I don’t think anyone could argue that the magic that carried the Denver Broncos surprising and impressive run would last forever. The games were wild and an absolute blast to watch —unless your team was the one getting upended by Tim Tebow and company. However, we all know that a team can’t rely on the miracle comeback as the common road to victory. It just doesn’t pan out. We have seen that happen to the Denver Broncos the last three weeks. This isn’t a critique on Tebow’s style of play, just the observation that the league is beginning to adjust and figure out how to stop what he’s doing. It’s not a condemnation of how Tebow plays, just an instance where we can look at him (and the Broncos) and say “your move.”

The issue at hand isn’t that Tebow can’t make that adjustment, it’s that he has to make it right now. Additionally, he has to make it against the defense of the Pittsburgh Steelers. As the Broncos improbable run continued on, Tebow was actually showing improvement —outside of his standard fourth quarter comebacks. It appears that he’s been figured out. After getting blown out by the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills, and then a tight loss to the Kansas City Chiefs (with a playoff berth on the line), adjustments need to be made. He and the suddenly vulnerable Broncos defense need to raise their level of play across the board to have a chance. The mystifying start to Tebow’s career as a starter has ended, it’s time for him to start learning the game and improving, not as a gimmicky apparition, but as a quarterback.

Throughout this season, I’ve compared Tebow’s unorthodox success with what happened with the Miami Dolphins and their Wildcat offense. I remember when the Wildcat appeared and the Dolphins found success with it by winning a few games, many thought the game had changed. We heard the same talk when the Broncos and Tebow started running their option offense and found Tebow making wild comebacks. The game was changing. The quarterback position was changing. While the game itself is constantly undergoing change, Tebow’s style is fresh, but that doesn’t mean it will remain effective. With three straight losses to end the season, it would appear the “freshness” has run out. The league is figuring out how to stop it.

I think Tebow and the Broncos are capable, but Tebow has to make an adjustment of his own in response to the ones the league has made. All players have to do this to be successful. Tebow’s chance is now.

Brian is a lifelong football fan, specifically of the Chicago Bears, having lived in Illinois his entire life and having followed the NFL throughout.

Sources

For Broncos Success, Tebow Needs to Own Fourth Quarter

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DENVER (CBS4)- A new survey puts Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow at the top of the list for the most desired celebrity neighbor.

But he’s not thinking about that. Tebow is too busy thinking about the upcoming New Year’s Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

The Broncos need to beat the Chiefs in order to make it to the playoffs if the Oakland Raiders win against the San Diego Chargers. If the Raiders lose, the Broncos will clinch a playoff spot whether they win or lose.

Tebow will be facing the man he replaced, Kyle Orton, on Sunday. Tebow is coming off his worst game of the year after he threw three interceptions and a fumble against the Buffalo Bills on Christmas Eve.

“Part of being motivated and learning from mistakes and past failures and also learning from losses. Having that feeling and let that disappointment drive you in practice and meetings to watch more to do more. So I don’t know if you just want to let everything go and just continue to be the same person. I think you need to let it eat at you a little bit because it can make you better as a player, as a person,” said Tebow.

The survey by Zillow.com shows many Americans think Tebow would be a good neighbor. Eleven percent of the respondents said they would like to live next to Tebow. He even beat out “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston and celebrity couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

As if the Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow need any more pressure.

A home loss to Kansas City in Week 17, coupled with an Oakland win at home against San Diego on Sunday, will keep the Broncos out of the playoffs. They would be 8-8 and end the season with three straight losses.

Instead of this season being looked upon as one of progress in the first year of the John Fox era after a 4-12 2010 season, it would be looked upon as a blown opportunity.

Adding to the pressure is the fact that Denver has to face former starting quarterback Kyle Orton, who was claimed by the Chiefs in November after being waived by the Broncos. Orton has a unique opportunity. According to ESPN Stats & Information, this will be the first time since the AFL-NFL merger that a quarterback will play against a team he started for earlier in the season.

Nothing would make Orton happier than to knock Tebow and the Broncos out of the playoffs. Tebow replaced Orton after the Broncos got off to a 1-4 start, and now Orton will do his best to make Denver 1-5 in games he has started.

Can you imagine how the Broncos and Tebow will feel if that happens?

After going 7-1 in his first eight starts, Tebow has seen his team lose its last two games. He played well in a loss to New England in Week 15. However, Tebow regressed at Buffalo last Saturday. He threw three interceptions — ball security had been his biggest attribute — including one that was returned for a score and a had a fumble that was brought back for a touchdown.

Denver’s brass hasn’t come out and publicly said Tebow will get a chance to start next year, but there have been indications that is the way the franchise is leaning. However, if the Broncos lose this game and Tebow, who was named the second Pro Bowl alternate this week, takes another step back, the idea could be reconsidered.

There is a feeling in Denver that Tebow will elevate his game Sunday because Orton will be on the other sideline. Tebow is highly competitive and will want to get the better of the man he replaced. Denver also is comforted by the fact that in college Tebow often played his best in the biggest games.

Orton also has plenty at stake. He is a free agent after the season. Interim Kansas City coach Romeo Crennel said after the Chiefs beat previously undefeated Green Bay in Week 15 — Orton’s first start as a Chief — that Orton would probably have a chance to be the Chiefs’ starter next year over injured incumbent Matt Cassel if Orton finished the season strong. Orton was just so-so in a 16-13 overtime loss to Oakland last week. He had his moments, but he failed in the red zone, which was a problem during much of his time in Denver.

Still, if Orton knocks off the Broncos, it could go a long way in helping him get a starting job in 2012, whether it’s in Kansas City or elsewhere.

The Broncos know the potential for an embarrassing situation here. But they knew it five weeks ago when they cut Orton. Denver knew Kansas City was a possibility to claim Orton because Cassel was out for the season with a hand injury. But the Broncos believed it was worth the risk because they believed Orton wasn’t needed any longer. They didn’t think Tebow needed the security blanket of the veteran. Orton wasn’t helping Denver at the time of his release, and the fact that he was claimed saved Denver $2.5 million in salary.

“We made the decision to go with Tim Tebow,” Fox told reporters this week. “I think that decision has proved worthy. We took that risk whenever you release any player. We don’t have any control over who takes him or where he goes or any of those things, but it’s good for Kyle. I wish him nothing but the best except for this Sunday … I think at the end of the day we feel real comfortable with Tim. We made that decision and here we are.”

After talking to several people in the organization, I get the sense the that Broncos feel comfortable playing against Orton in a game of this magnitude. I also get the sense that Denver is confident defensively going against Orton. The Broncos practiced against Orton for parts of three seasons, after all.

“We can hit him now,” Denver defensive end Robert Ayers said of facing Orton as an opponent. “I’m not going to think too much into this whole Kyle Orton thing. We’re fighting for something that’s big, and we want to go to the playoffs. That’s all I’m focusing on.”

Still, Orton also feels comfortable against the Broncos, and be sure that he has given every tidbit he knows about his former Denver teammates to his new coaching staff as he tries to come out of the game the victorious quarterback.

Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. likes Orton’s chances in this matchup.

“I would rather have Orton for one game,” Williamson said. “I do get that Tebow plays his best in big games, and Orton has rarely showed that ability. But Orton is the better NFL quarterback right now and his experience puts it over the top for me.”

If Williamson is right, there could be major ramifications in both Denver and in Kansas City if Orton sends the Broncos into offseason mode.

I’ll be honest. I have never liked Kyle Orton. As a lifelong Chicago Bears fan living in Denver, I’ve had to put up with the likes of this particular quarterback for six long years.

However, along with many other Denver Broncos fans, I am now extremely worried that he could enact serious revenge upon the team that benched him for Tim Tebow earlier this season. Karma is a difficult mistress, and Denver fans know that they never embraced Orton or gave him much of a chance while he was in Colorado. Ever since he arrived from Chicago via the trade that sent Jay Cutler to the Bears, Orton was booed consistently and without mercy. If the Broncos lose to the Kansas City Chiefs and Orton on Sunday, they will most likely not make the playoffs and Orton will be one very happy man.

It’s not as if Orton really engenders a persona that a fan could come to love. While in Colorado, especially after Tebow was drafted, Orton was frequently terse and not very personable in interviews with the local media. When asked about how he felt about the fans loudly supporting Tebow over him, Orton repeatedly talked about how he didn’t care what the fans thought.

A lot of the rancor surrounding the fans’ feelings for Orton was a result of his very poor record while he was the starting quarterback in Denver. In three years as the starter, Orton was 12-26. Granted, he did have two seasons where he threw for over 3,600 yards. However, Orton always seemed to have a problem converting all those yards into touchdowns. In 38 starts, he only had four games where he threw for three or more touchdowns.

One wonders what Orton thought seeing Tebow’s struggles on the field finally evolve into fourth quarter magic that saw the Broncos win four of their next five games. Apparently he saw the writing on the wall and knew that, barring injury to Tebow, he’d never start again for the Broncos. In a most charitable move, Denver granted the release that Orton requested. While Kansas City may not have been the landing spot that Orton wished for, it has turned out well for both him and the team.

Now Orton is returning to Denver to play against a former understudy in Tebow. Tebow, who was granted that favorite son status that Orton could never earn, will be the one whose name is chanted in the stands on Sunday. Of course, boos will once again rain down upon Orton when he comes to play, but I’m quite certain that his goal will be to share those boos with Tebow by the end of the game.

Julie lives in Denver and roots for the local Broncos team. A lifelong NFL fan, she is mourning the end of the regular season this weekend.

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