Tim Tebow appears to have lost whatever magic he had when he was leading the Denver Broncos to six straight wins and victories in 7 of 8 during the middle chunk of the season. The Broncos head into their AFC Wild Card playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers having lost three straight, a stretch that has seen Tebow throw four interceptions to one touchdown and fail to complete more than 50 percent of his passes in every game.
AFC Wild Card 2012: Tim Tebow Needs To ‘Pull The Trigger’ Vs. Steelers
But John Elway, the former Broncos quarterback and current vice president of football operations, doesn’t seem worried. Elway told Woody Paige of the Denver Post that Tebow needs to trust his athletic abilities and “pull the trigger.”
“When you get into these playoff situations, he’s a good enough athlete, you know what, to pull the trigger. He’s obviously upset with last week. He’s already got an edge to him, so he’s ready to go. I like seeing the edge. Oh, yeah. I actually love it. I have full confidence he’ll bounce back and have a good week.”
Over at Broncos blog Mile High Report, they are well aware of the Broncos’ recent struggles. They are also acutely aware of Tebow’s recent play. They are also doing their best to keep spirits high on both fronts:
But if there’s one thing I know about Tebow, and a lot of this Broncos team, it’s that guys step up when it’s time to make clutch plays, and I think that’s what you’ll see this weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It should perhaps come as little surprise that the folks at Steelers blog Behind the Steel Curtain are, well, less than impressed by their opponent. Editor Michael Bean suggests the Broncos probably don’t even deserve to be playing the Steelers:
The Broncos do not belong in the playoffs. Maybe I should find a better phrase than 'don't belong', because if there is one cliche that is true in this league, it's that 'you are who you are.' And the Broncos deserve lots of credit for being 8-8. However, two quick plays stand out as incredibly fluky that most certainly catapulted them to where they are today: the first is the Philip Rivers botched snap late in their early-season loss to Kansas City. All Rivers was trying to do was hand off to get the ball lined up on the right hash marks for the kicker. The second was Marion Barber of the Chicago Bears inexplicably not going down in bounds late in the Broncos miraculous come-from-behind win over Chicago at the height of Tebow-Mania.
For more on the AFC playoffs, be sure to check out SB Nation’s NFL hub.
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