Tim Tebow: Jay Cutler's Absence Lessens Potential Glory for Tebow vs. Bears

Week 14 of the 2011 NFL season could've provided Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos with yet another incredible, storybook-type moment in a campaign replete with them.

The Chicago Bears, led by former Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, would be in town, with both teams sporting identical 7-5 records, albeit with entirely different contextual significance—the Bears scratching and clawing at a Wild Card berth, the Broncos seemingly (and shockingly) destined for the AFC West crown.

That all still rings true, except, of course, for the part about Cutler, who broke the thumb on his throwing hand in a 31-20 win over the San Diego Chargers in Week 11 and will likely be out for the remainder of the season.

Sunday would've marked Cutler's first trip back to the Mile High City since he requested a trade out, after growing resentment between himself and then-head coach Josh McDaniels amidst attempts to swap him out for Matt Cassel. Surely, the fans in Denver would have loved to boo Cutler, as much for being a perceived prima donna as for being the perfect antithesis of everything Tebow has become for the Broncos.

After all, Tebow has already accomplished just about everything Cutler couldn't during his days in Denver. Unlike Cutler, Tebow has guided the Broncos back to their old ways of winning football games, all the while looking like the long-awaited heir-apparent to John Elway.

Not as a quarterback, of course, but rather as a leader of men, a cause of sorts around which his teammates have rallied.

Cutler, meanwhile, always had the arm strength and the measurables, but always seemed to lack the intangibles—toughness, determination, leadership, etc.—that have lifted Tebow from third-stringer to face of the franchise in just 10 weeks' time. Cutler's exit from the NFC Championship Game in January only seemed to confirm the suspicion that he doesn't have what it takes to be a winner in the NFL.

Unfortunately for the vocal fans in Denver, they'll have to shout their displeasure at Cutler while he stands with his arms folded on the sideline. Certainly, though, the cheers that Tebow garners will be cathartic enough for the attendant crowd, with Cutler's absence from the action serving as poetic justice for his shortcomings as a signal caller in general, not just as a Denver Bronco.

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