A Pause in the Tebow Argument

ny slimes ^ | Nov. 2011 | Zinser

[doug from upland]

A Pause in the Tebow Argument

To enjoy the conclusion of Thursday night’s Broncos-Jets game, you did not have to buy into the legend of Tim Tebow or care one whit about his religion or politics or the ridiculousness of the Tebowing craze. You didn’t even have to hate the Jets or detest the word “Sanchize,” although that would be a plus. Even without all of that, it was possible to sit back and marvel at how preposterous Tebow’s winning touchdown drive was, after 54 minutes of acting as if he had stumbled into a football game for the first time and decided to play quarterback.

Of course, to enjoy the conclusion of Thursday night’s Broncos-Jets game, you had to watch the first 54 minutes of two teams acting as if they had stumbled into a football game for the first time. But the ending was sublime, unless you’re a Jets fan, in which case we fear for the safety of your television screen.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I hope he wins MVP at the Super Bowl and make Pro Life comments in his acceptance speech which cause the New York sportswriting fraternity to choke on their Democrat Voter Registrations.

[kabar]

The main reason the NFL doesn’t run the option is that the quarterbacks will get so beat up that very few could last a season.

[Alberta's Child]

LOL. My “prejudice” is nothing more than an objective view of an NFL player — as an NFL player, and that’s it. If that bothers you, then maybe you shouldn’t be getting immersed in this kind of discussion.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

...but because he can rest assured that his passing records at Denver aren't about to fall any time soon.

Probably true. But keep in mind, there are a number of great QBs who have historically stunk in their first year;

John Elway (4 and 6)
Terry Bradshaw (3 and 5)
Johnny Unitas (3 and 4)
Peyton Manning (3 and 13)
Joe Montana (2 and 5)

[Alberta's Child]

Good point. Sanchez — and the entire Jets organization — has taken a lot of well-deserved heat here in the NYC sports media. Is this guy really ready to be an NFL quarterback himself?

[alstewartfan]

Actually, what I saw last night was an offensive coaching staff who looked like it had been handed a clipboard for the first time. For the first 55 minutes, Tebow, a great, powerful runner, had only carried the ball twice! And many of the plays were straight ahead handoffs with no deception whatsoever.
Let’s see what Tim Tebow can do with the shackles off. Admittedly, McGahee played hurt and shouldn’t have, and there probably hadn’t been enough reps with the other backs. But like they used to say about the Gipper, “Let Tebow be Tebow.” Bob

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Offense controlling the ball on sustained drives keeps the defense fresh.

Except for the last drive, Tebow & the Broncs couldn't move the chains to save their lives.

[ExTxMarine]

That’s not a statue of Jesus at the bottom, it’s Willem Dafoe in ‘Platoon.’

Actually, that's "Big Butter Jesus!"

[discostu]

It would be despite their entire QB roster. Really the organization should be ashamed of that situation: the guy that couldn’t take Rex Grossman’s job, the guy that couldn’t take Derek Anderson’s job, and the guy that couldn’t throw a tight accurate spiral if you gave him a throwing machine. The big advantage Tebow has over the other two is he’s a nice guy that wins fan support without even playing. If you can’t start a legitimate QB starting somebody the fans like is good enough.

[ExTxMarine]

Troy Aikman went 1-15!

[alstewartfan]

They’ve changed TT’s throwing motion, which as least to date has made him much less accurate. People who think that Tebow can’t throw forget the phenomenal performance that he had against the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats two years ago on New Year’s Day. The man can flat out play. Maybe now that Elway has seen the fire in the man, he can take him under his wing and refine him. Bob

[alstewartfan]

They’ve changed TT’s throwing motion, which as least to date has made him much less accurate. People who think that Tebow can’t throw forget the phenomenal performance that he had against the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats two years ago on New Year’s Day. The man can flat out play. Maybe now that Elway has seen the fire in the man, he can take him under his wing and refine him. Bob

[kcvl]

[ZX12R]

LOL. My “prejudice” is nothing more than an objective view of an NFL player — as an NFL player, and that’s it. If that bothers you, then maybe you shouldn’t be getting immersed in this kind of discussion.

Yeah, sure it is. Real objective. Kid yourself but not me.

[Alberta's Child]

We should toss any of those records aside when looking at QBs from a historical perspective -- especially from the era before the salary cap, when it was much harder for an NFL team to build a playoff contender quickly through free agent signings and instead had to rely on the college draft for most of their talent.

It makes sense that most great quarterbacks have poor won-lost records in their first few years, especially if they were drafted as highly touted college QBs. Because NFL teams draft in the reverse order of the standings from previous season, the worst NFL teams get the top picks in the draft the following spring.

Look at Dan Marino. He jumped right into the lineup with Miami in 1983 (he was 7-4 as a starter), made the Pro Bowl his first season, and shredded the NFL record book in 1984 while leading the team to a 14-2 record before losing to the 49ers in the Super Bowl. This early success wasn't just because he was a great quarterback (which he was), but because Miami was already a very strong team before they drafted him. 1983 was the famous "Year of the Quarterback" for the NFL draft, and Marino was still available near the end of the first round when Miami selected him with the #27 pick. He was the sixth QB drafted that year, but enjoyed immediate success largely because the Dolphins were already one of the best teams in the NFL.

Interestingly, three of those six 1983 first-round QBs are in the Hall of Fame -- including Marino, John Elway (selected #1 by the Baltimore Colts but traded to Denver shortly afterward) and Jim Kelly (selected #14 by Buffalo but spent a few years in the USFL before starting his NFL career).

[kcvl]

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zinsernyt Lynn Zinser
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Lynn Zinser
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[Dick Vomer]

I’m a cowboy fan and you forgot Aikmen’s first year.... 1-15

[fso301]

Football strategy changes over time. A big bruising tailback comes along in college such as Herschel Walker which then sets off a trend towards big bruising tailbacks. Defenses then bulk up accordingly. Then along comes a quick tailback like Emmett Smith to take advantage of the big defenses. More recently, we've seen the impact of QB's that are really decent tailbacks who can throw decent passes.

With Tebow, we have a new trend and that is the fullback who can pass along with a return to 1960's era low scoring style of play.

[Alberta's Child]

All good points. I think Tebow has a great career ahead of him as a backup QB, great all-around athlete, and basically a player/coach for all intents and purposes. He reminds me of Jeff Hostetler from his days as the Giants’ #3 QB back in the 1980s. He wasn’t good enough to start but brought so much enthusiasm to the team that they often used him in punt formations and as a surprise WR out of odd offensive sets.

[RGSpincich]

Tebow has been lucky in many respects.

The harder he works, the luckier he gets.