The only chance Tebow might have had at being the hero last night would have been if he had sold his soul to the devil. Even then, there was virtually no chance he could match Tom Brady, who had a supernatural night. “He’s a great quarterback and he showed it again tonight,’’ said Tebow, who said that it was an honor to play against him.
Tebow, for his part, spent most of the night tangled up in blue. He completed only 9 of 26 passes for 136 yards, was sacked five times and ended with a 52.7 rating to Brady’s 137.6. “They came out with a great scheme and we weren’t able to get it clicking tonight,’’ said Tebow, who had fewer completions than Brady had touchdowns after three quarters.
Last night his teammates were 7 points down by the time he buckled his chinstrap. By then Brady already had thrown the first of his six touchdown passes. Tebow had the ball in his hands for six plays before he was sacked by Rob Ninkovich and fumbled. Another Brady touchdown pass and it was 14-0. “We just didn’t put forth a good enough performance tonight,’’ Tebow conceded. “You have to give them a lot of credit.’’
The one bright moment - Willis McGahee’s touchdown on the first play of the second quarter - quickly vanished with a personal foul by Zane Beadles that essentially gave Danny Woodhead a 15-yard head start and put the Patriots on their own 40. So Tebow got the ball back on his own 5, went three-and-out and Brady got the ball back near midfield. Another touchdown toss to Rob Gronkowski and it was 21-7 and it was gone. The Broncos, who had averaged barely 19 points a game, were 3-6 when they had allowed 20 or more.
“Even at halftime we said we’re going to play it one play at a time,’’ said Tebow, whose colleagues were down, 35-7, by then. “You never know what will happen. We just weren’t able to get it done.’’
