Why Lions Proved Tim Tebow Is an Anchor, Not an Inspiration for Broncos

It's safe to say that the Tim Tebow myth was exposed on Sunday. The Detroit Lions thoroughly dominated the Denver Broncos and their 24-year-old starting quarterback and finally showed the world definitive proof that the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner is not ready to be a signal-caller in the NFL. 

During Detroit's 45-10 drubbing of Team Tebow, the Lions battered, bruised and busted up the Florida product, sacking him seven times, hitting him seven more and forcing him to fumble three times. 

Tebow finished his second start of the season completing 18 of 39 passes (46.2 percent) for 172 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed for 63 yards on 10 carries, lost one of those three fumbles and finished with a quarterback rating of 56.8. His 4.4 yards per attempt average was only boosted by a few garbage time drives, including one that resulted in a touchdown pass to Eric Decker with 8:19 remaining in the game. 

Tebow received such an obscene level of hype following Denver's 18-15 overtime win against the Miami Dolphins in Week 7, that it's no wonder the Lions mocked him during and after the game. The hype he received was certainly not Tebow's fault, but the comments made by Detroit's players were more likely aimed at the quarterback's fans and supporters in the media. 

After the game, Lions defensive lineman Cliff Avril stated the obvious when he told the media "As long as he felt our pressure, he was gonna make crazy decisions." 

That's what most of us have been thinking about Tebow all along.

What Sunday's game showed is that against arguably the worst team in the NFL (Miami), Tebow could get away with being horrendous for the first 55 minutes of a game, then turn things around out of nowhere and lead his team to a win. But against a very good Detroit team, he couldn't do anything of the sort. 

On display Sunday were all the faults experts have been claiming he has had for years. He isn't an accurate passer, his mechanics are terrible, his footwork is awful and it takes far too long for him to get rid of the football thanks to an elongated delivery.

Tebow fans have never wanted to give credence to any of those criticisms, saying that his work ethic, leadership ability and the fact that he's a great kid and a "winner" would overcome all of that.

Guess what? Just because someone is a great guy doesn't mean he'll be a great quarterback. Things like accuracy and basic quarterback instincts can't be taught; guys either have those abilities or they don't. Tebow simply doesn't.

In the three games he's played under center this season, Tebow has completed just 35 of 76 passes; that's only 46.1 percent. Last season, he played in nine games and completed 41 of 82 passes (50 percent). Those aren't the numbers of an NFL quarterback.

His defenders will claim it was just one bad game and that he can develop, but do the Broncos really want to put the future of their franchise in the hands of a guy who can't even complete 50 percent of his passes on a regular basis?

John Elway and John Fox will likely give Tebow another start or maybe two, but it's likely he will just continue to prove his detractors right. He simply isn't ever going to be a good starting quarterback in the NFL.