In absolutely dreadful Denver Broncos season, there was at least one Sunday when a Bronco fan can rejoice and have some fun. The Broncos, behind Tim Tebow, trailed 17-0 at the half, and they were down 23-10 with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Tebow hit Correll Buckhalter for a 23 yard touchdown on a screen pass to make it 23-17. The Broncos defense made a rare big stop, and the Broncos got the ball back on their own 22. Tebow hit Buckhalter on a big third down pass. He also hit Brandon Lloyd on a big pass play into Texan territory. Tebow then took over with a big run deep into Houston for a first down. After a pass interference, Tebow rolled right, stopped, and then scrambled back to his left and scampered into the corner of the end zone to put Denver up 24-23 with 3:02 left. Houston was driving into Denver territory, when on a first and ten from the Denver 40, Matt Schaub was throwing over the middle and it was deflected by Justin Bannan and intercepted by Syd'Quan Thompson to end the game. It was a great victory for the Broncos, Tebow, and the Bronco fans. Tebow's final numbers were solid again: 16-29 308 with 1 TD and 1 Int. He really got hot in the second half, and made a big time 50 yard bomb to Jabar Gaffney to get the Broncos going on their first drive of the second half to get the game to 17-7. He moved well outside the pocket, made plays when it broke down, and really threw well off of play action and from the pocket. He made some big plays on third down-especially on the last two drives of the game. The best part about Tebow's big comeback win was that Invesco Field at Mile High was rocking like it was a playoff game. The crowd was going crazy, and even CBS announcer Don Criqui was commenting how the crowd was bring back memories of the old Mile High. Trust me, the last five years haven't produced too many big time pandemonium at Invesco, but Sunday's win was one of the best scenes in Denver since the Ed Hochuli game in 2008 over the Chargers. Great win and great moment for Tebow and Denver. One more story about Sunday's game: Sunday was my son's first birthday. I taped the game, VHS style, on Sunday because I just had a feeling that Denver might win this game, and I wanted to tape it just in case. After the game was over, I stopped the recording and wrote on the label: 12/26/10 Denver-24 Houston-23 Tim Tebow's First Win and Nicholas' First Birthday! Maybe one day in the future, my son and I can put in this tape and watch what was the beginning of the Tebow Era in Denver. That would be a pretty cool moment and hopefully Tebow will be the man in Denver for a long time to come.
A Few Quick Thoughts on the game.......
1) Tebow's 308 passing yards were the 2nd most by a Denver rookie QB since John Elway in 1983.
2) This was a classic game that Elway and Denver always would wind up winning. Brian Griese, Jay Cutler, Jake Plummer and even Kyle Orton had comeback wins for the Broncos, but this Tebow comeback just feels different.
3) The defense was terrible in the first half, but got better and played well in the second half. They stopped Houston when they had to, and got the turnover at the end when they needed it.
4) I love Gary Kubiak as an OC, and it was fun to watch his offense yesterday, but I'm not so sure he should be the Broncos next head coach.
5) Tebow's passer rating was 89.2, so he is about a 95 rating for his two games. Not too bad for a guy who people said can't play QB in the NFL.
6) Denver is now 4-11 and hosts San Diego next week in the season finale. San Diego is 8-7 and out of the playoff picture, but this game is going to be fun to watch because of the Tebow factor. It would be great to see Tebow and Denver knock off the Chargers at home on Sunday.
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