There’s an old saying – once is chance, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern. How about 4 out of 5?
The Denver Broncos defeated the New York Jets Thursday night 17-13, in a victory that just adds more fuel to both the supporters and the haters of Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. The Broncos are now 4-1 since Tebow took the helm, and 1-4 without him, and tied with the 5-win Oakland Raiders at the top of the AFC West.
Once again, they were forced to come from behind in the fourth quarter, and once again Tebow delivered. After the Jets took a 13-10 lead on a Nick Folk 45-yard field goal with 9:14 left in the game, it looked bleak, as the Broncos hadn’t moved the ball well all night.
And when they got the ball back with 5:45 left at their own 5-yard line, it looked even more bleak. But Tebow delivered with a final drive reminiscent of his late comeback against the Dolphins.
Tebow ran the ball seven times for 58 yards in the last 6 minutes (after only 11 yards rushing the rest of the game). Tebow punched the ball in himself with a 20-yard touchdown run with 58 seconds left on the clock, capping the 95 yard drive to give the Broncos the victory.
With his characteristic modesty, Tebow said after the game, “We have a resilient team.”
He said earlier in the week that the most exciting thing he did this week was his foundation announcing that they are going to build a children’s hospital in the Philippines. It is hard to hate the guy, but there are those who will try.
And while his 9 of 20 performance for 104 yards is not enough to silence the critics, he also added 68 yards rushing, including the winning touchdown. And then there is that 4-1 record.
“I said before, I trust him. I trust him with everything,” teammate Von Miller, this year’s first round draft pick, said about Tebow. “No matter how many interceptions he throws, no matter how many touchdowns he throws. I’m going to ride him to the end. I hope he shut up a bunch of his critics today.”
The Jets had to give him credit, including Darrelle Revis, the Jets All Pro cornerback who said earlier in the week that he was concerned about being lulled to sleep by the Broncos neglect of the passing game. “We played them well, through the whole game, until that last play,” Revis said.
“He shocked me,” Revis added, “probably shocked a lot of people.”
Jets head coach Rex Ryan wasn’t shocked, but he had to give Tebow credit as well. “You know he’s going to keep it in that situation. That’s what he does. You keep the ball in your playmaker’s hand,” Ryan said.
“We thought he was going to carry the ball and he didn’t disappoint us. But he ran for a touchdown. The kid’s a competitor and makes big plays with the game on the line.”
Tebow himself is quick to share the credit with his team. “I think it was just a bunch of guys that kept fighting, that had been knocked down a bunch of times and got back up,” Tebow said. “I’m proud of these guys for their resiliency and determination.”
Tebow was there at crunch time, but the Broncos defense put them in the position that made the win possible. After the Jets scored on a fumble recovery in the end zone by Matt Slauson, to take a 10-3 lead, the Broncos defense quickly got those points back.
Broncos cornerback Andre Goodman stepped in front of a Mark Sanchez pass and ran it back 26 yards for the touchdown to tie the game at 10. “I shouldn’t have thrown it,” Sanchez said after the game. “It’s an embarrassing play on my part.”
While Sanchez had a much better game except for the interception (he finished 24 of 40 for 252 yards), they were unable to finish drives and score enough points to keep out of range of the last minute Tebow Magic. And with 3 of his 4 victories coming on fourth quarter comebacks, this is what he’s best at.
“I like winning,” Tebow said. “But I wish it wasn’t this stressful.”
