NFL Week 11: In four weeks we can put TEBOW!!!! in the headline

Re: NFL Week 11: Alex Smith's Hall of Fame campaign begins

Maybe running him is Fox's is plan to get rid of him.

 

Re: NFL Week 11: Alex Smith's Hall of Fame campaign begins

Sorry, but the opinion I saw most about Roethlisberger early on was that he was a caretaker who was carried by the defense and the running game. People completely missed it when he grew past that and started playing a larger role during his second season.

Outside of Pittsburgh, I don't ever remember people talking about magic. Hell, even when he won his first ring, all people focused on was the dogshit performance in the Super Bowl, but they ignored the fact that he carried the offense in the first three playoff games.

I do find what the Broncos are doing to be fun. What I don't care for is giving Tebow all of the credit for it. He's one small piece being carried by the team around him.

 

Re: NFL Week 11: Alex Smith's Hall of Fame campaign begins

He's (going to be) turnover prone. He's (going to be) injury prone.

This is hilarious.

 

Re: NFL Week 11: Alex Smith's Hall of Fame campaign begins

Yeah - classic NFL group think.

 

Re: NFL Week 11: Alex Smith's Hall of Fame campaign begins

He can't get hurt if no one tackles him!

 

Re: NFL Week 11: Alex Smith's Hall of Fame campaign begins

Hey, don't throw me in this mix. I'm having a great time with this.

It's Tebow time!

 

Re: NFL Week 11: Alex Smith's Hall of Fame campaign begins

The best cover cornerback, but he wasn't built to take on a 240 lb QB who puts his head down and runs like a bruising fullback. That's another fun thing about the Tebow experience, the way he kinda flips the script about defenders physically brutalizing QBs.

I agree it's just a matter of time before injury gets him for running that way, but then again, that's what folks were saying about him for four years at Florida also.

 

Re: NFL Week 11: Alex Smith's Hall of Fame campaign begins

I was sure Tebow would leave Florida in one of the Warner Bros. cartoon full-body casts. Yet here he is.

 

Re: NFL Week 11: Alex Smith's Hall of Fame campaign begins

I hate to say this, but Tebow is getting better.

First thing, he's becoming a quick study on how to handle a pass rush. He's feeling it much better, and he's making smart decisions on when to run. He was sacked 13 times by Detroit and Miami -- but only twice since. Now, I'm sure there are improvements in the line that have helped. But I also wonder if Fox has told Tebow not to wait til the last second to decide on running. If there's a lane, go for it. By not waiting, Tebow is much more likely to gain some ground before the second level notices he's there -- and by that point, it's much harder for a defensive back to take him down.

Second, the Broncos are calling plays that work for him. Options, options with shovel pass, and the occasional long ball. Quick screens. His completion rate is still horrible for an NFL quarterback, and it seems like luck if he hits someone more than 10 yards away. But, again, the Broncos are having Tebow play to his strengths, rather than force him to be what he's not. Though if Tebow could hit the long ball more often, he's going to be that much more dangerous. I think a lot of the extra running room he had against the Jets came from his first pass being a successful long ball up the sidelines -- the kind of pass he hasn't been able to complete at all. At that point, they took Tebow more seriously as a thrower.

Now, this is hard to measure, but is Tebow what put the Broncos over the hump? Under Orton, they were 1-4, but three of the losses were by a combined 11 points. Under Tebow, three of his wins were by a combined 14 points, with two of them coming late after the Broncos trailed all game. But, no doubt, by the numbers, Tebow is a fourth-quarter QB.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/splits/_/id/13200/tim-tebow

QUARTER = 1 10 17 119 58.8 7.00 28 1 0 3 99.9 10 72 7.2 32 1
QUARTER = 2 8 28 40 28.6 1.43 16 0 0 3 39.6 12 65 5.4 21 0
QUARTER = 3 10 30 151 33.3 5.03 29 1 0 3 61.9 11 79 7.2 19 0
QUARTER = 4 28 50 399 56.0 7.98 56 5 1 5 107.0 23 172 7.5 28 2

And, by comparison, here are Orton's quarter-by-quarter splits:

QUARTER = 1 25 42 199 59.5 4.74 17 1 2 0 59.5 0 0 0.0 0 0
QUARTER = 2 23 45 297 51.1 6.60 44 2 2 2 68.5 4 19 4.8 13 0
QUARTER = 3 20 26 197 76.9 7.58 25 2 0 3 123.4 0 0 0.0 0 0
QUARTER = 4 23 42 286 54.8 6.81 52 3 3 4 70.1 1 -2 -2.0 -2 0

I know Tebow's fourth-quarter numbers are somewhat skewed because he came in late against San Diego the first time around. But it seems clear that the rest of the Broncos aren't necessarily playing appreciably better under Tebow than they were under Orton. What is clear is that the quarterbacking in the fourth quarter is appreciably better with Tebow than it was with Orton, and that's turned those close losses into close wins.

 

Re: NFL Week 11: Alex Smith's Hall of Fame campaign begins

How does looking at only the team's quarterbacking statistics make it clear that the team isn't playing better?

 

Re: NFL Week 11: Alex Smith's Hall of Fame campaign begins

The Conventional Wisdom is that Primetime Neon is the best cover corner ever, and he couldn't fall on his shadow.

Fat Rex is the one who looks silly. Beyond silly. He's starting to look like an incompetent boob.

 

Re: NFL Week 11: Alex Smith's Hall of Fame campaign begins

Good stuff, Bob Cook.