Tim Tebow: Shut Up Critics; He Just Wins!—so Did Kyle Orton.

In the second game of the 2005 preseason, Bears future franchise quarterback Rex Grossman, along with the entire offense, played pretty poorly in the first quarter.  So Lovie Smith sent them out there for the second quarter.  Rex Grossman promptly got rolled up by a St. Louis Rams lineman and broke his ankle.

The 2005 season was over before it even started.

The Bears had drafted Kyle Orton in the fourth round out of Purdue, but no one expected him to play.  After Chad Hutchinson proved he’d rather be surfing, Kyle Orton shined in preseason and was given the starting job.

After going 10-4 he was replaced by Rex Grossman after an inefficient first half against the Michael Vick-led Falcons in a sub-zero Sunday night game.

In 2008, Kyle Orton won the starting job back.

While Grossman had the better arm and the big play potential, his inconsistency forced Lovie Smith’s hand.  And besides, Kyle Orton just won.  Period.  He went 10-4 his rookie year!  How can you not play him?

The 2008 Chicago Bears went 9-7, and the following season Orton was sent to Denver in the Jay Cutler trade.

Again, Kyle Orton just won! He and Josh Daniels started the season 6-0.

He just wins!  Who cares if he can’t complete a pass longer than fifteen yards, as was outlined in his pre-draft scouting report.

He just wins!

Sound familiar?

Kyle Orton doesn’t just win anymore.  He’s on the bench.

The misnomer that Tim Tebow just wins, is, well, a misnomer.  Does his team have a winning record when he starts?  Absolutely.  They’ve gone 4-1 since he was inserted into the starting lineup this year, and the Broncos have climbed their way back to .500.

I think the Tebow “just wins” mantra will soon come to an end.

The key to beat Tebow isn’t the 46 defense.  It isn’t sending an all-out blitz against him on 3^rd and 4. 

You will beat him with your own offense.

The Denver Broncos, with their high-school offense will never be able to recover from a bigger than two-touchdown deficit against a good team with a good offense.

Remember I said good team with a good offense.  Miami doesn’t count.

Now, you might say that about most teams.  Frankly, most quarterbacks in this league aren’t that good.  You have a top tier and then the rest—it’s a long tail. 

However, Tim Tebow has shown that he can’t pass.  The fact that he single-handedly beat the Jets with the equivalent of six quarterback sneaks is quite astounding.  He completed a few passes, but he basically won that game running the ball himself. That wouldn’t have worked if there were only two minutes left. 

Remember, everyone thought Michael Vick was a new kind of quarterback—Vince Young too.  Turned out that they weren’t.  Once there is a game plan to defeat you, the copy-cat league takes notice, and if you don’t adjust, you become Vince Young.