Why Denver Broncos' Plan to Use Brady Quinn on Third Downs is Idiotic

Of the many story lines swirling around Sunday afternoon's AFC Wild Card tilt between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos, quite possibly the most interesting one is the report by Gregg Rosenthal that not only will Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow be on a relatively short leash but Denver has also installed a series of plays that would entail inserting backup signal-caller Brady Quinn on some third downs.

By "most interesting" I mean clinically insane and a bad idea on so many levels that it makes my head hurt.

There's no denying that Tebow has struggled lately, with only one touchdown pass and four interceptions during Denver's three-game losing streak to close out the season, and given that the second-year pro's QB rating in two of those games was less than 40, it's easy to see why John Fox and the Denver coaching staff would be concerned headed into today's game.

However, playing musical quarterbacks in a playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers is just not a good idea, for a couple of reasons.

First, while no one is going to confuse Tebow's arm with Dan Marino's, Tebow does possess the ability to make plays with his legs, and that escapability will likely come in handy against Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau's vaunted zone blitz defense.

Quinn, on the other hand, possesses all the mobility of a tree sloth with 50-pound weights chained to each of its back legs.

Also, Quinn has attempted all of zero passes this season, and I have a really hard time seeing a rusty Quinn being any more effective than Tebow against the Steelers defense, especially given that to this point in his career Quinn hasn't been effective against much of anyone when he isn't rusty.

If the Broncos are that concerned that Tebow will flop, then just hand Quinn the ball and let the chips fall where they may. At least then the riot at Mile High that would ensue when Tebow's fans heard that he was benched would make for interesting viewing.

All rotating Quinn and Tebow is going to lead to is a lousy performance by two quarterbacks in a Denver loss instead of a rotten day by one or the other.