Tim Tebow: Breaking Down His Performance in Loss to New England Patriots

On the eve of the Denver Broncos' Saturday afternoon game at the Buffalo Bills, where they can clinch their first AFC West division title and playoff berth since 2005, it doesn't hurt to look back at their latest performance.

Most notably, the performance of the enigma that is Tim Tebow.

Arguably the game's most popular and most polarizing figure as of the moment, no matter who you ask, it seems everybody has a different opinion of Tebow.

Some feel he's good enough to play quarterback at the NFL level; some feel he should be playing any other position other than quarterback.

Regardless of your opinion of Tebow, something that cannot be argued is that he has proven to be a winner thus far in his young NFL career. Tebow is 7-2 as a starting quarterback this year after the Broncos had started out 1-4, looking destined to having another high draft choice come 2012.

The Broncos lost for the first time since Week 8 by losing to the New England Patriots this past Sunday. It was their first loss after a six-game winning streak that saw numerous miraculous fourth-quarter comebacks aided by Tebow time.

There may not have been any Tebow Time in Denver vs. New England, but let's look at his performance in Denver's 41-23 loss.

The Broncos Lost as a Team

You know how the Broncos had been winning as a team during their six-game win streak by controlling the time of possession with a predictable, but productive read-option attack led by Tebow, alongside a stifling defense that rarely gave up any more than 18 points a game?

Well, the game against the Patriots was an example of the Broncos losing as a team.

Denver uncharacteristically committed three turnovers in the last eight and a half minutes of the second quarter, while also allowing 41 points to the Patriots by the end of the game.

Tom Brady scorched Denver's defense by completing 22 of 34 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns to go with one rushing touchdown.

Most importantly, unlike Denver, the Patriots did not commit a single turnover.

During the Tebow era, the Broncos have become one of the best teams at taking care of the football. In Tebow's nine starts, he has thrown only two interceptions and fumbled just twice.

Unfortunately, one of those fumbles came in the New England game with Denver down just 17-16. The Patriots would on to score a touchdown to go up 24-16.

The Broncos' recipe for success is taking care of the football, controlling the time of possession and playing stout defense.

They did none of those things on Sunday against the Patriots.

Tebow Played a Solid Game

Although the Broncos finally lost a second game with Tebow under center, Tebow played nothing less than a solid game.

Yes, his completion percentage wasn't impressive again, as he completed 11 of 22 passes for 194 yards, while rushing the ball 12 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns.

But he is making strides in the passing game. That is the main thing that you look for when judging or rating a young player's performance. Is he improving?

Comparing Tebow's games against the Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs to his most recent games when it pertains to passing the ball, he has improved greatly.

Not only is his anticipation of his receiver's routes better, but he's also improving also as far as pocket awareness and his level of comfort when it comes to scanning defenses and keeping his feet leveled.

The Broncos dominated the Patriots in the first 22 minutes of this game when they took a 16-7 lead on the Patriots during the second quarter. A lot of that had to do with the fact the Broncos ran the ball down the Patriots' throats for 133 yards in the first quarter alone.

The Broncos scored on their first three possessions of the game. In their last eight drives, they scored just once.

Tebow ran the ball well, had a solid game passing-wise and for the first 22 minutes of the game, executed the game plan to perfection.

The problem with that is for the last 38 minutes the Broncos looked like a tier below the Patriots. They turned the ball over, couldn't stop Brady's no-huddle offense and the offense got stagnant yet again in the second half.

When you take the Broncos out of their element, by forcing them to commit turnovers, putting them in a scoring hole and forcing them to pass, instead of run the football, it spells nothing but disaster for this team.

The Broncos are not a good enough team yet, nor is Tebow a good enough quarterback yet, to the point where they can overcome three turnovers and match a 12th-year vet in Brady score-for-score throughout a 60 minute game.

So how did Tebow play in this game?

He played a solid game. The problem is, it wasn't a great game like the one Brady had.

Had the Broncos not committed turnovers and were able to stick to their usual strategy of ground-and-pound, who knows how much better Tebow could have played?

But based upon what we saw in the New England game, it was a bit of a mixed batch. The individual stats look nice. On the other hand, when you look at the Broncos' last eight offensive drives and how unproductive they were from the 8:30 mark in the second quarter on, it's hard not to at least penalize Tebow a little bit.

All things considered, as far as a letter grade is concerned based on Tebow's performance against New England, he deserves a B.

It may not have been Tebow's fault for the loss, but there were a lot of things that he could have done better.