Tebow

I'm a pretty casual sports fan, so I really don't know a lot about Tim Tebow, other than that he wears his religiosity in a way that is more blatantly obvious then the horse on his hat.  Not my style, to be sure, but I'm pretty much a live and let live kind of guy - so, it that's what floats his boat, more power to him.

Evidently, the come-from-behind 18-15 victory he pulled over the hapless 0-6 Dolpins, thus allowing the hapless Broncos to eke out their second win, has catapulted him to instant stardom.  Cooler heads tend to be rather less impressed:

Nobody can reasonably claim that they didn't know what quantity they were getting with Tim Tebow. His games were lavishly reported in college, enough that anyone football savvy could run down his biggest liabilities going into the pro game:

• running speed that pro defenses could eat up far quicker than their college counterparts;
• a time-consuming, long throwing motion that seemed to vary every few tosses;
• poor accuracy;
• poor defensive reads, which led to his biggest shortcoming,
• over-dependence on the run.

All these problems were exposed last year and this Sunday, and none of them should give anyone pause. Yet despite Tebow's constancy, opinion-makers have see-sawed on him.


Now, we find that mimicking  Tebow's after-the-victory prayer stance has become "a stupid internet craze."  This is kind of unfortunate, I think.  The poor, persecuted Christian minority in this country already has more than enough crosses to bear.  And I don't think anyone's religious beliefs should be ridiculed - at least, not much more than everyone's religious beliefs should be ridiculed.  On the other hand, it takes some sort of high powered conceit to think that God is going to take a big and determinative interest in the outcome of an NFL game on any given Sunday, and more specifically that He/She/It will favor your team.

I guess the only reason I'm even thinking about this is that tomorrow the Bronco's play the Lions in Denver, and I'll get to see the game on TV.  The Lions have a decent defense, and despite having cooled off from their torrid start,  really should be able to beat the struggling Broncos, with or without Matthew Stafford at the helm..

If the above-quoted assessment is correct, then my feeling is that a team should defend against Tebow the way I think a team should defend against Denard Robinson.  You know he can beat you with his feet.  His ability to defeat you with his arm is quite a bit less certain.   Take away his running game, and make him rely on the pass.  It's where his game is the weakest.

Then we can see what his praying stance is after a loss.

Update 5:10 EST, Sunday, 9 min left in Q2: According to the Fox announcers, Gunther Cunningham agrees with me.  Tebow now has 8 straight incompletions.

H/T's to the LW and Step-son Doug