2012 NFL Playoffs: How Tim Tebow Has Continued to Silence Critics

Once Tim Tebow's collegiate career came to a conclusion, NFL scouts and draft gurus started filling out their scouting report of the Florida prospect for the 2010 NFL draft.

They watched a plethora of game film to find words to describe the seemingly controversial Tebow, such as inaccurate, poor mechanics, bad pocket presence, long delivery and worst of all, H-back.

Some of the criticisms may have been right, but two years later, Tim Tebow has silenced the critics, leading the Denver Broncos into the playoffs and winning against the favored Pittsburgh Steelers in Wild-Card Weekend. But what has led to this unexpected success? 

Four big reasons are: the scheme he's operating in, his ability to move the pocket, leadership and showing a short-term memory by putting his mistakes past him.

Scheme 

NFL coaches are praised for their ability to make adjustments in their schemes, and no coach made a bigger adjustment than Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, whose passing offense had to be revamped to an option-oriented one after a win-less four weeks to start the season led to quarterback Kyle Orton, who is known for his pocket passing, being replaced by the mobile Tim Tebow.

While the option run concepts caused sleepless nights for defensive coordinators and headaches for defenders, the Broncos still had to put together a quality passing game to win, and one way to do it was to simplify Tebow's reads by using motions and play-actions in the backfield that suggested run but turned out to be pass. 

By simplifying the reads for the underdeveloped former Gator, the game would slow down, and he'd be able to utilize his natural arm talent to deliver the football. 

The passing reads made by the quarterback would be stripped down to the bare minimum, relying primarily on a single read like the typical college quarterback. If the read was open, Tebow would throw it. If he wasn't, he'd likely take off with the ball. 

An instance of Tebow's primary read being open was seen in yesterdays' playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who bit hard on the play-action and left the middle of the field open for wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, who ran a Dig route, to run through.  

But as the weeks passed by, McCoy continued to develop the reads that were asked of Tebow in the passing game because of the signal-callers' improvements as a passer, as well as utilizing his mobility as a threat against defenses. 

Tebow would continue to show improvement in games by proving that he had the ability to sit in the pocket and go through multiple reads as well as manipulate the safety with the use of his eyes, which is a key to a quarterback succeeding at the NFL level.

While the goal of the NFL coaches is to help their quarterback become a quality passer from the pocket, they also should play to the strength of their athletes, and in Tebow's case, it was his ability to make plays outside of the pocket. 

Moving the Pocket

There are many flaws in Tebow's passing game, but if there was one word to describe his greatest talent, it would be improvisation. 

His ability to break contain, move the pocket and deliver on the run has played a significant role in the resurgence of the Broncos. The reason this has been important for the Broncos offense is because mobile quarterbacks influence defenses before and after the snap. 

Before the snap of the ball, defenses determine what coverage they will be playing in and with a mobile quarterback, man coverages such as Cover 2 man (man under) have the defensive backs and linebackers turn their back on the quarterback, giving him the opportunity to scramble to pick up yards. 

After the snap, this is also a factor because when a quarterback leaves the pocket on a designed or improvised roll-out, it distorts coverages. Pass defenders are forced to stay with their assignment longer in man coverage, opening up the opportunity for the wide receiver to work back to his quarterback

Meanwhile in zone coverage, defenders often vacate their assigned landmarks which allows pass catchers to find holes to get open as can be seen on Tebow's 40-yard pass to tight end Daniel Fells. 

While the throwing aspect of the quarterback position is important, great arm talents at the quarterback position have failed in the past because of their inability to lead their team. Confidence and belief from teammates is very important for quarterbacks, especially when it's a late situation in the game, and the quarterback has to lift his team up to prevail which Tebow often does. 

Leadership and Fading Memories

When evaluating quarterbacks, it's very difficult to grade the leadership of the quarterback. Do his teammates have confidence in him when they're in the huddle? What about on the sidelines when they are down late in the game? These are some of the questions that NFL scouts ask themselves when grading a quarterback, and their best sources are the quarterbacks' teammates, whose opinions are questionable at best.  

In Tebow's case, the performance of him and his teammates says it all. They simply win despite the odds, and a big reason is because of the former Florida quarterback. He's able to constantly uplift the spirits of his teammates when a play has gone wrong such as a blown coverage on the defensive side of the ball. 

Offensively, he's able to put mistakes past him very quickly, which is crucial for a young quarterback. Interceptions, especially pick sixes, are often detrimental to the confidence, but Tebow quickly puts it in the past and continues on with the game plan. 

The Future

Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy has done a good job of adapting his offense to the strengths of Tim Tebow. He's done this by looking at the college gridiron for run and pass concepts that utilize run-option concepts as well as backfield action, such as motions and shifts, to simplify the reads and base out defenses in the passing game.

These concepts have helped the game slow down for Tebow, which has been integral in his development as he continues to go through multiple progressions like an elite NFL quarterback does. 

As the Broncos' season continues, and going into next season, I expect Tim Tebow to continue to improve as a passer under offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, who will slowly but surely expand game plans by implementing several more concepts that play to Tebow's strengths.