the second pick in this year’s draft. To be that bad you have to lose almost all your games. Nobody expected much of an improvement this year, primarily because they have a new coach and many of the same players. The year started off as expected. They were 1-4 after 5 games and were not nearly as good as their record indicates. Their quarterback was Greg Orton. Last year, he was one of the very few bright spots on the team. This year, he was stinking up football games big time.
After the fourth loss, the coach, John Fox, decided to try Tim Tebow a second year player with very little experience at quarterback. He had been a successful college player, but this is professional football. You have to have a certain skill set to be successful and everybody said that he did not have that skill set. Also, the lockout this off season did not help him. He could not come in and work hard to improve his game. His throwing was slow and inaccurate. When rushed in the pocket, his first thought was to run the ball, not throw it down the field. But, when he was on the field something seemed to happen to the other players. They seemed to get better.
The first game Tebow played was the end of the Chargers game in Denver. He worked hard and almost got the team to score enough points to pull the game out. The next two games, the team used a conventional game plan and Tebow was nearly killed by the furious rush. Their record after two games was 1-1. The Broncos then decided to throw out the conventional playbook and put in one designed to use Tebow’s strengths.
Then the magic started. At first, the team did not completely buy into the Tebow thing. But, Tebow managed to do miraculous things to get them to believe. As more and more of the team started to believe, the team became more and more dangerous to opposing teams. Last week in San Diego, Norv Turner of the Chargers basically gave the game away because he was afraid his quarterback would get killed. The Broncos defense became one of the best in the league instead of the worst. Their pass rush was furious. Quarterbacks have to run for their lives to avoid being sacked on every pass. The quarterbacks are now throwing the ball up for grabs and the Broncos are catching some of them for touchdowns. This is totally different than the Broncos of the past four or five years. Those Broncos hardly ever intercepted a pass and I cannot remember one for a TD.
I saw an interview with Eddie George a former running back with the Tennessee Titans; he said what is happening is that the team is buying into Tebow’s work ethic. Tebow is always the first player there and the last to leave. He does the workouts of all the different positions as well as the quarterback drills. The other players are working harder than ever and it is showing. Players who had promise but were not using it are now making the plays they should have. Players who were marginal are now becoming good. Tebow gets all the credit for making the Broncos better, but it is really all of the team coming together and working harder than all the other teams.
Their playbook may be archaic, but I am sure that no team would want to play them in the playoffs. There is no other team in the NFL that plays like the Broncos. You cannot practice for what they do, because they are unique. Also, each week they are getting better. This past week, Tebow actually had passing numbers that were respectable. He went 10-15 for 202 yards and a TD. A great QB will have numbers about twice those numbers, but in about the same percentage. So, Tebow is getting better. When the playoffs come around, the Broncos should be extremely dangerous because you cannot make Tebow pass to beat the Broncos. But, you cannot let him run, either. Right now, they are still vulnerable because Tebow is not that accurate. As his accuracy improves, the Broncos chances at making the playoffs improves as does their chance to go somewhere in the playoffs.