My team’s quarterback is making me crazy.
Yeah, I have been Bronco fan since before Elway migrated east from Stanford. While there have been a few magical stretches at Mile High over the years we’ve had our dark seasons — kinda like the way this one started.
I was resigned at the first of the season for another year of rebuilding while our first-round draft pick quarterback developed into an NFL quarterback. I thought we would be going through that with last year’s quarterback at the helm but that all changed after he got off to a 1-4 start himself. It was suddenly Tebow time.
We watched that first Tim Tebow start against Miami at one of those neighborhood grill places where our server was wearing a Dolphins jersey. Tebow looked just terrible for the first three quarters and we decided to beat a retreat before our amenable waiter turned smug on us. Alas, the young quarterback put on a comeback show after our departure and we lost the opportunity to bask.
The next week he looked equally as awful and the team dug too big a hole for even Tebow to climb out of against Detroit. The Broncos then dodged a bullet in Oakland the next week and went up against the newly installed Carson Palmer before he’d knocked the rust off his aging body. But Tebow was large at the end.
Kansas City should have been an easy win for the Broncos but Tebow stunk it up worse than it had since the last quarterback lost his job in week five. Through most of the game Tebow had completed just one pass. He ended the game with 2-for-8 passing for a whopping 69 yards. That kind of stat gets quarterbacks and coaches fired in the NFL, unless you’re Tim Tebow and can turn that second completion of the day into the beginning of a comeback. That’s right, another win in the waning moments of a game.
I watched more of this past Thursday’s game against the New York Jets than I had any Broncos game this year. Tebow’s passing game left a lot to be desired but the defense and special teams kept them in the game through three and a half quarters.
I laughed because the passing was so bad that the Broncos began running the option. The option, didn’t that go out of style in college a few decades ago?
Trailing by three points the last drive for the Broncos became all about letting Tebow loose and letting Tebow run. Sandlot football is what Tebow was made for and he showed the hapless Jets how it was played.
I can’t believe my Broncos (5-5) no longer have a losing record. I can’t believe Tebow is still creating NFL buzz with lousy passing stats.
I do believe he’s got great leadership ability, I believe his faith in God is genuine and strengthens him. I also believe I’m only going to watch the fourth quarter in the rest of the Broncos games.
