How the New York Jets Can Use Tim Tebow vs. Patriots Defense

The Jets are coming off of their best game in over a month, and their reward is a trip up to Foxboro to face their most bitter rival. The Patriots offense is dominating with balance and a manic hurry-up style similar to the one Chip Kelly runs at Oregon. With the Patriots pass offense back at full strength after the return of Aaron Hernandez, the Jets will need to pull every trick they have out of their hat to keep up with Tom Brady and company. Foxboro was Tim Tebow's Waterloo in the playoffs last year, but the Jets will need to make full use of his varied skill set on offense to have a chance of pulling off the upset. How will the Jets utilize their offseason acquisition? Let's look back to two of his most glorious wins as a Bronco for a clue:

As a Running Quarterback

Tebow can hurt a team with his legs in one of two ways: via improvisation and via design. First, let's look at the designed run. The Broncos line up in the spread formation in the red zone, leaving the Steelers with only six players in the box:

Tebow follows his blockers and heads for the end zone:

The Broncos are again in the spread in the red zone against the Texans:

This time, Tebow surveys the field from the pocket for a receiver breaking open:

No one comes open, and Tebow takes off for the touchdown:

Whether by design or necessity, the primary threat Tebow poses is as a runner. Giving the defense reminders of that threat so they stay on their heels or flat-footed when he gets outside of the pocket is key.

As a Passer

The Broncos had the right formation, lining Tebow up in the shotgun, where he can read the defense easier before the snap and spot pressure more quickly than he could if he was dropping back from center. Combining that with putting Tebow in a position where he can also choose to run creates the unintended benefit of encouraging him to throw on the move, where he is clearly more comfortable than he is as a pocket passer.

Here, Tebow can spot the pressure coming from the Texans on his front side:

He eludes Antonio Smith and gets outside of the pocket:

Tebow's throwing motion is more compact and smooth on the move, which leads to better accuracy:

On this play, he found Eddie Royal in stride coming across the field for a third-down conversion. Tebow falters more often in the pocket because he is not great on timing passes, or pinpoint ball placement. Those factors are less important when he is passing on the move, and they are downplayed when he passes out of play-action. Notice how the play action fake draws nine Texans into the box:

Deep passing isn't timing-based, and erratic accuracy can be forgiven if the receiver is good at tracking the ball in the air. Tebow's most memorable play of his career came on a downfield pass out of play-action to Demaryius Thomas. Notice how the Steelers are all coming forward, creating room in the middle of the field for Thomas to run free:

Thomas streaked away for the walk-off touchdown:

The Jets just happen to have another Georgia Tech size/speed freak who is raw as a route runner, but able to become a big factor when the play breaks down, and those elite physical tools are the equalizer. If the Jets don't try a few shots downfield to 2012 second-round pick Stephen Hill on Sunday, offensive coordinator Tony Sparano should be ashamed to show his face on the sidelines.

As a Running Back?

It's probably just gamesmanship by Rex Ryan, but this week the possibility was raised that Tebow could even play running back with Bilal Powell and Joe McKnight both sidelined. According to Chuck Schilken of the Los Angeles Times, Ryan said "I think the answer is yes" when asked if Tebow could line up at running back vs. the Patriots.

Consider it a reminder that when it comes to Jets/Patriots, anything can happen. Add Tim Tebow to the equation, and positional designations start to mean less and less. If Rex Ryan is sitting on anything special he had in mind when the team traded for Tebow, Week 7 would be a good time to unveil it.