POLL: 43% OF PEOPLE BELIEVE TIM TEBOW’S SUCCESS IS A RESULT OF DIVINE INTERVENTION
www.sportressofblogitude.com
According to a poll of 1,076 registered voters conducted on Jan. 8 by Poll Position (hey, just like the old arcade game, only spelled differently!), 756 (a sizable 43.3%) of those questioned who are aware of Tim Tebow and what he has been accomplishing believe that Divine Intervention might be in play as a means to explain the uncanny and unlikely success of the Denver Broncos quarterback.. To flesh out the results of the poll, 42% didn’t agree and 14% had no opinion. The margin error in the results is a +/- 3%.
In 1882, philosopher Friedrich Nietzche wrote the now famous lines, "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him."
Nietzche never met Tim Tebow. Had he, he might have revised those lines to read, "God was dead. We killed him. Then we replaced him with football." After all, moral authority has to come from somewhere. It might as well be from Roger Goodell.
Of course, had Nietzche hung out with Tebow, he might not have contracted syphilis, either. Oh, well, them's the breaks.
Playoff Preview: Broncos at Patriots
www.grantland.com
Sure, Brady vs. Tebow is a great storyline. Just make sure you’re ready for Chung vs. Bruton, too…Chung is one of the few above-average players on the New England defense when he’s healthy, so his presence should be a huge upgrade for Belichick & Co…The team was also without middle linebacker Brandon Spikes for that game, and Spikes could also play a huge role in improving the defense’s performance.
[Aaron Hernandez] finished with a team-high nine catches, 11 targets, and 129 yards. Denver will have to make a difficult choice this weekend: Do they let Hernandez do that to them again? Or do they try to eliminate him from the game and do their best with Gronkowski instead?...A lot of the factors that led us to lean toward a possible upset last week for Denver are gone. This week, they’re the team with more injuries.
Barnwell, of course, was one of the few analysts to rightly predict a Denver victory last week, for what that's worth.
Good Morning, Broncos fans! In his analysis of the Denver/New England matchup, Andy Benoit thinks Tim Tebow will again be given enough time to make some throws against the Pats' Cover 3 defense. As for the running game, Benoit thinks the key will be how well J.D. Walton holds up in his one-on-one matchups with Vince Wilfork, against whom Walton thrived in their Week 15 meeting.
On the other side, Benoit thinks the Broncos will again have trouble covering both Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez; his guess is they'll place Chris Harris on Hernandez duty and again utilize D.J. Williams and Wesley Woodyard to disrupt Gronkoski's release at the LOS. Benoit says New England's likely response of putting Gronkowski in the slot and forcing a matchup with someone like Jonathan Wilhite could cause serious issues for Denver.
Meanwhile, Pat Kirwan thinks this rematch will be closer than the first meeting was, and that the Pats' lack of playmakers like Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu and James Harrison may allow Denver to put up a bunch of points. On defense, Kirwan figures the Broncos will have a tougher time rushing Tom Brady than they did against Big Ben, and he strangely thinks the Broncos have more distractions despite having nothing to lose and New England's coaching changes.
As the incandescence of the Broncos victory fades to a warming glow, I wanted to take some time to talk about the OL’s performance in the Pittsburgh game. Simply put - it was remarkable. You have to keep in mind that by some fairly sophisticated measures, this is the ‘worst’ offensive line in the NFL. If you keep cumulative stats, it’s fair to say that their average ranking in some important categories was fairly poor. They were asked to learn an offense which is different from last year’s, then to throw that out and run an offense that some of the players had never run before. They capped off their season to date by shutting down the pass rush of a very good Pittsburgh team. I’ve said it before and will again here - I wish that Pittsburgh had been healthier, because on that day, I don’t think they could have beaten the Broncos. Denver was too focused, too tired of losing and too tired of hearing that they didn’t have a chance. There are times when being the underdog is the way to find the inner fire that can consume the other team, leaving only the taste of ashes in its wake.
Without the performance of the OL - in both the running and passing games - having picked up both systems, including a right tackle who topped off his rookie newness by taking on a position that he’d never played before, but who stepped into his first playoff game like a seasoned pro - neither the outcome of this game nor that of the season that preceded it. It’s true that there were some rough games for the OL. It’s just as true that there were a lot more good ones - enough to get a somewhat shaky ship into the advanced harbor of the playoffs. The harbor may be mined, but Denver negotiated the first leg of it well. The line played a big role in that.
Continue reading "Wednesday Musings: Studying the O-line’s play on Sunday, more on Ayers"
Ten-Point Stance: I was wrong about Tebow (and I'm far from alone)
www.cbssports.com
A first-round pick at quarterback is supposed to be a franchise player. We still don’t know if Tebow is that, but if McDaniels had stayed as coach, he likely would have designed a similar offense (and maybe a better one) for Tebow some time ago. In other words, the offense we see Tebow running might have been run at the beginning of this season or even last season.
McDaniels likely would have allowed Tebow to throw the ball more, coached him better, and believed in him more—because he drafted Tebow.
Obviously it's pointless, but still interesting to wonder what if - what if Tebow was still being coached up by Josh and Ben McDaniels, two people who presumably had unwavering belief in the guy? Instead, it's been quite clear that John Elway and John Fox have hemmed and hawed on Tim all year long (not that that wasn't understandable).
Hitler reacts to Tim Tebow beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC playoffs
youtu.be
Hitler finds out that Tim Tebow beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC playoffs in OT and he’s not too happy about it.
Good Morning, Broncos fans! It was a big day on the coaching carousel yesterday, with the most significant move being Oakland's firing of Huebris* Jackson. As Monte Poole details, it appears the Raiders will finally be operating the way most other sports franchises do: with a clear hierarchy, and with new GM Reggie McKenzie's handpicked coach able to hire/fire his own staff and even call plays without keeping one ear open for a call from Big Al.
But thankfully, a couple of Raiders trademarks will endure: firstly, their locational uncertainty continues, as owner Mark Davis says the team is considering either a move back to LA, shacking up with the Niners, or a new stadium in Oaktown. Secondly, it appears Davis has the potential to someday sport a look as caricature-like as his late father did: his hairdo appears to be an amalgam of those belonging to Lloyd Christmas and Ishmael.
More good news for Denver arrives from Jacksonville, where the Jaguars have hired Mark Mike Mularkey, meaning Mike McCoy is out of the running for that gig. Guess the Broncos are stuck with his terrible playcalling, huh?
Elsewhere, Chargers OC Clarence Shelmon is retiring, and the Jets have replaced Brian Schottenheimer with Tony Sparano (where else could he land but a few miles from the Bada Bing?).
* This one belongs to TJ
Adam Schefter is reporting that the Raiders have fired coach Hue Jackson after just one season. Speculation had grown in recent days that new Oakland GM Reggie McKenzie was considering bringing in a handpicked head coach. It's certainly understandable, especially considering the exceptional amount of power Jackson had wielded in recent months.
Jackson had become the de facto GM following the death of Al Davis, and it had been Jackson's curious decision to trade away two high picks for QB Carson Palmer. Under McKenzie, Jackson would have been taking a step backwards within the organization (even if it was called for), and of course the new GM has his own legacy to forge with the organization. Why do so with a coach who outranks you in terms of seniority, and who just got used to calling all the shots?
The Broncos have placed FB Spencer Larsen on IR; Larsen injured his knee against KC in Week 17 and along with FB Austin Sylvester did not dress for Sunday's victory over Pittsburgh. To take Larsen's roster spot and play Saturday should Eric Decker's own knee injury keep him out, the Broncos promoted rookie D'Andre Goodwin from the practice squad.
Denver also added WR Tim Toone to the PS to take the spot vacated by Goodwin's promotion. Toone was 2010's Mr. Irrelevant, as the Lions selected him with the final pick in that year's draft; he most recently was a member of the Bills. He also happens to have a head of hair which makes him look like Michael Bolton, except for the dreadlocks.
