Numbers Might Be For Losers, But Tim Tebow Still Outplayed the Entire AFC West

We said it would be ugly. We said it would be unconventional.

They said he couldn't start, they said he couldn't do this, or that, etc. etc...

Whatever you want to say about Tim Tebow is fine. I will agree that he obviously isn't going to get away with this kind of stuff probably ever again being that it was one of the most unlikely and historic comebacks in the history of the NFL.

For now, that's all I really care about.

For the future, I definitely want to see Tebow spread out the success he has had in the fourth quarter of the last two games through the other three quarters. This game was eerily similar to the Houston game, where Denver scored zero points in the first half and appeared to be completely incapable of any offense whatsoever.

Then, some kind of magic happens. Where does it come from?

Right now, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that the Broncos won and both the Chargers and Raiders lost. The Chargers have not yet beaten an opponent with a winning record and while Kansas City is hot right now, we've seen how low they can get. Oakland looks great one week and then they get shut out on their home field.

Still, while some have given Tebow the grade of "F" for his performance as a quarterback against the Dolphins and others have said he was "abysmal" or "atrocious" or even "awful," I think everyone is failing to look even within the rest of Denver's division to note one simple fact--Tebow out-played every other quarterback in the AFC West.

Tebow's stat line was 13-27 for 161 yards and two touchdowns. He attempted eight passes through the first three quarters and obviously struggled quite a bit. But, the Broncos won the game and Tebow helped spark a comeback in the final five minutes. Tebow finished the game with no turnovers.

Philip Rivers and the Chargers also traveled East on Sunday to take on the New York Jets. The Jets are considerably better than Miami, but nonetheless, Rivers completed only 16 of his 32 passes for 179 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.

I wonder if he should move to h-back.

Okay, so we'll give a pass to Rivers since he has proven that he is an elite quarterback in this league. But how about those pesky Kansas City Chiefs?

They went to Oakland with Matt Cassel and won 28-0, but they honestly won despite Cassel's pathetic display of passing, where he completed 15-of-30 passes for 161 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions.

How often is Kansas City going to get six interceptions to cover up such a dismal display of football?

Should we even mention the quarterbacks in Oakland?

Kyle Boller had virtually no confidence from his coaching staff, but hey, he is a former first round pick, a veteran who knows the offense, and by golly he's playing in front of his home crowd.

Boller was benched after going 7-for-14 for 71 yards and three picks.

Boller's replacement was Carson Palmer, who is fresh out of his street clothes and a guy who was just acquired for what could amount to be two first round picks.

Nice work, Carson.

The guy who quit on the Bengals didn't need to quit on the Raiders, he just helped them to one of the most embarrassing performances of the weekend when he threw 21 passes--eight of which were completed, three of which were picked off by Chiefs defenders.

Yikes.

Furthermore, did anyone see the Jaguars vs. Ravens game on Monday night? How about former first round picks Joe Flacco and Blaine Gabbert combining for a ripe zero touchdown passes.

Flacco completed just over 50 percent of his passes at 21-for-38 for 137 yards and an interception to end the game. Flacco completed eight more passes than Tebow, and finished the game with 24 fewer yards and had a desperation touchdown. In fact, he rarely even got close.

How about the golden boy, first round pick Blaine Gabbert who has a pretty throwing motion and long, flowing, golden locks?

He completed 9-of-20 passes for 93 yards and no touchdowns, but he got a win so all is well for Jacksonville at the moment.

Other quarterbacks that Tebow arguably out-played on Sunday? How about Colt McCoy, Charlie Whitehurst, Matthew Stafford, Josh Freeman (29-51, 2 TD, 4 INT), Jay Cutler (17-32, 1 TD, 2 INT), Matt Hasselbeck (14-30, 1 TD, 2 INT), A.J. Feeley (20-33, 0 TD, 1 INT), and the great Curtis Painter (9-17, 67 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT).

So, as bad as Tebow may have been on Sunday, he was still better than nearly half of the league's quarterbacks.

I don't hear ESPN questioning any of their NFL futures. How many of the guys that started this weekend had fewer than five career starts?

It's all about perspective, and obviously that is lacking in some parts of the media. People choose to ignore certain things, and they decide to amplify others.

But, the Broncos won, and Tim Tebow isn't going anywhere for now, so the Broncos will continue to press onward and upward, despite it all.