Harvard Students Set Out to Prove the ‘Miracles of Tim Tebow’

larrybrownsports.com ^ | Dec 2, 2011 | Steve DelVecchio

[caveat emptor]

How exactly has Tim Tebow been winning games? The Denver Broncos have been the beneficiaries of a complete resurgence since Tebow was named the starter. Although Kyle Orton has proven to be a viable starter in the NFL, he could not get the job done with the team they have assembled in Denver. Yet using the exact same team and barely ever throwing the ball, Tebow has very little but win. A group of Harvard students known as the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective recently set out to figure out why that has been the case.

[caveat emptor]

As the Denver Post pointed out, the HSAC stats freaks examined the Broncos first five games under Kyle Orton and compared them to the next five under Tebow. Considering Denver’s offensive numbers trended down with Tebow under center, the project is appropriately named “A Statistical Analysis of the Miracles of Tim Tebow.”

“Essentially, while Tebow and the rest of the Broncos have not been producing better numbers, they’ve been producing their best numbers at the right times.” the HSAC explained.

For that reason, the group determined that the likelihood of the Broncos sustaining their current winning percentage looks “rather dire.” However, they insist that only means the number of wins is more likely to decrease in line with Tebow’s overall play. If his play improves and/or the Messiah continues to play at a higher level in clutch situations, the trend could conceivably continue. Considering Eric Decker said he is too busy studying film to even come out with his teammates for a little R&R, I’d say the chances of Tebow improving his overall play are fairly solid.

[caveat emptor]

As the saying goes, you can always tell a Hahvahd man student-person, but not very much.

Tebow's success due to production and protection, not magic. Read it here, in SI.

[hinckley buzzard]

Tebow's QB rating in the last game was 95, not a bad rating.

[Eldon Tyrell]

I saw he had like 10th best rating in 4th quarter, and like 6th best in last 5 minutes + OT -

Something like that.

All the Hahvard meatheads have demonstrated is clutch = clutch.

[LibertarianInExile]

C'mon. We all know the answer there.

[Vince Ferrer]

I like this study better: Don't let the numbers fool you on Tebow

Tebow gains an average of 2.61 yards every time he touches the ball. Maybe that doesn’t sound like much, but only four quarterbacks have done better this season. In order, they are Rodgers, Drew Brees, Brady and injured Matt Schaub. Tebow is No. 5.

[varmintman]

Tebow is a very good quarterback now and he's got John Elway there to teach him anything about quarterbacking he didn't learn in college. He's substantially larger and stronger than whatever is normal for QBs, so much so that he doesn't have any reason to fear contact with NFL linebackers or linemen and the only other QB in the league that's true of is Roethlissberger and Tebow is stronger and more heavily built than Roethlissberger. Tebow is basically a good quality NFL fullback on plays in which he ends up carrying the ball.

These sportswriters who badmouth Tebow or claim they see any reason why he can't make it in the NFL are smoking too much reefer or something.

[paudio]

Ugh, that’s what Harvard students can come with? If Tebow and the team are performing well in the future, the winning streak will continue. If they aren’t, then the probability of winning will decrease...

[montag813]

Watch the game winning TD against the Jets and tell me it wasn't a miracle. Tebow's run took forever, yet the Jets' corners played pass until the moment he crossed the goal line. Then they looked utterly stunned. It was as if Tebow was invisible. Was he? Future Hall of Famer cover corner Darelle Revis said afterwards, "I still can't believe it!" Tebow had quoted Proverbs to rally his flock before the game: "As iron sharpens iron, so do men strengthen each other". Do miracles exist? Who is to say they are excluded from the gridiron?

[re_nortex]

In my careful analysis of football (both pro and college), I have found, with a reasonably high degree of certainty, that the team with more points accumulated than the opposition at the conclusion of the contest is generally deemed the winner.

I might be wrong since I went to non-elite, podunk private college in a small Southern town.

[muawiyah]

it is different elsewhere. I went to an enormous Nawthan' university ~ with a middling football team (nobody wants to play in the snow eh).

So, the football players we did have were all the time getting supplements of cash from certain alumni ~ then the school got caught!!!!

The NCAA then put us on a FOUR YEAR TOTAL PROBATION which meant every record set or game won in any sport was automatically left off the record books, or the opposing teams received a win even if they lost.

I am sure the NCAA doesn't do that to Souvrn' schools BTW ~ just the Nawthan' schools.

Well, all good things have to come to an end so the Olympics were on the bill and the school had ALL of America's best swimmers and the best swimming coaches (they were just then developing something called "sports medicine" so they were highly prized). The USA would LOSE the Olympics in swimming without our school. The US Olympic committee proposed approaching the NCAA about lifting the probation on the swimming program. The school said "No, it's all or nothing". So, the NCAA lifted the entire probation; the USA won all the swimming events; end of story.

Since I graduated many years ago the university has had four or five good football years. NOBODY wants to play in the snow when there are numerous Souvrn' schools with much better weather.

[parksstp]

Mark my words. If Tebow and the Broncos somehow win the AFC West and make the playoffs, they WILL go to the Super Bowl.

Not saying they’ll beat the Packers when they get there, but they WILL get to the big game.

[caveat emptor]

...so much so that he doesn't have any reason to fear contact with NFL linebackers or linemen

Yeah. Makes the game more interesting.

[goseminoles]

He is a strong, running quarterback with a funny arm
I wish him luck but he’s not Jesus.

[JimSEA]

The Progressives won’t let Tebow go until he is ground into the dirt under their feet. Anything or anyone with the breath of decency is unacceptable to them. Lady Gaga’s Christmas songs anyone?

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

He is a strong, running quarterback with a funny arm I wish him luck but he’s not Jesus.

[goseminoles]

Hey. Im a Ponder fan. Just as good of a kid..

[Hebrews 11:6]

Tebow isn't beating the Broncos with his arm--he's thrown only one interception (you could say no one can catch his errant throws, but that would be uncharitable). So his legs are a huge offset to his poor passing yardage--and last game he even passed better. It may even be that his running ability is starting to help his passing, if defensive backs are starting to look for TT's scrambles rather than covering their men.

Add to that the team's appreciation for him as a leader and their realization that to succeed he needs their help, especially the defense's, and you've got 5-and-1.

[Popman]

A group of Harvard students known as the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective recently set out to figure out why that has been the case.

I can save them lot's of time and research....

It's called a "winning attitude" why Tebow wins....his teammates have caught the fever...

[Hoodat]

I bet Jesus could throw a football a quarter mile.