For such a clean-cutguy, Tim Tebow can be apolarizing figure, and his N.F.L. debut for the Broncos was no differentSunday night. He was booed and his throwing motion was dissected.
Tebow was jeered by Ohio State and University of Cincinnati fans inCincinnati. “Yeah, I heard it,” he said. “It got me more excited to go out thereand play.”
On the last play of the game, Tebow scored on a 7-yard touchdown run (video below).
He completed 8 of 13 passes for 105 yards, and one long pass wasdropped despite being on the money.
But ….
There were also some near-disasters while Tebow was in that don’t show up inthe stats — two potential interceptions that Bengals defenders dropped and asack and fumble for a Bengals touchdown McDaniels managed to get overturned on achallenge.
Tebow got his score the Tebow way — by running it in on the game’s finalplay. He also took the sort of sandwich hit at the goal line that explains whyso many running quarterbacks in college turn into passers in theNFL.
Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com sounded some alarms. He said Tebow revertedto his long, looping delivery, the one that had pro scouts worried that hewasn’t N.F.L. quarterback material:
For example, he was nearly stripped from behind when he dropped the balldown, and the half-second of telegraph time nearly resulted in an interception.
Also, he simply couldn’t get off a throw while being chased; he started intothe catapult windup while rolling right, and he had to abort in order to avoidgetting hit.
We’re not saying he’ll never be able to change his throwing motion, but hestill has a long way to go to make the window dressing that made him into afirst-round pick stick.
The good news? Tebowonly uses the slow windup when firing something other than a short pass. And heshowed decent accuracy with his old motion, ultimately leading the Broncos to agarbage-time touchdown, albeit taking the kind of lick that he likely won’tsurvive if it happens on a regular basis.
On the other hand, Chris Brown of SmartFootball.com said the motion looked a bitquicker; he was more worried about quick decisions.
Why are we talking about Tebow? Mike Klis of The DenverPost said the night belonged to Kyle Orton:
CINCINNATI — Put in Orton!
Perhaps the NFL’s only starting quarterback who is less recognized than notone but both of his backups, Kyle Orton may have earned himself some love.
Throwing the ball downfield as he rarely did last season, Orton, in a poised,efficient performance, passed for two early touchdowns Sunday night in theBroncos’ preseason opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Bengalsquarterback Carson Palmer has the last word on Tebow:
“It was one of those things where you knew he was going to score on the lastplay of the game, either run it in or throw it in there. He’s such a competitor.I’ve been a big fan of his ever since he started at Florida. He’s one of thegreatest college football players.”
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