Brady Quinn may soon find himself in a battle against Tim Tebow for the second-string quarterback position on the Denver Broncos.

Denver ESPN affiliate radio host, Brandon Krisztal, said that choosing Tebow would be related to the multiple things he can do on offense, more so than his pure skill at completing passes and avoiding mistakes when taking snaps on the field.

Krisztal was told that there were no plans to dress three quarterbacks for regular season games. He specifically mentioned the packages being created for wildcat-like offensive plays and said this came in a statement he’d heard from a member of the Broncos coaching staff.

After the pre-season 33-24 loss the Broncos suffered at the hands of the Bengals, Quinn’s performance might just make it all a moot point.

Quinn and Tebow were given their crack at putting on the helmet with the green dot on the back and leading the offense down the field Sunday night and although neither looked great against the Bengals’ reserves, Tebow’s number were better.

The ex-Florida Gator threw for 105 yards on an 8-of-13 performance; that nets out to a passer rating of 61.5. Quinn threw for only 68 yards on 6-of-16 passing and a 37.5 QB rating.

Both men took one sack for a short loss and Quinn was intercepted once, but by watching them operate, they didn’t look all that different. That of course isn’t something Brady Quinn wants to hear. This is his fourth season in the NFL after a successful career at Notre Dame.

Granted, both men are learning a new system. Quinn spent his first three years in the league with the Cleveland Browns, where last season he was given a chance to win the starting role on a permanent basis.

For Tebow it’s not just a new system, it’s an entirely different world. Having operated in a spread offense in college with the green light to scramble or take the ball as the primary running back, he had to start from scratch if he wanted to become an NFL signal-caller.

Add that to a major reconstruction of his throwing motion and what you have is a guy that looked better than Quinn when all things were considered. Tebow is a lightning rod for criticism and effusive praise, Nothing that happened during his first appearance in a pre-season game will do anything to change that.

Meanwhile watching him run seven yards into the end zone while taking out the Bengals’ safety Kyries Hebert reminded us of his power and strength. How it is harnessed is the challenge for the Broncos.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

After losing to the 2-11 Cleveland Browns 13-6 Thursday night in front of a national television audience and throwing all but their mathematical chances of a playoff spot down the drain, the 6-7 Pittsburgh Steelers get this week’s Slap-of-the-Week.

The loss was the 5th in a row for the Steelers drawing sharp criticism from some of their local columnists like Ron Cook who pulled no punches.

The Browns attacked Ben Roethlisberger from the start, sacking the scrambling QB eight times during a night where temps were reported to be -12 below zero chill factor at kickoff time.

Here are a few post-game quotes from the under-achievers who were last year’s Super Bowl Champions.

WR Hines Ward: “To lose five straight coming off a Super Bowl from last year, it’s embarrassing for me. It just hurts, it hurts a lot. There’s nothing fun about losing games, especially five in a row. We’re better than that, we should play better than that.”

WR Mike Wallace: “It was like every time I go out for a pass, when I looked back, he’d be getting hit,” referring to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. “I’d just be coming out of my break and he’d be going down.”

Coach Mike Tomlin: “I thought they fought. I thought they stuck together, but it wasn’t enough to win the football game. … Fighting and sticking together are not winning football games. We’re finding new and different ways to not rise up. This one tonight happened in all three phases.”

Tackle Willie Colon: “This was probably the worst we played up front all year. I know it was probably my worst game. I feel like I let the line down.”

Defensive Back Deshea Townsend: “Mind-boggling.”

Nose Tackle Casey Hampton: “Like a bad dream. [The season] is a wrap, this [explicate] is a wrap.”

Yes it is. It’s not only a wrap but it’s a full-on Bitch-Slap to go along with your record for most consecutive losses (5) for a Super Bowl winner the season following a Super Bowl win.

Other NFL Bitch-Slap-of-the-Week Columns:

Jay Cutler and Da’ Bears

Detroit Lions Exec Matt Millen

Rush Limbaugh NFL Owner?

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax