Tebow Time in Denver

When Orton threw for only 34 yards in the first half on 6 of 13 passes, coach John Fox decided to give the fans what they wanted, surpassing Kyle Orton (very)-lite in Brady Quinn, and putting Tim Tebow in the game for the second half.

It wasn’t always pretty. Halfway through the fourth quarter, Tebow was 1 for 5 passing for no yards, and the Broncos didn’t pick up a first down in the third quarter with him in the game. The running of Willis McGahee was just as big a reason as they got back into it, but then with just over 7 minutes left, Tebow ran in for a score. A Philip Rivers fumble gave Denver the ball back trailing by 8, and Tebow was able to get the ball out to Moreno on a screen against the blitz, and Moreno went 28 yards for a touchdown. The two point conversion failed to tie it.

Denver got the ball back with little time left, and Tebow, who til that point had looked pretty bad as a passer, completed two straight deep passes and was able to spike it in San Diego territory. He had one last scrambling effort, but the pass to the end zone fell incomplete.

There will be a lot of talk about whether the team should go to Tebow. I don’t see how they don’t right now. Orton is struggling. Tebow is very rough around the edges, but his running ability opens up plays for the running backs that aren’t there with Orton in the game. I still think Orton can be a starter in this league, but Denver needs a spark. Denver has two weeks to get Tebow ready for a start, and they should throw him out there and see what he can do. If he justifies the coaching staff’s fear in him, and plays progressively worse as teams prepare for him, then they can go back to Orton. If he surprises, then he wouldn’t be the first player to perform better than a coach thought.

[photo via Getty]