Hard to say if the “Tebowing” craze will survive after Tim Tebow and his Denver Broncos came out on the losing end of a 45-10 score at home this week but my guess is it will not.
The game was no contest from the start as the Detroit Lions (6-2) sacked Tebow seven times while converting his two turnovers into touchdowns. Lions’ defensive back Chris Houston returned a poor decision by Tebow into a 100-yard interception return and defensive end Cliff Avril turned one of his sacks into a strip/touchdown return of 24 yards as the Lions defense outscored the Broncos Tebow-led offense.
While a few have supported Tebow in the debate as whether or not he is ready to take on the responsibilities of being as starter in the NFL, that debate may come to an abrupt halt. When an opposing team’s defense outscores you at home it’s considered more than a bad sign.
Tebow ended the day with 18-of-39 passing for 172 yards one interception and a QB rating of 56.8 but don’t let those stats fool you; his performance was much worse than it looked on paper.
His rival from his SEC days, Matthew Stafford came into the game nursing a sprained ankle and made it look like a practice drill all day long, carving the Broncos defense on 21-of-30 passing for 267 yards three TDs and a 130.8 rating. Stafford spent the last quarter sipping Gatorade on the sidelines, savoring snapping his team’s two-game losing streak.
So now that John Fox has given in to fans and media pressure to play Tebow, can he revert back to being an NFL coach and do the right thing; yanking Tebow and putting him on the sidelines where he belongs?
Over two games, he has shown he is far from ready to start and with arms like Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn on the sidelines, it’s hard to imagine Tebow getting another start any time soon.
Yeah, he pulled off what some are calling a miracle last week in Miami but the first 54 minutes of that game he was 4-of-14 for 40ish yards; stats that mirrored his performance against Detroit until the Lions second and third stringers players were in playing a prevent type defense.
Drop to a knee all you want but the bottom line is, if you’re mechanics and ability to read defenses in the NFL, it’s not going to work and Tebowing had nothing to do with the 0-16 bound Dolphins imploding that particular afternoon.
Used with permission of the author.
Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.
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