Wow.
The first 55 minutes of the game was the worst Broncos performance I have ever seen. The last 5 minutes and overtime? Ridiculously magnificent is probably the best way to describe it.
By now you've probably heard that the Broncos became the first team to overcome a 15 point deficit with only 3 minutes remaining. Quarterback Tim Tebow looked absolutely awful for the vast majority of the game. He must just live to be down two touchdowns with only a few minutes left.
After almost pulling off the improbable comeback over the Chargers two weeks ago, Tebow was able (with tons of help from kicker Matt Prater and linebacker D.J. Williams) to pull out a victory over the winless Dolphins.
After leading an 80-yard touchdown drive in which Tebow was (finally) hitting his receivers in stride, Matt Prater (who missed two field goals earlier in the game) kicked a beauty of an onside kick, which the broncos recovered. With good field position, Tebow brought the Broncos to the end zone again. To tie, they needed a two point conversion. Tebow changed out of the play that was called and ran in the conversion himself. Tie ball game with 17 seconds to go.
Tebow didn't do much in overtime. Most plays were unsuccessful runs on the first possession of OT which resulted in a punt. D.J. Williams came up huge forcing Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore to fumble, which the Broncos recovered. After three straight run plays, Matt Prater further redeemed himself nailing a 52-yard field goal in overtime for the win. Roll credits.
If only.
We got away with some sloppy quarterback play for most of the game against a winless team, but there aren't any of those left on the schedule. Tebow needs to get better really fast. Some analysts and experts are claiming the Broncos game-planned too conservatively citing only eight passes thrown through three quarters of play.
Based off what I saw, Tebow held on to the ball too long on the pass plays that were called and tried to run or was sacked. None of that is on the coaches.
However, the coaches should allow Tebow to operate from a shotgun/spread look with some no-huddle to make him comfortable early. Our receiving corps of Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Eddie Royal, and Matt Willis in addition to runningback Knowshon Moreno and tight ends Daniel Fells and Julius Thomas could really create some matchup advantages. Green Bay, New England, New Orleans even Buffalo this year are successful with spread/shotgun looks because their third, fourth, and fifth receiving options are better than opponents' third, fourth, and fifth defensive backs. I think Denver could have similar success with its young, though largely unproven, receiving options.
Tebow gave the impression that he was too afraid to make a mistake so he threw the ball away or tried to tuck and run in his post-game press conference. Denver certainly could not afford the turnovers (Kyle Orton), so it was good that Tebow didn't force throws into coverage. He needs to be more confident in his ability though, because that's when he's at his best.
There will certainly be some growing pains going forward with Tebow, but he'll be good if he can take how he's played in the last three minutes of his last two games and sustain that for an entire game.
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