How to Lose to a Mediocre Awful
Quarterback
�Mile-High
Meltdown� Post-Mortem by PalmerSucks
January
11, 2012
A
while back I wrote �How to Lose to a Mediocre
Quarterback,� dedicated to the Stillers� defeat at the hands of �Average Joe�
Flacco. Now we have a situation 100 times worse.
At
least Flacco is a serviceable NFL QB, unlike Tim Tebow, who�s best known for
his football illiteracy and his inability to hit the sides of barns and the
ocean. Flacco�s been known to toss a nice pass now and then � Tebow is known
for making former pros like Hoge and Carter toss their cookies. Tebow plays
great SEC football � too bad this is the NFL.
Up
until now, Tim Tebow, the running QB, had become Tim Tebow, the running joke.
Did you hear Tebow tried to commit suicide after losing to Kansas City? Lucky
for him, the bullet went 10 yards over his head. Tebow turfs so many passes, his agent reportedly is negotiating a deal with Lawn
Boy. Tebow, Stilllers fans gleefully claimed, didn�t have a �prayer� against
the Stillers defense.
Sunday
Night, nobody was laughing � most of all not in Stiller Nation.
Sunday
the Stillers� defense made Tebow look like the second coming of Dan Marino � at
least for 10 out of 21 passes. One of these included a blind-luck TD pass with
Willie Gay screening the receiver�s entire body � leaving a window of mere
inches -- believe me, Tebow�s not that
accurate a thrower. Mostly, though, he did what Tebow does � run around, throw
bombs, and hope for the best. Unfortunately for the Stillers, he got the best
Sunday afternoon.
The
Stillers had the right idea, playing man defense (as other teams had shown) but
give some credit here: Tebow finally �pulled the trigger� and hit his man. Of
course, this was GREATLY due to how the Stillers played him � as Mill pointed
out, they committed the cardinal sin of letting him roll to his left untouched.
And as I�ll show later, they made THE big mistake on the game�s final play.
But �
and here�s one key reason the Stillers lost to such an awful excuse for a QB:
even when they played man, they still played zone. What do I mean by this? Phil
Simms cracked that the Stillers defense played for the interception, Tebow just
crossed them up by actually throwing the ball accurately. By �playing for the
interception� the defense looked to where they thought the BALL would go �
instead of minding the receiver.
A lot
of people will blame the defense for this one. They shouldn�t. For all Tebow�s
�awesome� play, the Broncos scored all of 23 points in regulation.
The
Stiller offense left at least that many points on the field.
Lost
in all the uproar is the fact the Stillers defense gave up just 3 points in the second half. Again,
it�s up to the offense to take over from there.
I�ve
said all year the Stillers would go as far as their offense would allow them.
Sunday they allowed them little. The best game recap I can offer is this line
from Mill�s commentary:
�The Stillers cruised
out early, totally dominating the 1st quarter and seeming to be in total
command with a 6-0 lead.�
�Dominating� is an understatement: the Stillers outgained
Denver 119 to 8 yards that quarter. Statistical superiority like that should
equate to a 10, 14 or even 17 point lead. Instead, a mere six points down, the
Broncos were relieved and recharged, and ready to get back into the game.
How did the Stillers offense light it up everywhere but the
scoreboard? Let us count the ways:
--Wallace
had a full step on his man going deep sideline when Roethlisberger shot a line
drive over his head. A throw in bounds with air under it, and it�s likely a TD.
--Cotchery
was alone at the Denver 46 with nobody
in front of him when he dropped the ball. If he doesn�t score 6 outright, he�s
at least headed to field-goal territory.
--Wallace
blew huge gainers three times: one on an out that gained 17, but would�ve gone
for a lot more had he not stumbled like an oaf out of bounds. The 52-yard
overturned catch needn�t have been that difficult if he had tried to catch with
his HANDS. He turned a short cross on third down (with acres of green space
around him) into a slip-and-slide 4th down. (Santonio Holmes where
are you when we need you?) Who knows how many points these gaffes were worth?
--Sanders
turned a promising second down at the Denver 23 into a false-start failure,
which blew the shot at a TD here.
--Legursky
fired a missile ten miles over Ben�s head and blew prime field position at the
Denver 32. Instead of taking at least 3 here, the Stillers get nothing.
I want
to point out that none of these mistakes were forced by the Broncos � they were
100 percent unearned errors served on a silver platter by the Stillers. Yes,
there it was, your Stiller offense, moving the ball
all over the field with nothing to show for it. This time it finally caught up
with them.
Yes, the
Stillers defense gave it up to Tebow, but the Stillers offense could�ve buried
him early. Down a couple of TDs, the deep stuff gets less surprising as the
Broncos are forced to shift away from the run.
By not
scoring points, the Stillers offense ensured Denver could stick to its game
plan. The Stillers offense is at LEAST as responsible for this disastrous,
embarrassing loss to Tebow as its defense. Tebow was looking good against New
England until the Patriots opened up a big lead and exposed him for what he is.
The Stillers offense failed in that regard.
This
of course is nothing new � the Stillers offense had been playing defense for
the other team all year. Watching them struggle � especially when they�d reach
the other guys� 30 or 20 � was downright painful.
This
was Kansas City and Cleveland all over again � except this time, the defense
didn�t shut out the other guys all game, and give the offense the luxury of not
having to score until the end to win. Finally the offense�s luck ran out.
Shocking Loss � or Is
it?
Tebow
failed to hit even 50 percent of his passes � the 300+ yards came courtesy of a
lot of YAC. This was a fluky performance not soon to be repeated, if ever.
But
should we be as shocked as people think? I�ve pointed out that beating the
Stillers pass defense, especially late in the game, is nothing special � scrubs
like Bruce Gradkowsi have done it. The Stillers excel at making mediocre QBs
look good � now they�ve proven they can do it for really bad ones, too.
So, if
Tebow is such an awful QB, how could he beat the �#1 defense�? The answer is
simple: he was never asked to perform like an actual NFL QB. Not once did Tebow
lead an 11-play drive � he scored the bulk of his points in one or two
clusters, off a few passes that went for huge yards. That�s cheap and deep,
pure and simple. Tebow played like a sandlot QB, and the Stillers defense
obliged him. 10 for 21 is a pretty lousy day, passing wise. But when your
receivers turn 15-yard catches into 80-yard TDs, you can get away with it.
�Beware the Switch� � Advice the
Stillers Didn�t Heed
In my
pre-game I wrote the following:
�The
Broncos haven�t helped Tebow�s passing game � they�ve handcuffed him by calling
run plays almost exclusively on first downs. It�s understandable given Tebow�s
subpar passing skills, but it�s also made him predictable. Despite the
conservative approach, however, the Broncos have lost their last few games.
So then
-- what if Denver decides to say �screw it� and send Tebow out throwing on
early downs? It�s something the Stillers need to prepare for � in the words of
one ESPN commentator, the �unleash� of Tim Tebow.�
Here was the big one, the mistake the Stillers made that
cost them the game in overtime. Rather than have their DBs concentrate on
coverage, they played up on the line on Denver�s first snap � counting on a run
play. Replay, and you�ll see almost the entire defense
in the box.
Who could blame the Stillers, though, for thinking run?
During regulation time, Denver had continued its tendency by running 14 times
on first down (passing only once on first down the entire game!). Finally they
did say �screw it� and called for play action � a smart, gutsy move that caught
the Stillers flatfooted.
The Broncos made the Stillers pay the price for cheating up.
There was no safety back for insurance. Tebow had no pressure, and the pass was
easy to complete even for him. Once Ike whiffed on the tackle, it was off to
the races. And on to the golf course.
All year long the Stiller D had kept down scoring by keeping
plays in FRONT of them � now, at the worst time possible, they allowed the
action to get behind them. This was precisely the same blunder that had cost
them the Ravens game in Pittsburgh � and the all-important bye week.
So to recap, here�s the losing formula:
- No
pressure, no forced turnovers (from the QB).
- Allowing
the lefty QB to roll to his left with impunity.
- Looking
for the ball even when playing man coverage.
Throw in an offense that doesn�t score enough to bury Tebow
when they had the chance and there you have it: the way to lose to the worst QB
in football.
Anyway, stay tuned next week when Denver goes to New England
� my guess is that Belichick won�t allow Tebow free moves to his left. And the
Tebow jokes will begin again.
In the meantime, the joke�s on the Stillers.