John Elway Wants Tim Tebow to Air It Out, but That's Horrible Advice

John Elway never had a problem throwing the ball down the field during his 16-year NFL career. Now, as the executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos, he has advised second-year quarterback Tim Tebow to "pull the trigger."

While I appreciate Elway's confidence in his young signal-caller, that is terrible advice.

During Denver's current three-game losing streak, opposing defenses have seemed to solve the Tebow riddle by forcing him to stay in the pocket and daring him to beat them with his arm. It has worked, as the shaky passer has turned the ball over six times in those games and has looked positively awful in them.

What makes Tebow difficult to defend is the threat that he may take off and run at any time. If he is forced to be a pocket passer, there is no way he can beat a team on his own. Elway seems to be daring him to air it out and take more risks. Frankly, that could lead to terrible things for the Broncos.

While many think Tebow has proven himself as a viable NFL player this season, he certainly hasn't proven himself as a passer. In 14 games this year, he has completed 126 of 271 passes (46.5 percent) for 1,729 yards, 12 touchdowns, six interceptions and seven fumbles. His passer rating of 72.9 ranked 29th out of the 34 quarterbacks who qualified. 

While Tebow led the Broncos to six-straight victories and provided some excitement, he hasn't proven he can consistently let it fly from the quarterback position or that having him throw the ball down the field is a good strategy. In fact, he's shown the opposite.

He's a great kid and I appreciate that Elway has confidence in him, but suggesting that the Broncos can and need to rely on Tebow's passing ability to win games is foolish.