Say what you will, but Tebow freaking wins.

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Why the hate? Stand up guy that wins a playoff game in what is essentially his "rookie" year. He deserves a shot at it. Dude is clutch. Can't teach that. Look at Romo. All the skills in the world and when the lights are the brightest he folds like a lawnchair.

 

[SP33Demon]

Just watch what happens if/when they beat the Patriots, all the heads that haven't exploded yet will be complete.

That, or more excuses and how Tebow can't throw.

Nobody in their right mind would have believe Tebow would lead the Broncos to the playoffs let alone WINNING. Make no mistake, that was a huge upset.

Anyone know what Vegas had the Steelers up by before the game?

 

[crashtestdummy]

TP seemed to be heavily focused on preventing tebow from running or getting many yards. He stuffed some runs at the line with his lateral movement, but steelers clearly got burned by overplaying the run threat in general. Not a bad bet, but tebow fooled mother nature and threw some great passes.

Great article on what happened on several of the longer pass plays:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-s...wn-triumph-play-design-023540443.html#more-id

The Steelers were playing an inverted cover-2, which meant that the corners had to run back to play safety. This is great against the run, as it allows the safeties to play further up and get involved in tackling, but it also mean that the corners have to run all the way back to the safety position. That leaves you open to deep slants and go routes, which the Broncos ran all day. The receivers were just too fast, leaving no one deeper to cover.

It was a risky game plan by the Steelers, assuming that Tebow couldn't hit the deep patterns, and a good job by the Broncos figuring out how to handle the defense given to them.

 

[SunnyD]

124 rating, and no interceptions (or fumbles.) Made some high caliber long passes (including fantastic 2 td's iirc), and made great decisions when to throw the ball away as well.

It helps to watch the game before you comment. Aside from his rough mechanics, there was nothing glaringly wrong with his game yesterday, and he definitely brought his best yet imo.

But how many quality passes did he complete <15 yards? That's where the money throws are for a team. And it's exactly the point I'm trying to make. If you shut down the ground game, you have to put it in the air to make those first downs. Denver has talent that can stretch the field, which is exactly what was taken advantage of. Their short/mid-range passing game is non-existent because their running game is potent enough to negate that need. You just need to go back to the Patriots and Lions games to see how big of a liability that is.

Once you force Tebow to put it in the air just to move the chains, their gameplan falls apart horribly.

I'm not saying Tebow is bad, but he's definitely not a franchise caliber passing QB (yet). More credit should go to John Fox for doing what few other coaches ever do: Playing to his players' strengths.

 

[Perknose]

Whatever else ever transpires, this whole Tebow thing makes for a great and interesting story.

This was the first time I ever watched him perform. Maybe it was a case of low expectations, but he didn't look half bad and kinda' impressed me.

However . . . please! The jury is still out as to what level of success he will have long term. Like MLB, the game at the NFL level is one of constant adjustments -- defensive and offensive game plans.

We saw in his last three regular season games that the league caught up with what he had been doing. Now, the Broncos made an adjustment, having him throw long when the defense wasn't expecting him to. Long term, adjustments will be made by opposing Defensive Coordinators to that, too.

Short term? I will praise Yahweh and kill a fatted calf (makes for great game-time wings) in his honor if they somehow beat the Patriots. For is not Bill Belichick the Anti-Christ risen among us?

But, again, long term? The history of NFL QB's is littered with many who have had sometimes spectacular short term success, only to succumb when the league found and caught up to their tendencies and weaknesses.

One thing is for sure. I'll be watching next week, and so will most of you, no matter which side of the Timmy T controversy you come down on.

I hear the Vatican just ordered the Dish NFL package for this same reason!

 

[Genx87]

316 yards yeah... but 10-21? Really? That's not a starting-caliber QB completion rate, and what's worse, that's slightly above average for Tebow. Just goes to show you, surround anybody at QB with talent, and they can look like Peyton Manning on a bad day.

Big ben was 22/40 with a rating 50 less than Tebow at 75.9

 

[Perknose]

Why the hate? Stand up guy that wins a playoff game in what is essentially his "rookie" year. He deserves a shot at it. Dude is clutch. Can't teach that. Look at Romo. All the skills in the world and when the lights are the brightest he folds like a lawnchair.

As a die hard Iggles fan, I hate the way overhyped, model marrying, "America's Team," pretty boy and sometimes choke artist that Romo is.

Of course I do!

But, tell me true, if you were the real life GM of an NFL team, which player would you take before the other, Romo or Tebow?

It pains me deeply to say this, but I'd take Romo. :|

All that said, yeah, the actual HATE displayed for Tebow is stoooopid! The Jesus jokes, though? Not so much.

 

[spidey07]

Big ben was 22/40 with a rating 50 less than Tebow at 75.9

But, but, but, the steelers had so many injuries on defense leading to Ben's poor performance!:biggrin:

 

[Capt Caveman]

But, but, but, the steelers had so many injuries on defense leading to Ben's poor performance!:biggrin:

Yeah and he wasn't injured or anything.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

But, but, but, the steelers had so many injuries on defense leading to Ben's poor performance!:biggrin:

Yes, and neither his ankle nor throwing hand injuries affected him...

 

[spidey07]

Yes, and neither his ankle nor throwing hand injuries affected him...

And what was Tebow's QB rating, who was injured with "can't throw the ball and never be successful in the NFL"?

 

[SunnyD]

Big ben was 22/40 with a rating 50 less than Tebow at 75.9

He also threw an INT and put the ball on the ground once. There's your 50 rating points. As was also mentioned, he also has a high ankle sprain and a broken thumb, and still managed to keep the game competitive. A healthy Ben completes 30 of 40 any day of the week.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

ah damnit, I should have registered tebowing.com while I had the chance.

33k local searches a month *drool*

 

[Miramonti]

Great article on what happened on several of the longer pass plays:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-s...wn-triumph-play-design-023540443.html#more-id

The Steelers were playing an inverted cover-2, which meant that the corners had to run back to play safety. This is great against the run, as it allows the safeties to play further up and get involved in tackling, but it also mean that the corners have to run all the way back to the safety position. That leaves you open to deep slants and go routes, which the Broncos ran all day. The receivers were just too fast, leaving no one deeper to cover.

It was a risky game plan by the Steelers, assuming that Tebow couldn't hit the deep patterns, and a good job by the Broncos figuring out how to handle the defense given to them.

Nice writeup. I don't know if they ran that defense a lot, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were different variations of it, since every long pass was into single coverage. I thought Mccoy did everything he could have to help Tebow succeed against pittsburg's game plan shy of throwing the ball for him. Not to take away from tebow's execution, which was excellent, but mccoy had them running the right plays against such a gambling defense.

 

[Perknose]

How can you watch this and not come back impressed. Yes, a lot of guys say similar things, but how many QB's will say "my teammates make me look better than I actually am"?

Actually, that comment falls into an entire category of traditional sports cliche, the modest deflection division:

It's a team game, we win and lose as a team, I'd like to thank my 0-line/receivers/O-cordinator/concession hawkers in the stands for making this all possible.

"Never underestimate the heart of a champion. We're taking this one game at a time. To be big league you've got to think big league. I owe all my success to my Pop Warner coach . . . and the FSM. Hi Mom!"

Otoh, I'm starting to like this guy, and this from a curmudgeon who can't stand pro athletes who promote the idea that God intervenes on their behalf in a sports contest and any over-hyped, ZOMG flavor of the month in general.

Most of the hype is not really his fault. And I don't care who you are, this whole unlikely but lucky/clutchly earned/Jesus ordained run of his rocks!

 

[crashtestdummy]

Short term? I will praise Yahweh and kill a fatted calf (makes for great game-time wings) in his honor if they somehow beat the Patriots. For is not Bill Belichick the Anti-Christ risen among us?

Wait... isn't the anti-christ supposed to be charming and attractive? :awe:

Seriously, though, I'm amused at the amount of extreme reaction that Tebow creates in both directions. It appears that he's immediately headed to either the hall of fame or the CFL, depending on who you're talking to. Is Tim Tebow a good thrower right now? Absolutely not. His mechanics are terrible, and his accuracy is well below average, but he's such a good runner that teams are overcompensating for it and leaving receivers so wide open that it doesn't matter how inaccurate he is. A more fair comparison for Tebow is to the wildcat craze a couple years ago. Teams were able to game plan those offenses because the "wildcat QBs" were awful throwers. By comparison, Tebow is much better than them.

Teams will learn to defend this spread option offense in due time (one of the keys seems to be keeping Tebow from rolling left), but Tebow and the Broncos staff will have time to refine their game as well. I look forward to this cat-and-mouse game, and am interested to see if Tebow can improve his throwing mechanics.

As for this upcoming game, I said it before in this thread, but I don't think the Broncos match up well with the Pats. If this becomes another shootout, it takes away the value of the run game and will force Tebow to become a pure thrower. That, so far, seems to be the best way to beat him.

 

[bignateyk]

Tebow must have out-prayed Polamalu.

 

[Genx87]

He also threw an INT and put the ball on the ground once. There's your 50 rating points. As was also mentioned, he also has a high ankle sprain and a broken thumb, and still managed to keep the game competitive. A healthy Ben completes 30 of 40 any day of the week.

If only he didnt throw that interception. If you are going to have such a high bar for your starting QB. Make sure the other guy meets or at least sniffs it. And dont give me his ankle is why he couldnt complete nearly half his passes and tossed a pick.

 

[Miramonti]

But how many quality passes did he complete <15 yards? That's where the money throws are for a team. And it's exactly the point I'm trying to make. If you shut down the ground game, you have to put it in the air to make those first downs. Denver has talent that can stretch the field, which is exactly what was taken advantage of. Their short/mid-range passing game is non-existent because their running game is potent enough to negate that need. You just need to go back to the Patriots and Lions games to see how big of a liability that is.

Once you force Tebow to put it in the air just to move the chains, their gameplan falls apart horribly.

I'm not saying Tebow is bad, but he's definitely not a franchise caliber passing QB (yet). More credit should go to John Fox for doing what few other coaches ever do: Playing to his players' strengths.

My point isn't that he's perfect, but was an excellent qb yesterday. He's got a ways to go on his timing/mechanics/footwork in the pocket to thread needles on short passes. But nothing can be taken away from the numerous long passes he made to his receivers yesterday...not the typical flutter passes, and nailed his receivers a few times in stride really well. Irony that he could do that but struggle so much with the short game, which other qb's might do better but wrecklessly toss it into coverage when they extend their passes, particularly under pressure.

So in the long run there might be some hope, he's clearly a gamer who focuses really well under pressure...just hope he focuses as hard at improving the short game you're talking about.

New England is going to play a lot more honest defense and Denver won't see the same level of consistent gambling. Will Tebow be as successful? Hail no, of course not . But even with pittsburg gambling so much, I was shocked he could accomplish what he did, and I have no problem giving props where they are due.

 

[CPA]

god forbid someone in professional sports actually has some class :roll:

good for tebow :thumbsup:

hell, i hope the guy does well simply because he's humble, unlike damn near everyone else.

I'm not saying he's better than anyone else. How many other "humble" guys get the hate that Tebow does? None.

 

[Capt Caveman]

And what was Tebow's QB rating, who was injured with "can't throw the ball and never be successful in the NFL"?

Why didn't you post this during December?

 

[PimpJuice]

They'll get knocked out in the first round. Mark my words.

Broncos vs the Steelers. After 3 straight losses to the Patriots, the Bills, and the Chiefs.

Good luck with that Broncos fans... you'll need all the Jesus you can get.

Where have you been Jules? Did the resident ATOT manlet take the offseason off like the Chargers? Your words have been marked. Please come back and give us some more gems you flaming douche.

 

[SP33Demon]

Steelers were favored by nine by Vegas before the game. And that was with a good chunk of players already not starting due to injury. Tebow defies some crazy odds... never bet against God.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Nice writeup. I don't know if they ran that defense a lot, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were different variations of it, since every long pass was into single coverage. I thought Mccoy did everything he could have to help Tebow succeed against pittsburg's game plan shy of throwing the ball for him. Not to take away from tebow's execution, which was excellent, but mccoy had them running the right plays against such a gambling defense.

They ran that defense for a good chunk of the game. I commented in the other thread about how they were stacking 9 in the box. I thought they were running a cover 0 (no deep safeties). It turns out that's not quite true, but it was designed to look that way.

I wouldn't diminish what Tebow did, except to say that Pittsburgh did everything they could to take away his biggest strength (running), but in doing so left wide open his second best skill (throwing the deep ball).

 

[SunnyD]

If only he didnt throw that interception. If you are going to have such a high bar for your starting QB. Make sure the other guy meets or at least sniffs it. And dont give me his ankle is why he couldnt complete nearly half his passes and tossed a pick.

Lack of mobility to extend plays like he normally does, particularly against a very stout defense - yeah, Ben's ankle probably played a huge role. Much more than you're willing to admit obviously.

My point isn't that he's perfect, but was an excellent qb yesterday. He's got a ways to go on his timing/mechanics/footwork in the pocket to thread needles on short passes. But nothing can be taken away from the numerous long passes he made to his receivers yesterday...not the typical flutter passes, and nailed his receivers a few times in stride really well. Irony that he could do that but struggle so much with the short game, which other qb's might do better but wrecklessly toss it into coverage when they extend their passes, particularly under pressure.

So in the long run there might be some hope, he's clearly a gamer who focuses really well under pressure...just hope he focuses as hard at improving the short game you're talking about.

New England is going to play a lot more honest defense and Denver won't see the same level of consistent gambling. Will Tebow be as successful? Hail no, of course not . But even with pittsburg gambling so much, I was shocked he could accomplish what he did, and I have no problem giving props where they are due.

Funny thing is I agree with pretty much everything you just said.

Like I said, if he gets his short range accuracy and decision making under control, Tebow would likely be as big a threat as Cam Newton as a QB. He already has a better team and weapons surrounding him.

That said, as a Bills fan, I certainly hope his rematch against the Patriots fares better than I expect it to.