Tim Tebow will be 4–1 as starter; Rex Ryan's Jets will lose twice in five days.
Tim Tebow’s Superman success collides with the wrath of Rex Ryan in a Thursday night fight between the Denver Broncos and New York Jets under the lights at Mile High.
And this comical clash of the titans will certainly end in life or death soap opera hysterics, regardless of the outcome.
If the Broncos win, Tebow will improve his record as a starter this year to 4–1 while handing the Jets their second loss in five days, following a 37–16 defeat at home against their hated AFC East rival Patriots on Sunday night — just over 100 hours prior to Thursday’s kickoff.
“All Tim Tebow does is win,” everyone in Denver and Gator Nation will say.
“No other team in the NFL is playing a Thursday night game after a Sunday night game,” Ryan, the Jets and New York’s greater metropolitan area will complain.
If the Jets win, the season will be saved — at least until they kick off against the division-rival Bills next week — and Tebow will once again become the whipping boy he was following his only loss and, coincidentally, his only start at Invesco Field this year, an ugly 45–10 defeat to the Lions in Week 8.
“Tebow can’t play quarterback in the NFL,” and “The single-wing, run-first, option offense will never work in the pros,” will be repeated ad nauseam among televised talking heads and drive time drones.
The over-the-top insanity will be more fun if Tebow wins. And, like it or not, Tebow-led Denver probably will beat Jet-lagged New York.
There is a new energy around the Broncos since Tebow was reluctantly named the starting quarterback of a 1–4 team by coach John Fox and John Elway — who apparently would rather “Suck for Luck” with Kyle Orton than win with Tebow, who was drafted by persona non grata Josh McDaniels.
On the other side, the Jets are in a tailspin downward spiral, coming off a painful loss to the Patriots. After making back-to-back AFC title games, quarterback Mark Sanchez has not taken the strides many expected — both physically and mentally — most recently calling a timeout against New England that Ryan called “the stupidest thing in football history.”
A quick turnaround from Sunday night to Thursday night is the last thing New York needs. The Jets seem to be stuck in the past, ready for a rematch with the Patriots rather than a one-off with the Broncos.
“Mentally, we know it’s a great challenge,” said Ryan, of the short week of preparation. “You go right back at it and really seeing the difference between playing Denver compared to New England. It’s so different that you have no choice but to say, ‘Hey, let’s go. That thing is behind us now, let’s just focus on what is in front of us.’ Because we have to. This is such a different challenge for us. We can’t do anything, that game right there (against the Patriots), we can’t win that game right now.”
Meanwhile, Denver is in the midst of breaking out an offense so old it’s new again. The Broncos ran the ball 55 times for 244 yards and a seven-yard Tebow TD, while throwing just eight passes (completing two) for 69 yards and a 56-yard scoring strike from Tebow to Eric Decker for what proved to be the winning fourth-quarter score of a 17–10 victory at Kansas City last week.
“They did throw it eight times. But it was 55 runs. We don’t know exactly what we’re going to get. We just have to be sound (defensively),” explained Ryan, during his weekly Tuesday press conference.
“They’ve been really multiple. Sometimes they spread them out. They’ll go empty (backfield) and then run the ball with the quarterback. Running “O” plays and all that stuff. So no matter what you see, you’ll probably start by saying, ‘It’s probably a run,’ and then we’ll defend the pass after it.
“But you’re looking at formations or personnel groupings that tell you it’s going to be a pass, and it’s not with this group. That’s a little different, but you’d better be sound and obviously assume he’s running with it.”
The assumption of a Tebow run, option pitch or handoff would appear to be especially powerful against a proud New York secondary coming off a game in which Tom Brady threw 39 passes for 329 yards and three TDs while New England had no back with over eight carries on the ground.
Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner and All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis may experience an unwanted “Lost”-style solitary purgatory in a new version of “Revis Island.” And that lack-of-pass Broncos attack might create a foggy focus for the likes Antonio Cromartie, who has been known to sleepwalk through a play and get burnt deep.
“We can’t fall asleep back there in the secondary,” Revis stressed this week. “It can get boring, especially when a team just keeps running the ball, series after series, play after play.”
Tebow may not throw a Peyton Manning spiral, but his wobbly duck made it over the top of the Chiefs defense and hit Decker in-stride last week for an easy score, while also padding Tebow’s career-high 102.6 passer rating. The Broncos’ Tebow-oriented offense may not be conventional by NFL standards, but if it ain’t broke Fox ain’t fixing it.
“As long as you’re moving the ball, possessing the ball, giving your defense some rest, it’s all good,” said Fox, after taking down the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
“We’re trying to do whatever is going to help us to win. In my opinion, that’s all part of coaching — putting your players in position to utilize their abilities. … It is a little cliché, but you take what the defense gives you.”
A tired, dejected Jets defense will probably give Tebow just enough to pull off a Broncos upset Thursday night on NFL Network.
