The fact is the team played better when Tebow started, and there was a reason for that. In the games he won he was very productive and protected the ball.
Tebow’s success due to production and protection, not magic
http://www.si.com/more-sports/2011/11/29/tim-tebow
The fact is teams (especially defenses) that avoid the injury bug generally do improve over the course of the season. More reps together means more understanding how the rest of your team will react to the situation, means more being in the right place. The QB, especially not a QB that can’t complete passes and stay on the field, doesn’t make the defense play better.
Tebow’s success was due to a 53 man roster. Orton would have been at least as successful, but the Tebow cultists were demanding Tebow, so they sat Orton. It’s the people that have been blowing smoke up Tebow’s rear-end his whole career that have really damaged him. It’s been known since his sophomore year in college that he needed a lot of work to make it in the NFL, but a crowd of people saw that cross around his neck and started telling him the critics were wrong, so he didn’t do the work, he didn’t make the changes, and now he’s been reviewed by his 5th NFL coach and he still doesn’t have a job.
The critics were right, the cultists were wrong. He’s just plain not that good. the body of work shows it.