WWTD?

What Would Tebow Do?              

                                                                                           

We all know Denver Broncos quarterback, Tim Tebow, is a religious freak.   He praises our heavenly God to the fullest in every sentence he speaks and each time he takes a knee to the ground (commonly known as ‘Tebowing’ see above picture). 

Pictured in all Broncos’ fans eyes, Tebow has been their savior.  After starting the season 1-4 with Kyle Orton under center, Tebow was promoted to starting quarterback week 7 after Denver’s week 6 bye.  His ‘too little, too late’ comeback heroics against the Chargers in week 5 had Denver buzzing about what Tebow could do after he replaced an ineffective Orton at halftime down 23-10.  Tebow and his Broncos scored two late scores in the fourth and were stopped on their two point conversion attempt with just over three minutes to go that would have tied it.

Tebow is currently 5-1 as a Broncos starter in 2011 and sits just one game behind the Raiders for the AFC West lead.  Let’s take a look at how not just this quarterback but also this team has turned this season around.

2011 statistics in a Denver Broncos uniform:

KYLE ORTON	91-155	58.7%	979 YARDS	8 TD, 7 INT	2 FUMBLES
TIM TEBOW	65-143	45.5%	852 YARDS	8 TD, 1 INT	1 FUMBLE

 Don’t get me wrong, we all know Tebow’s mechanics are worse than awful, his pocket presence is horrific, his accuracy is equivalent to a 4^th grader; however, the dude is a leader, a game controller and a running back out there and can throw it if he wants.

There’s certain statistics in the NFL that make a difference especially at the quarterback level.  Those not on the Tebow-Bandwagon or believe Tebow is a good quarterback is hung on the following; terrible mechanics, poor passer, just another mobile quarterback, completion percentage, or better yet, Denver’s defense are the reason they are winning games now. 

Whoa, whoa.  Let’s not move too fast here.  The Broncos were 1-4 with Kyle Orton as their quarterback and 5-1 as Tebow, I guess the defense did not show up for Orton?  Maybe you’re right, when Orton played, Broncos defense allowed 28.4 points per game, hideous.  Since Tebow has played; they’ve allowed 17.5 points per game, close to an 11 point per game difference.  That’s quite a significant gap, sure, offensive wise; the Broncos are averaging 18.9 points with Tebow under center and only 17.1 points when Orton was, not a big jump.

With that being said, most NFL games are won in the turnover battle, you cannot turn the ball over.  How about this for a figure, Orton in 4½ games threw 7 interceptions and lost a fumble twice; 8 of those turnovers were in losses, one was in his lone win v. Cincinnati.  Tebow on the other hand has one interception and one lost fumble, both in his loss v. Detroit.  Say what you want about how well Denver’s defense is playing now instead of in the beginning but when you continuously turn the ball over and putting pressure on your defense (like Orton did and Tebow isn’t) obviously they are going to allow more points especially when you average two turnovers per game when Orton was the play-caller. 

Let’s take this one step further, with Tebow under center, the Broncos are averaging 32:29 in the time of possession battle compared to 26:43 under Orton.  Six minute difference keeping your defense off the field to get their legs and breath back into them, that’s huge and is one of the most under looked stat in football. 

Take what you want but Tim Tebow is managing the game to the best of his ability.  Of course, he may wait until the 4^th quarter to kick it into gear at times but he’s 5-1 as a Broncos starter, a midseason turnaround I have never seen before.  He has led Denver to an overall 6-5 mark and sit only behind the 7-4 Raiders in the AFC West.  If he leads this team into the playoffs, that would be beyond remarkable.  Credit the defense, credit the rejuvenated Willis McGahee, credit coach John Fox but you have to credit Tim Tebow as well. 

What Would Tebow Do? Whatever he needs to win.

Article written by Kevin Kline