Tim Tebow wins. He doesn't deliver the prettiest wins, but he does win. That's what it comes down to in the NFL, we're always told: win. It's the mantra Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis lived by: "Just win, baby." It's what Tebow does.
Look. Since he was elevated to starter for Week 7's game against the Miami Dolphins, Tebow has gone 4-1. The Miami Dolphins overtime miracle was an oddity by its very nature. Tebow, with plenty of help from his teammates, took over the final five minutes of that game after playing poorly for the first 55 minutes of the game (but there were no tridents involved in defeating the Dolphins, as some animation may have you believe). We can write that as a one-off right?
Well, the 45-10 loss to the Detroit Lions did make that previous victory look like an isolated incident. I was at that Lions game and it was brutal to sit near the very top of the stadium to watch the game and see how everyone reacts. Matt Muzia was with me at the game and he wrote all about it. For my first Broncos game, it was an embarrassment to be at, but I didn't come away angry with the way Tebow played.
Sure, Tebow wasn't great, completing 18-of-39 passes, but also throwing a pick-six. The team was still jerking him around in an offense that wasn't suited for him. Yeah, head coach John Fox was starting to put in more plays for Tebow in the offense, but it just wasn't working.
Then came the read-option offense. The Oakland Raiders fall. Check? The Kansas City Chiefs lose? Check. The New York Jets are defeated? Check. Tebow added two more comeback victories to go with the one against the Dolphins.
There needs to be something about this guy that just breeds winning. Is it the read-option offense? Almost certainly not. Otherwise that offense would be humming all game long. Still, for all the grief that he does receive for his ability to pass, which is deserved for the most part with his 44.8 completion percentage, he has six touchdowns and only one interception.
People like to talk about intangibles sports players have. I think we're better off calling it, at least for Tebow, the will to win. That's Tebow Time: his will to win. Does it come up only in the final minutes of the game when the Broncos need to pull out a win? Well, it sure looks like it.
I still haven't bought into it all yet, though. This can't possibly be the road to long-term success. But even if it isn't, why not just sit back and enjoy it for all that it is right now? The Broncos are winning and we Broncos fans have been deprived of this winning feeling for far too long.
(Oh, and the vastly improved defense also helps out Tim Tebow. Can't let that slip by us.)
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