” If it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”
Gamaliel in Acts 5:39
What Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos are accomplishing is nothing less than celestial. NFL teams may have one or two dramatic come-from-behind wins in a season but the Denver Broncos are up to six. Not to mention last year, when Tebow would come into games and lead Denver to victory. One asks the question: how is this all possible?
Tim Tebow’s QB rating is not very high. Fifty is considered average and during Week 13, Tebow was at 36.3, below average. He also ranks 30th out of 34 quarterbacks in the NFL. The top three quarterbacks are Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady, all on winning and playoff-contending teams.
The quarterbacks below Tebow are Kevin Kolb, Sam Bradford, Curtis Painter and Blaine Gabbert. All these QBs play for losing teams which include Painter’s 0-13 Indianapolis Colts. Based on QB ratings, the Broncos should be closer to the Jacksonville Jaguars or Indianapolis Colts than the Green Bay Packers.
But Tebow’s QB rating after the third quarter is 110.2, which would make his rating from quarters one through three much lower than 36.3. How is a person who is one of the worst quarterbacks in the league through the first three quarters of a game (like Kevin Kolb and Curtis Painter) suddenly transform into the best QB during the fourth quarter?
No one can explain it on a football level. Tony Dungy, also renown for his Christian faith, said on NBC’s Dec. 11 pre-game telecast that the reason Denver and Tebow won over the Chicago Bears was that the Bears lost the game. But this does not explain the five other comeback wins this season or last season’s late-game heroics.
There have been other quarterbacks who have won games in a come-from-behind fashion: John Elway and Joe Montana are probably the two most notable. But neither had a QB rating of below 36 in quarters one through three. They were great quarterbacks in all four quarters.
Running back Lance Ball states that he “cannot explain it, but somebody is on our side.” Woody Paige writes, “He has become the first quarterback in NFL history with six fourth-quarter comebacks in his first 11 starts, and only the second quarterback with four consecutive fourth-quarter victories. The other was Peyton Manning in 2009.”
Paige goes on to write, “Sure, he had a quarterback rating at one point Sunday to match the executive vice president’s retired number – 7. But Tebow’s quarterback rating in the fourth quarter was superior to the other team’s quarterback in every game he has started this season.”
It has not been uncommon for Tebow to have QB ratings of 7.0 or lower in the first three quarters which makes his accomplishments even more baffling.
Though national experts have denounced commentators who have attributed the Broncos success to deity, the numbers seem to back it up. Some commentators are using words like ‘magic’ to describe what is happening but there maybe no explanation that makes more sense other than the supernatural. The NFL has never seen anything like the Tebow-phenomena.
The Bible is filled with stories of people going against the numbers. Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 years old when Sarah gave birth to their son Isaac. Gideon had only 300 men when they defeated 135,000 Canaanites. And Jesus, whom Tim Tebow follows, only had three to three-and-a-half years of work before he was crucified and resurrected from the dead. Almost 2000 years later, over a billion people are still following Him, Tebow being one of the more visible ones. The numbers do not lie and Tebow’s numbers may only be explained by something beyond football and beyond this world.
This week, the famed New England Patriots and Tom Brady play against Tebow and the Broncos. This could be one of the highest-rated games of the season. New England knows they must knock out the Broncos early by scoring so many points that not even John the Baptist could lead a fourth quarter comeback.
If Tebow can “do it again,” would this support that there is help from above?
All eyes will be watching but so far, there is nothing short of the divine that can explain Tebow’s success. Tony Dungy, John Elway and even head coach John Fox cannot seem to grasp why Tebow and the Broncos keep pulling out miraculous wins. Maybe the answer lies with Gamaliel and the fact that God is helping the Broncos.