Everyone is Getting Their Tim Tebow Hate Out of Their System
By Jason McIntyre
You guys are aware that Tim Tebow doesn’t have a wide receiver, running back or offensive lineman who would rank in the Top 20 in the league at their position, right? Tebow is surrounded by ineptitude. There’s a reason Kyle Orton went 6-19 before getting pulled for Tebow.
Yes, Tebow is holding the ball far too long (sacked 13 times in two games). Yes, Tebow isn’t very accurate (under 50 percent completions in his two starts this year). Against Detroit, a fumble of his was returned for a TD. An interception, too. He looked … like a QB playing his 5th NFL game.
Just for good measure, Tebow’s also working with a new head coach and a new offensive coordinator and in a new offensive scheme. Kyle Orton wasn’t exactly killin’ it earlier this year, but he never caught this kind of heat.
Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post, who knows a harshly worded column will get him half a dozen radio interviews or TV spots today, writes:
"Tebow might be a spectacular physical specimen, but he is not an NFL quarterback. Detroit did more than make Tebow appear as if he might need a position change to stick in the NFL. Those five minutes of wonder against Miami now look like an aberration. Right here, right now, Tebow is the worst quarterback in the NFL."
I went in looked at Kiszla’s column history. Last week he wrote this about Tebow:
"With only a single NFL victory on his resume, Tebow has done the impossible. Right here, right now, he is bigger in Denver than John Elway."
In late September, Kiszla wrote this:
"It’s not only possible to employ Tebow in the offense without benching Orton as the starter; it’s imperative to let Tebow play a role to invigorate the offense before Orton gets run out of town. It’s too early to make Tebow the starting quarterback. All we’re saying is: A bad team needs its best talent on the field. To help the Broncos win, here’s betting Tebow would do anything, large or small, whether that’s running option in the red zone, throwing a block during the second quarter or dashing to pick up the tee after the opening kickoff. Give him a chance."
As the wind blows, Kiszla changes his mind. Gotta respect a columnist like that.
The Detroit Lions, a team hell bent on taking the trash-talking title away from the Jets, trashed Tebow (anonymously) to Mike Silver of Yahoo:
"“Can you believe ’15’?” one Detroit Lions defender asked after his team’s 45-10 immolation of Tebow and the Denver Broncos. “Come on – that’s embarrassing. I mean, it’s a joke. We knew all week that if we brought any kind of defensive pressure, he couldn’t do anything. In the second half it got boring out there. We were like, ‘Come on – that’s your quarterback? Seriously?’ ”"
I’ll repeat: Five career starts. Some teams will figure our Tebow quickly. Tebow will then make adjustments. It’s a process. Tebow had more talent around him at Florida than he has now. I’m rooting for him to succeed – I’m on record as saying he’ll have similar up-and-down success to Vince Young in Tennessee (read it all before flipping out) – and I think he’ll get a win in Oakland next weekend.