It is safe to say that Tebow is the most polarizing player in the NFL—especially since the Denver Broncos drafted him in the first round. Although Tebow earned a win for the Broncos on Sunday, there's no doubt that he must evolve as a quarterback or else he'll be out of a job in a couple of years.
Since Tim Tebow's days as a college superstar, his skills as an NFL quarterback have been discussed ad nauseum by the media. Tebow's skills were on display on Sunday and his performance did little to quell the critics who have constantly claimed that he cannot make the throws necessary to be an NFL quarterback.
Tebow's most ardent supporters will point at his performance against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday and say that he just wins. Sure, that's what coaches want from a quarterback: a signal-caller who will go out and win.
However, what Tebow's supporters fail to realize is that their hero's insurmountable comeback came against arguably the worst team in the NFL.
Tebow was 3-for-11 on passes longer than 10 yards. If he wants to succeed in the NFL, he has to be able to complete passes that go for first downs. Even the quarterbacks in the NFL who are known for being short dink and dunk passers are able to complete passes down the field when need be.
Similar to what NFL scouts said coming out of college, Tebow's inability to complete passes down the field can be attributed to his terrible mechanics. Tebow did not step into throws against the Dolphins and his passes often sailed on him. At times, he didn't even look like a quarterback due to how poor his mechanics were.
Furthermore, Tebow constantly failed to evade pressure and held on to the ball for far too long. Tebow's poor decision-making led to the Dolphins sacking him seven times. Prior to Sunday's game, the Dolphins had eight sacks on the season. It's sad when your opponent nearly doubles their sack total on the season.
What makes the sacks even worse is that the Dolphins continually blitzed Tebow and he failed to recognize the poorly hidden blitzes coming towards him. When blitzing players were in Tebow's face, he stubbornly held on to the football and tried to do too much instead of getting rid of it.
There's no doubt that Tebow is a fantastic leader and he steps up in crunch time. However, he will not always get to face the Dolphins. The Dolphins gift-wrapped Sunday's game for Tebow; it's almost like the Dolphins wanted to be part of the legend of Tebow.
Tebow can have all the intangibles in the world, but he has to be able to play well for an entire game for the Broncos to win games. Until Tebow is able to play consistently for an entire game, there is no point in fans anointing him as the comeback kid. Tebow cannot afford to turn on his skills whenever he wants to if he wants to excel as a quarterback.
Fans will get a better look at Tebow during the rest of the season and hopefully he will improve his mechanics and decision making; otherwise, he will get wrecked by opposing defenses.
Tebow is far from being done in the NFL, but he has a lot to learn if he wants to continue to play as a quarterback. Players cannot get by simply on their heart and will to win in the NFL.
The sad thing concerning Tebow is that anytime someone says he cannot make the throws necessary to be an NFL quarterback, then that person is branded a hater with blinders on by the Tebow mafia.
If Tebow cannot improve his mechanics and decision-making in the next few years, then Tebow will likely have to listen to the scouts that criticized him coming out of college and either change positions or leave the NFL.
Nick Johnson Javier Lopez Alex Hinshaw Ramon Ramirez Sergio Romo Brian Wilson
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