Blinded By The Light: Who's Really To Blame For Tebowmania?

As I was reading last week about the seemingly brief career of Marion Barber, I thought about how quickly he fell from top tier running back to completely dispensable.Though it isn't rare for running backs to diminish in productivity rapidly as they enter their late 20's, I felt as if Barber proved last season that he could still be an effective change of pace back in the NFL. It was then that I was reminded of Barber's last significant game in the NFL, and perhaps his only significant game as a Chicago Bear. In week 14 of last season, Barber started in place of the injured Matt Forte, and was having, by all accounts, his most productive game of the season. However, it took a turn for the worse when Barber ran out of bounds with the clock running in a game Chicago was poised to win over the Tim Tebow-led Broncos. To make matters worse, Barber then fumbled in overtime, taking away a second opportunity for his team to end Denver's five-game winning streak. Instead, Tebow completed 18 of his final 24 passes against a confused and exhausted Chicago defense, orchestrated one of his signature heroic comebacks, giving the Broncos their 8th win of the season, which proved to be all they would need to win the AFC West. Despite losing their last three games of the regular season to New England, Buffalo, and Kansas City, the 8-8 Broncos marched confidently into the playoffs, traded blows with Pittsburgh, and beat them with an unforgettable touchdown pass in true Tebow fashion.

In hindsight, it's easy to make the case that if Marion Barber doesn't make BOTH of those crucial errors, the Broncos lose, probably miss the playoffs, and The Legend of Tebow doesn't become what it has. But to put all of the blame of Tebowmania onto Barber is unfair. After all, for a 23 year-old quarterback to complete 46% of his passes and make it to the second round of the playoffs, it takes a lot of help from a lot of incompetent people all over the NFL landscape. Here are a few of the other guilty parties who helped shape the three-ring circus/ magic show/ future sports movie that was the 2011 Denver Broncos season:

Josh McDaniels

To understand the phenomenon of Tebowmania, you must first understand the mind of a 33 year-old first time head coach who traded four high draft picks to move into the first round for a player who was projected to be a second or third round pick anyway. This move didn't totally define McDaniel's impact on the Broncos. He also pissed off Jay Cutler by trying to trade him for Matt Cassel, then being so unapologetic about it that Cutler said he didn't trust McDaniels, and consequently was traded to Chicago for Kyle Orton  a few weeks before the 2010 Draft. He later traded Brandon Marshall for two second round picks after back to back Pro Bowl Seasons, won 5 of his final 22 games, and was involved in a videotaping scandal  reminiscent of Spygate circa The 2007 Patriots, a team McDaniels also coached for. Oh, and he traded Peyton Hillis for Brady Quinn. He was fired after less than 23 months on the job, and Tim Tebow, his prized draft choice, threw one regular season pass and never started a game with McDaniels as his head coach. So there's that.

Kyle Orton

It would be easy to pile an avalanche of blame onto Kyle Orton for starting the 2011 season 1-4, throwing seven picks against seven touchdowns, and being so abysmal that it opened the floodgates for the Tebow Tsunami. As much as his horrible play may have contributed to Tebowmania, Orton got his revenge in a 7-3 Week 17 victory over the Broncos, in a game where Timmy completed 6 of 22 passes. Orton and the Chiefs would've knocked the Broncos out of the playoffs if Oakland won their Week 17 game against San Diego, so we'll give Kyle a break on this one.

The Miami Dolphins

Not only did the Dolphins allow Tebow and the Broncos to score 18 unanswered points on them (15 of which came in the final 3 minutes of regulation). Not only did they lose a home game to a team who converted ZERO first downs in the first half. Not only did they allow an 80-yard touchdown drive, an onside kick conversion, a 56-yard touchdown drive, and a two point conversion in the last three minutes of regulation, all of which Denver needed to tie the game at 15. Not only did they fumble the ball in overtime, setting up a 52-yard field goal for Matt Prater. They did all of this in front of Urban Meyer, seventeen of Tebow's former college teammates, and a sea of #15 Broncos jerseys, because the Dolphins were commemorating the 2008 Florida Gators! In fairness, this was at the peak of their Suck For Luck  campaign that somehow landed them the 8^th pick in the 2012 draft.

The New York Jets

Tebow's current team demonstrated some of the sloppiest red zone defense imaginable in a game where their most recent acquisition completed a whopping 9 passes. The Jets bounced back from the Week 11 loss to win three straight games, only to lose their last three in one of the most entertaining and embarrassing collapses to end a season since, well, September.

The San Diego Chargers


Blame the 2011 San Diego Chargers, but not for having such a pathetically underwhelming season despite very high expectations. Blame them, not for mailing in a Thursday Night home game to the Raiders, and letting Carlson Palmer throw all over them three weeks after HE ASKED NORV TURNER FOR TICKETS TO THE GAME! Not for losing six in a row in the middle of the season, including a game where the Jets scored 17 unanswered and shut them out in the second half. Don't blame Phillip Rivers and his 6 kids or Antonio Gates's planter fascia. Blame the San Diego Chargers because at the height of Tebowmania, they suffered a 16-13 overtime home loss to, you guess it, The Denver Broncos. Nate Kieding missed a 48 and 53 yard field goal late in the game, and Tebow needed three possessions in overtime to narrowly avoid a tie. Just like the Broncos and Raiders, the Chargers finished the season 8-8. but because of tie breakers, Tebowmania took his traveling circus to the playoffs.

The Pittsburgh Steelers

To truly grasp how the defending AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers were toppled by the Almighty 2011 Broncos, look no further than their secondary. Pittsburgh's leading tackler Ryan Clark sat out because of a blood condition that's exacerbated by Denver's high altitude, leaving an already-average defensive backfield undermanned. Everyone remembers the “80-yard touchdown” on the first play of overtime, where Clark's replacement Ryan Mundy and cornerback Ike Taylor got burned by Demarius Thomas. However, Thomas also had catches of 51 and 58 yards earlier in the game, the only time since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970 that a wide receiver has caught three passes for more than 50 yards in a single playoff game. A once proud and effective defense let Tim Tebow throw for 316 yards on them with only 10 completions.

The Steel Curtain was so committed to stopping Denver's #1 ranked rushing attack that they left big holes in the defensive backfield, which Tebow and the Broncos took full advantage of. The final play of the game exposed a larger, fundamental problem with the Steeler defense: Troy Polamalu isn't as good as he once was, and Pittsburgh's defense is paying the price. Polamalu has become known for timing offensive snap counts, and occasionally going rogue and using his football intuition to make big plays. However, when Troy's wrong, he has the tendency to look like a fool and leave his defensive backfield susceptible to big plays. This was evident in their playoff loss to the Broncos, where Polamalu was as guilty as anyone for allowing that 80-yard touchdown pass from Tebow to Thomas. Just another example of the Steelers over-pursuing on play action passes. Oh, and by the way, guess who drafted Demarius Thomas with the 22^nd pick in the 2010 Draft? I'll give you a hint: Tebow went to the same team three picks later. 


In 13 starts last season, Tim Tebow led seven game-winning drives, six fourth-quarter comebacks and had four overtime victories. Yet, he might be the only quarterback in NFL history to win his division, win a home playoff game, and then get traded to a team that intends to make him the back-up because that team just re-signed their starting quarterback to a three-year, $40.5 million extension. Of course, when the theme is incompetence and inexplicable behavior in pro football, The Jets have to find more than one way to get involved. What a difference three months makes.

-J Fonts