Week after week the Denver Broncos with Tim Tebow at the helm have found themselves behind in the fourth quarter. For the sixth week in a row the Broncos emerged victorious, this time courtesy of a Matt Prater game-winning field goal in overtime against the Chicago Bears. As AP reported :
Just when it looked like the Chicago Bears weren’t going to give Tim Tebow the chance to beat them in overtime, they couldn’t play keep away.
Chicago won the toss and Caleb Hanie completed three quick passes to put the Bears in field goal range. Then, Marion Barber, filling in for Matt Forte, burst through the line for a first down.
Just then, linebacker Wesley Woodyard reached out in desperation and tugged on his right arm. The ball popped loose and Elvis Dumervil smothered it at the Broncos 34.
“He gashed us on that play, and somehow I just had to make a play,” Woodyard said. “That’s what it’s all about, making plays at the end of the game.”
That’s something the Broncos (8-5) have perfected.
Tebow drove the Broncos downfield and Matt Prater, whose 59-yard field goal with 3 seconds left in regulation tied it, booted a 51-yarder with 8:34 left in overtime to give Denver an improbable 13-10 win.
“If you believe,” Tebow said, “then unbelievable things can sometimes be possible.”
Prater’s third straight walk-off field goal gave the Broncos their sixth consecutive win and moved them into sole possession of first place in the AFC West at 8-5, a game ahead of Oakland.
Tebow improved to 7-1 since taking over as the starter in Denver, and six of those wins have involved second-half comebacks, five of them necessitating fourth-quarter rallies, three of which went to overtime.
No other quarterback in NFL history has produced six fourth-quarter comebacks in his first 11 NFL starts.
Tebow and the Broncos, whatever explanation is given for their winning streak, are content with marching closer and closer to locking up the AFC West. As Cindy Boren explained:
If you believe, unbelievable things can sometimes be possible.” — Tim Tebow
He sounds more like Walt Disney than an NFL quarterback, but, at this point, there’s no longer much of a reason to question Tim Tebow, is there?
He doesn’t have the best delivery, he is average at best over the first three quarters. This has all been noted. But when it comes to crunch time, the Denver Broncos’ quarterback is money — magical money. With a little luck (and major help from star-crossed Marion Barber), Tebow led the Broncos to another fourth-quarter rally and overtime win Sunday, beating the Chicago Bears 13-10. He now has the most game-winning drives — six — in overtime or the fourth quarter by any quarterback over his first 11 starts (since the AFL-NFL merger).
And the Broncos, with a stifling defense, are 8-5 with a six-game winning streak; they’re 7-1 since Tebow was named the starter. There’s clearly something happening here.
“I think it's pretty special that we have a team that constantly believes and believes in each other,” Tebow said.
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