Tim Tebow: Grading Each Drive By the Denver Broncos Rookie Quarterback
Tim Tebow, the controversial rookie quarterback out of the University of Florida, got his first start in the NFL on Sunday.
It's been debated for weeks whether he should play or not and how much success he would have if he did.
In a rematch against AFC West rival Oakland, Tebow strode onto the field as the starting quarterback for the first of many times in his young career.
Read on to find out just how he performed.
Tim Tebow's First Drive
1 of 15
Drive Stats:
three plays, five yards, 1:34 elapsed, punt
The Analysis:
The rookie strode onto the field for the first time as a starting quarterback and quickly strode back off it.
Knowshon Moreno ran for five yards total on the first two plays of the drive, but Tebow couldn't connect with Eddie Royal on 3rd-and-5.
The Broncos were forced to punt.
The Grade:
F
Tim Tebow's Second Drive
2 of 15
Drive Stats:
three plays, one yard, 0:59 elapsed, punt
The Analysis:
The second drive was even worse than the first one.
After Knowshon Moreno ran for one yard, Tebow decided to throw the ball a couple of times.
The first one was a screen pass dropped by Eddie Royal, and the second was an incompletion intended for Brandon Lloyd.
The Grade:
F
Tim Tebow's Third Drive
3 of 15
Drive Stats:
three plays, 54 yards, 1:56 elapsed, touchdown
The Analysis:
The drive started out going backwards as Knowshon Moreno grabbed the facemask of a defender and was called for a 15-yard penalty.
Then Tebow completed a pass to Moreno for just one yard. As he dropped back on the next play, he evaded the first defender but was eventually sacked just short of the line of scrimmage.
On 3rd-and-24, the Broncos seemed to give up on the drive and called a quarterback draw, but Tebow took the ball all the way into the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown. In typical Tebow fashion, he barreled over multiple defenders in the process.
The Grade:
A+
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Tim Tebow's Fourth Drive
4 of 15
Drive Stats:
two plays, 32 yards, 0:44 elapsed, touchdown
The Analysis:
After Knowshon Moreno ran backwards one yard, Tebow lofted up a pass for Brandon Lloyd in the back right corner of the end zone, but it was ruled an incompletion.
Then replays were shown, and the play was challenged. It turns out that Lloyd made a brilliant catch, and Tebow had his second passing touchdown of the season.
The Grade:
A
Tim Tebow's Fifth Drive
5 of 15
Drive Stats:
eight plays, 47 yards, 4:11 elapsed, field goal
The Analysis:
Tebow was just okay on this drive, which resulted in a field goal.
He picked up 15 yards on his first run of the drive and completed his only pass, a 17-yard screen play to Correll Buckhalter.
However, on a 3rd-and-8, the Broncos showed a lack of confidence in his throwing abilities and let him run up the middle for just one yard.
The Grade:
B
Tim Tebow's Sixth Drive
6 of 15
Drive Stats:
three plays, four yards, 1:20 elapsed
The Analysis:
After an interception of Jason Campbell gave the Broncos the ball at midfield, one would have thought they'd be able to get into field goal range at the very least. That was not the case.
After two runs by Lance Ball resulted in just four yards, Tebow threw an incompletion intended for Eddie Royal.
The Broncos were forced into a disappointing punt.
The Grade:
C-
Tim Tebow's Seventh Drive
7 of 15
Drive Stats:
four plays, 28 yards, 1:41 elapsed, punt
The Analysis:
The drive started out in promising fashion as Tebow hit Brandon Lloyd for a 22-yard gain on the first play.
He would later run for two yards and pass for another five yards, but neither were enough to gain another first down.
The Broncos had to punt once more.
The Grade:
C+
Tim Tebow's Eighth Drive
8 of 15
Drive Stats:
three plays, minus-one yard, 1:02 elapsed, end of half
The Analysis:
With just 1:02 left in the first half, the Broncos didn't have much time to work with.
Instead of airing it out, the team was content to run the clock out by handing the ball to Corell Buckhalter three times.
The Grade:
Incomplete
Tim Tebow's Ninth Drive
9 of 15
Drive Stats:
three plays, two yards, 1:47 elapsed, punt
The Analysis:
Once again, the Broncos coaching staff didn't show much confidence in Tebow's arm as they went with three straight running plays.
It wasn't really Tebow's fault, but they didn't gain a first down on the drive, instead going 3-and-out.
The Grade:
Incomplete
Tim Tebow's 10th Drive
10 of 15
Drive Stats:
six plays, 47 yards, 2:18 elapsed, field goal
The Analysis:
After a pass interference call helped the Broncos gain 24 yards, Tim Tebow threw a perfect ball to the left sideline, one that Brandon Lloyd latched onto for a 19-yard gain.
Correll Buckhalter then ran for a two-yard loss, and Tebow launched another deep pass. The pass hit Lance Ball right in between the numbers in the left portion of the end zone, but Ball dropped it.
After a seven-yard run by the Florida product, the Broncos kicked another field goal to tie up the score.
The Grade:
B+
Tim Tebow's 11th Drive
11 of 15
Drive Stats:
three plays, four yards, 1:32 elapsed, punt
The Analysis:
Tebow completed a six-yard pass to Richard Quinn on the second play of the drive, but his screen attempt to Correll Buckhalter on third down was blown up and fell incomplete.
It wasn't a great way to respond to another Sebastian Janikowski field goal.
The Grade:
C
Tim Tebow's 12th Drive
12 of 15
Drive Stats:
nine plays, 49 yards, 4:28 elapsed, field goal
The Analysis:
Yet again, Tim Tebows first pass of a drive went for quite a few yards as Jabar Gafney hauled in a 32-yard reception.
Tebow also had two carries for eight yards on the drive and threw just one incompletion (although it was his only other pass attempt).
Once again, despite the perfect throw he made earlier in the drive, the coaching staff perplexingly called another quarterback draw on 3rd-and-8.
The Grade:
B
Tim Tebow's 13th Drive
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Drive Stats:
two plays, minus-six yards, 0:40 elapsed, safety
The Analysis:
Tebow didn't have much of a chance to do anything as the offensive line was pushed backwards on back-to-back plays.
First Lance Ball lost two yards, then Correll Buckhalter was tackled for a four-yard loss and a safety.
The Grade:
Incomplete
Tim Tebow's 14th Drive
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Drive Stats:
three plays, minus-four yards, 1:08 elapsed, punt
The Analysis:
The drive started out with a lame duck that was somehow caught by Brandon Lloyd for a five-yard gain.
Then Tebow overthrew Daniel Graham in the flats for an incompletion. On the final play of the three-and-out, he was sacked after focusing in on one covered receiver.
The Grade:
F
Overall
15 of 15
The Stats:
23-39 loss to the Oakland Raiders
8/16, 138 yards, one touchdown, 0 interceptions, 100.5 rating
eight carries, 78 yards, one touchdown
The Analysis:
He couldn't get it done, but the rookie quarterback made a bunch of good throws and hard-nosed runs. Tebow should have convinced his coaches to open up the playbook for him a bit in the next two weeks.
The first touchdown run, the longest by a quarterback in franchise history, was impressive enough by itself.
There are still some kinks to work out in his passing game, but he showed a lot of potential in this game.
The Grade:
B+
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