Tim Tebow’s performance in his playoff debut may have revealed why he can look so bad at times and yet so good at others. No quarterback in the league relies as heavily on completing the deep ball.
In Sunday’s victory over a Steelers team that had the top-ranked pass defense this season, Tebow had a 125.6 passer rating, completing 10 of 21 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns. That’s 31.6 yards per completion.
Tebow became just the second quarterback since 2006 to complete less than 50 percent of his passes (JaMarcus Russell in 2009). And in the best game of his professional career, he still completed just 47.6 percent of his passes.
So it’s easy to see how missing just a couple deep balls could have drastically altered his statistical outcome.
And that’s how a performance like Week 17 against the Chiefs could happen. Tebow missed on some deep attempts and finished 6-for-22 for 60 yards in the loss. In his previous game against Kansas City, he completed just two passes. But one happened to be a 56-yarder to Eric Decker for a touchdown, and the Broncos ended up winning.
In the Broncos’ offensive system, Tebow gets limited opportunities to throw the ball. Among the eight quarterbacks who played this weekend, Tebow had at least 11 fewer pass attempts than six of them. So when Tebow does drop back, he’s not wasting his time throwing a 10-yard out route. No, Tebow’s going long. And if he connects, big things happen. If he doesn’t, his statline becomes a punch line.
The emphasis on completing the deep ball is confounded by the fact that defenses play press coverage and load the box to stop the Broncos’ NFL-leading rushing attack.
On Sunday, the Steelers consistently moved their safeties up into the box, and Tebow torched them three times with passes of more than 50 yards.
The Broncos quarterback will continue to be challenged by defenses. Can Tebow continue to take advantage?
