Tim Tebow: Why Denver Broncos Must Open Offense for Polarizing Quarterback

Love him or hate him, Tim Tebow is leading this Broncos team on an amazing run towards a spot in the NFL playoffs.  

The way the Broncos are winning games has been by limiting Tebow’s chances of throwing. The game plan in Tebow’s first five starts this year has been run-first, pass-almost-never.

Yes, it has resulted in four wins in those five games, but it has done nothing to shake the stigma that Tebow isn’t a reliable quarterback.  

Now, if the Broncos would just open up the playbook more for Tebow, it would get some of his detractors off of his back.  

In his four wins, Tebow has had one game where he had 25 or more passing attempts. In those four wins the team has called between 26 and 55 running plays in the game plan.  

In yesterday’s game against the New York Jets, the Broncos showed a little trust in letting Tebow control the offense. In the first play of the game, the Broncos went five-wide, with Tebow hitting Demaryius Thomas for a 28-yard gain. Tebow was 3 for 4 for 43 yards on that opening drive, which ended on the Jets 21-yard line, with the Broncos failing to convert a fourth down.  

After that opening drive, the Broncos went back into their conservative offense. It wasn’t until late in the second quarter that the Broncos called for three passing plays in a single drive. That drive was right before the half, with Denver trying to get down the field quickly.  

Let’s fast-forward to the game-winning drive, when the Broncos let Tebow take over this team.  

That drive began on the Broncos five-yard line, with arguably their season on the line. Anything short of a touchdown would have ended this game and possibly any slim chances the Broncos had at the playoffs.  

What followed was a Tebow short pass to Eddie Royal, a Tebow run, another Tebow pass, followed by two Tebow runs. Before you knew it, the Broncos were on the Jets side of the field. All it took for the Broncos to get down the field was to let Tebow control the offense. 

Then another Tebow scramble, and an 18-yard Tebow pass to Dante Rosario had the Broncos within striking distance of the end zone. One run by Lance Ball and another Tebow run set the Broncos up for the game-winning touchdown. 

Tebow saw that the Jets were playing man coverage and had eight men ready to blitz. He  made the call for a quarterback run, and he took the ball to the outside and ran for the 20-yard, game-winning score.  

That final drive saw the Broncos give Tebow full control of this offense. The end result was a 12-play, 95-yard, game-winning touchdown drive.  

Tebow has proven that he can lead this Broncos team to victories. It’s now time to let him loose and see what he really can do as an offensive threat. 

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