Tebow Bashing at a Fevered Pitch as Lions Pound Broncos; A Fan’s Take

Somewhere, Merril Hoge was smiling Sunday night. In many ways, Hoge has become the poster boy for the anti-Tebow movement. Hoge began his Tebow bashing this summer when he posted a series of comments on Twitter stating that Tim Tebow lacked the necessary skill set to play quarterback in the NFL. One of Hoge’s most inflammatory tweets stated, “It’s embarrassing to think the Broncos could win with Tebow!!”

On Oct. 23, Tim Tebow made his first start of the 2011 season against the winless Miami Dolphins. For the first 55 minutes of the game he proved Hoge right. Tebow’s passes were inaccurate and he was indecisive in the pocket. He looked outmatched and overwhelmed. After 55 minutes Tebow had gone 4-14 and thrown for just 40 yards.

During the final five minutes of the game Tebow proved why so many people want to see him play. He rallied the Broncos from a 15-0 deficit to lead them to an 18-15 overtime victory. In the final five minutes of regulation and overtime he went 9-13, threw for 121 yards and two touchdowns.

Tebow’s die-hard supporters pointed to his leadership ability and intangibles as the reason why he led the Broncos to a come from behind victory against the Dolphins. They said statistics don’t matter with a player like Tebow. It’s all about the scoreboard and Tim’s will to win. That’s why he should be a starting NFL QB.

Tebow’s detractors pointed to the first 55 minutes of the game when he was abysmal as evidence that he’s not ready (and may never be ready) to be an NFL QB. His detractors pointed to the Oct. 30 match-up against the Detriot Lions as the true test of Tebow’s ability to lead an NFL team.

The anti-Tebow movement got exactly what they hoped for when Detroit came to Denver for their week 8 match-up against the Broncos. There’s no way to sugar coat it, Tim Tebow was bad. His throws were wildly inaccurate, he had happy feet in the pocket and he was beaten down by the tenacious Lions defense. His stat line, which wasn’t pretty at 18-39 for 172 yards with one touchdown and one interception (which was returned 100 yards for a Lions touchdown), actually looked better than he played.

On the heels of that poor performance the Tebow haters are at it again. Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla called Tebow the “worst quarterback in the NFL” and suggested the Broncos may want to turn to Brady Quinn (who has a career QB rating of 66.8, which is about 12 points below Tebow’s career rating of 78.7).

Opponent: Tebow experiment is ‘embarrassing’, is the headline on Yahoo Sports columnist Michael Silver’s Morning Rush column. In fairness to Mr. Silver, his column was less about kicking Tim Tebow while he was down and more about the perception throughout the league that Tebow is just not ready to be a starting QB in the NFL.

When the Detroit Lions beat the Kansas City Chiefs 48-3 on Sept. 18, Matt Cassel was not branded as the worst QB in the NFL when Detroit’s defense intercepted him three times. However, because Tim Tebow attracts the amount of attention and reaction that he does, the story is always about him. It’s impossible to watch the Tebow’s performance against the Lions and make any type of argument that he played well, but it’s amazing that in all of the negative articles it’s not pointed out that Matthew Stafford shredded the Bronco’s defense or that the Bronco’s offensive line is terrible. It’s all about Tebow, it’s always about Tebow.

Maybe that’s the reason why those who dislike Tebow dislike him so intently. Everything is always about him. How he’s such a hard worker or how he’s such a devout Christian. How he has moxie and intangibles that others lack. It’s seems that the main thread of the Tebow story line is that anything you can do Tim can do better.

Maybe that’s what bothers people like Merril Hoge so much. Maybe it’s less about Tebow and more about how Tebow has been elevated to mythical status by so many that adore him. Hoge is a guy who busted his backside to get where he got in the NFL. He had a record setting college career at Idaho State and a fine NFL career. He’s a guy who probably knows a few things about hard work and accomplishing something in football against the odds. It’s easy to imagine how the Tebow myth could rub someone like Hoge the wrong way, especially since Tebow hasn’t accomplished anything in the NFL yet.

Whether you love Tim Tebow or you hate him, it’s still too soon to tell if he’ll make it in the NFL as a starting QB. Everyone should keep in mind that he has only made five starts in the NFL. He’s not the first QB, especially those who were drafted by a bad football team (and Denver is a bad football team), to struggle in his first handful of starts.

Even the greatest QB in Broncos history was bad during his first season as a starter. Many people tend to forget that John Elway went 4-6 as a starter in 1983. He completed just 47.5% of his passes while throwing 7 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Elway’s QB rating his first year was 54.9. Nobody will ever suggest that Tebow has the skill set that Elway had, but sometimes taking a look at the past helps keep things in perspective.

Throughout all of this, one thing remains clear. Tim Tebow is currently the most polarizing athlete in the NFL, regardless of what he does. As long as he steps on the field in the NFL as a QB, everyone will have a strong opinion about everything he does.

Sean McDonnell is an avid football (both college and NFL), baseball and NASCAR fan.

Sources:

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_19228711?source=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Merril Hoge says Tim Tebow just can’t play

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1983/

Additional articles by this author:

Five Great Moments in Tampa Bay Bucs History: A Fan’s Take

Is Theo Epstein the Best GM in Baseball; A Fan’s Opinion

Fan’s take: Will Matt Moore crack the Rays’ starting rotation in 2012?

Rays have attendance, stadium issues: A fan’s perspective


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