Tim Tebow "burst" onto the scene in Week 6, after Kyle Orton had the Broncos sitting at 1-4. He got to start Week 6 @ Miami because fans were throwing a fit and even paying for billboards like the ridiculous one above. John Fox repeatedly stated from even training camp this year that Tim Tebow had not shown anything that proved he belonged anywhere near the #1 slot for QB on the team. In fact, his ability to even make the roster was in jeopardy early on before he secured the #3 spot. Tebow even threw a fit about being the #3 QB at first.
Above: What happens when you are not a passing QB in the NFL
Anyways, after he got to start that game, the Broncos went on that "miracle" 6-game winning streak between weeks 8 and 13. This put the Broncos in playoff contention and everyone was riding high on the Tebow bandwagon it seemed. Did people not realize that he sucked through most of the entire "streak"? It seemed like everyone was glorifying him like he was an elite QB. He was on magazine covers, a constant top trending topic on Yahoo and blowing up Twitter and Facebook. It was really making me mad. I even saw two or three people where I live in West Virginia wearing Tim Tebow jerseys this fall. This one lady wears it like once a week to pick up her kid at Kailee's school.
It seems to me like if he wasn't as openly Christian and trying to make himself the Christian sports superhero, about 80% of the people in his corner wouldn't be supporting him. For the season, Tebow finished with statistics that make Kyle Orton look like Joe Montana: 120/249, 1,669 yards passing, 48.2% completion, 6.7 yards/pass, 12 TD, 5 INT. I know that INT # looks good, but seriously, when you throw 15 passes a game, you're not really putting yourself at risk. Also when your passes are that ugly, really nobody can catch them.
Even ESPN got into the mix, declaring their unbridled love for him. Many analysts blasted him at first, but just because the Broncos won, they were all suddenly moved to declare him great. So what if the Broncos win? That almost had nothing to do with Tim Tebow. First of all, Matt Prater is the best kicker in the NFL this year. He nailed so many important kicks after Week 6, that he should win whatever awards they give kickers(if there are any).
Secondly, Willis McGahee did a LOT of the work to get the Broncos to stay in games and keep possession while ticking down the clock and helping to play the field position battle. You also can't say that the defense didn't have a huge hand in the wins they accumulated. They kept the Broncos in every game score wise so that they could do these "miracle" end of game rallies.
Tebow's best game was against the Vikings. The Broncos scored 35 points and Tim Tebow was 10-15 for 202 yards and 2 TDs vs no INTs. The Vikings won exactly 3 games this year. During most of his "rise-to-stardom", he found himself facing teams that weren't going anywhere. He defeated exactly ZERO playoff teams. He defeated a bunch of teams who were either bad teams, underachieving teams or teams in transition. Against New England and Detroit, the two best teams he faced this year, his stats were atrocious: 29-61, 1 TD, 0 INT and being outscored 86-33.
Meanwhile, ESPN and other news outlets have been asking is Matt Ryan an elite QB. A Sports Nation poll recently asked if he was and the fan vote was 55-45% that he is NOT an elite QB. Another poll from a previous week asked if Tim Tebow was a good QB with 51-49 YES. So by those two polls, it can be put together that ESPN viewers think Tim Tebow and Matt Ryan are equals, that they are both "Good" QBs.
Matt Ryan's stats this year were: 341-557 for 4,071 yards, 61.2 completion %, 7.31 yards/pass, 27 TD/12 INT with a 90.7 QB Rating. Matt Ryan, that I know of(correct me if I am wrong) hasn't been on a cover of any of the major sports magazines like SI, ESPN or anything else that I have seen on a news stand.
Above: A real QB that runs a real passing offense
What is the deal? Seriously, I just don't get it. Both guys made the playoffs, in massively different ways. The Broncos made the playoffs by being lucky that losing today to the Chiefs 7-3 still allowed them to get in via a Raiders loss. The Broncos went 8-8. The Falcons went 10-6 and beat playoff teams. All I have heard in the past few weeks and even on TODAY'S broadcast were people questioning Matt Ryan's ability to be an elite QB, while simultaneously hearing that Tim Tebow is somehow great at QB.
The Broncos also lost their last three games of the season and looked horrible. Tim Tebow may have single-handely cost his team the win today by fumbling at the 10 yard line. Yet, I am sure people will still praise his holy name that he got the Broncos into the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Falcons looked great and scored 45 points today while Matt Ryan was on fire. Matt Ryan's worst statistical game of the year was against Houston when Ryan went 20-47 with 2 picks and a TD. You know, REAL NFL QB statistics when you are actually taking chances and running a real offense. For further evidence of how great Ryan has been, he had to contend with having the wide receiver with the most drops in the NFL this season, Roddy White, and still put up these numbers. People might say Ryan has a lot more talent to throw to, but wouldn't a good QB MAKE his teammates great? All the greats do.
I just want to end this with three points I am trying to make:
Point #1: HE IS NOT A GOOD QB OR AN AVERAGE QB. HE IS A BELOW AVERAGE QB WHO HAS A TEAM THAT ROSE UP TO MAKE PLAYS TO GET WINS THAT THEY HAD TO GET, VS BAD/EQUALLY TALENTED TEAMS WHO THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BEAT.
Point #2: HE IS ONLY POPULAR BECAUSE HE OPENLY FLAUNTS HIS CHRISTIANITY, WHICH ACTUALLY VIOLATES MATTHEW CHAPTER 6, AND IS A NON-FACTOR IN DETERMINING WHETHER OR NOT HE IS A GOOD PLAYER.
Point #3: QBs WHO ARE ACTUALLY GOOD ARE BEING QUESTIONED ABOUT THEIR ABILITIES WHILE THIS GUY GETS A FREE PASS FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER, AND THAT IS JUST PLAIN BOGUS.
While it's not his fault what people say about him, it is his fault that he doesn't quell them, that he doesn't ever admit that his teammates do most of the work and that he doesn't just flat out say "support me because I play well and not just because I am a Christian." His silence rings as arrogance and want for attention and praise over being realistic and saying that it's hard work and teammates who got the Broncos to this point. Just today, I saw many Broncos fans on NFL.com's Live Game Tracker saying they wish they had a 'real' QB going into the playoffs. I even saw people saying they wish Brady Quinn could get a look or two next week. Even Broncos fans are jumping ship.
The biggest winner in all of this may not even be Tebow though. It might be Kirk Cameron, who surely will find a way to get a movie about this made, starring himself. He's good at working the Christian Movie Production Studios apparently; and here's the movie poster:
Above: A Christian movie starring a huge douchebag
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