Last night, Tebow Time finally ran out, as Tim Tebow and his Denver Broncos side crashed out of the NFL playoffs with a 45-10 loss to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. However, despite Brady putting an abrupt end to the Tebow fairy-tale, the former Florida Gators man and 2007 Heisman Trophy winner has provided Denver and the entire NFL with one of the greatest stories in decades.
Since stepping onto the Mile High turf to replace an underperforming Kyle Orton halfway through a game with the Denver Broncos, Tebow has done everything possible to prove the doubters wrong. With his supreme rushing skills, Tebow recovered the Broncos season from 1-4 to an 8-8 season that scraped them into the play-offs. That in itself sounds an incredible achievement, but when you learn that 5 of those 7 wins were 4th quarter comebacks then the feat becomes even more staggering.
The thing that makes the Tim Tebow story even more interesting is the fact that this guy is not even a very good passer at all. His rushing is brilliant, but some of the passing he has displayed really wouldn't look out of place at a high school game. The reliance on rushing is shown by the record 22 rushes Tebow had against the Chargers in week 12.
After barely making the playoffs, the Broncos looked destined to have their season ended against the 2010/11 Super Bowl losers the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yet again, Tebow came out and proved the doubters wrong, throwing a record number of average yards per completion in the playoffs as he led the Broncos to a 29-23 victory, secured by an 80 yard TD on the first play of overtime.
So, despite Tebow Time now being up, we have seen another rushing QB lead their team into the playoffs and close to a Super Bowl. Despite all he has done this season, Tebow is not really a particularly good rushing QB at all, and the fact that he has led the Broncos so far surely reopens the debate as to whether an out and out scrambling quarterback is able to win a Super Bowl.
Look at the last 10 years and all of the great quarterbacks sit in the pocket with little movement. Brady, Rodgers, Manning and Favre all have Super Bowl rings, yet the likes of Michael Vick do not. Why is it a scrambling, mobile QB is yet to earn that elusive Super Bowl title.
One reason could be that coming out of the pocket and taking hit after hit from big line-backers, these rushing QB’s are much more prone to injury. With stability so crucial to NFL teams, losing your QB for any period of time is likely to severely dent any playoff aspirations, making a scrambling QB winning a Super Bowl very unlikely. Also, the risks of fumbles and interceptions that the likes of Vick take when leaving the pocket means post season victories are hard to come by. This makes advancing to the Super Bowl extremely difficult even if the regular season is overcome.
However, if there is one thing we can learn from the Tim Tebow story, it is that we are surely getting closer and closer to the first Super Bowl win for an out and out scrambling QB. With a strong defence and a good running back, the Broncos have proved that a pocket passer is not required to get far.
With the emergence of Cam Newton in the NFL this year, we have yet another scrambler who looks destined for the very top. After breaking all kinds of records this season, Newton has shown his superb talent, and if there is anyone to win a Super Bowl through scrambling from the pocket then Cam is the man.
I predict within 10 years’ time we will see Cam Newton as one of the greats of the NFL with a Super Bowl ring on his finger. It may be with the Carolina Panthers or it may be with someone else, but with a good defence to join him, Newton surely has the capabilities to prove to the world you do not need to be pocket passer to win the Super Bowl.
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