Simply terrible.
I suppose we should bench Tim Tebow now, right? Wrong. The Kyle Orton ship has sailed. Yet, the Tim Tebow ship is already taking on water. I felt his throws and reads were somewhat better today, but good God the execution is still terrible.
I lost count of the dropped passes today. However, that didn't lose this game by itself.
Here are some things I noticed today:
1. Tim Tebow is getting better, but the offense is still out of sync and struggling to find a rhythm. Whoops, Tebow just threw a pick six - oh well.
2. The only wide receiver without stone hands it seems is Eric Decker, but even he dropped a pass or two.
3. The referees have blown a ton of calls against the Broncos this year. That makes two games in 2011 where the Broncos opponent did not apparently commit a single penalty. The 3 blocks in the back on one punt notwithstanding, though they did get the Broncos for a late hit out of bounds on that same punt! (EDIT: The refs finally called 4 in the final quarter against the Lions...so thank you for CYA's)
4. Orlando Franklin makes me cringe every time Tebow drops back to pass. I suspect he'll be a guard from 2012 onward.
5. The defense was poor on first downs and that really set the tone for the Lions offense to convert and score consistently. It didn't help that the Broncos offense had like 8-9 straight three and outs from the first quarter to the third quarter.
6. Thank you DJ Williams for disappearing during this game, but hey you were a hero last week so we forgive you for taking the week off.
7. I saw lots of people complaining about play calling. Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but the play calling was pretty good today. The problem was execution. The players failed to execute anything actually.
8. Lastly, this team sucks. If you bet on the over on wins against Vegas, you're going to lose.
The peaks and valleys were going to be wild. I knew that much, but it is still hard to accept a home blowout. Whether it is Orton leading the Broncos to a 59-14 drubbing or Tebow helping along a 45-10 route with two defensive touchdowns. It's something I cannot stomach. The key is, as always, patience. I need to suffer through these growing pains in order to find out what Tebow is going to be.
The Denver Broncos are a bad football team. Kyle Orton. Tim Tebow. This team stinks. I think we'll see general improvement over time, but its going to be more painful than exciting for the next month or so. If no improvement occurs, then the Broncos will be in great position to make a strong play for Andrew Luck in the 2012 draft.
I usually end with a GO BRONCOS!, but I just don't feel like it today.