Cutler still the choice, but Tebow ...
Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is like this gigantic Rocky Mountain avalanche sliding down on America.
Heck, Tebow was featured Tuesday on both the news and sports fronts of USA Today.
Tebowmania, a disease with which I recently became inflicted, inspires some very important questions.
Like, when he kneels down Tebowing in prayer is he thanking God for not teaming him with Roy Williams?
After Lady Gaga tweeted, “wow Tebow that’s what the (bleep) a champion looks like,” did he want to thank her for the compliment or scold her for the language?
Finally, does Tebow think he’s a better quarterback than the Bears’ Jay Cutler?
The answers in order are maybe, likely both and he better not. I’m more certain of the first two than the third.
This is no insult to Cutler. It’s hard to compete against magic, and fan bases will compare Tebow to their QBs until he is beaten in the playoffs.
I still would take Cutler over Tebow because Cutler is a quarterback and Tebow remains a curiosity.
But maybe that’s just a Chicago view. Few football fans in Denver would agree.
“Cutler is the quarterback Tebow never can be,” Denver columnist Mark Kiszla wrote last month. “Tebow, however, is a winner in a way Cutler might never understand.”
This isn’t about Tebow’s renowned religious and social beliefs. It’s about football.
Cutler has a way better skill set for the position than Tebow has. But comparing their football virtues is more complicated than it seems.
First, these two guys have in common that the Bears traded Kyle Orton to Denver for Cutler and the Broncos released Orton because of Tebow.
Second, a more significant commonality is that each has a mere 1 playoff victory, though Tebow’s came over two NFL seasons and Cutler’s came over six.
Cutler’s 11-5 Bears team beat the 7-9 Seahawks, while Tebow’s 8-8 Broncos team beat the 12-4 Steelers.
Throughout his college and professional careers, Tebow has demonstrated an ability to rise to the moment. Cutler has yet to acquire that reputation.
As impressive as Cutler’s toughness, physical ability and improved mechanics are, he still has to prove he can be a consistent player and consistent winner in the NFL.
So does Tebow, of course. But it would be ignorant to ignore some of the improbable victories he led the Broncos to this season.
As Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans wrote of Tebow’s recent victory over the Steelers, “The replay can be seen on ‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not.’” So can his entire highlight package.
Tebow has a way of winning games and winning over fans that Cutler doesn’t. The debate — if we can concoct one here — comes down to tangibles vs. intangibles, orthodox vs. unorthodox, conventional vs. unconventional.
Cutler plays quarterback like a quarterback and Tebow plays it like … well, dare we join Ms. Gaga in saying he’s been playing like a champion, albeit an odd one with an arrival time to be determined.
New England is favored to end Tebow’s run on Saturday, but Patriots quarterback Tom Brady already was quoted as saying, “I’m sure there’s not a lot of guys on our team that slept great last night.”
I’ll still take Cutler over Tebow because the former should have way more staying power as an NFL quarterback than the latter.
But weekly that becomes more debatable as Tim Tebow seems like less of a snow job.
mimrem@dailyherald.com