ShareThisMIAMI - Tim Tebow's believers will point to the two touchdown passes he threw in the final five minutes and say, "This is what he does."
His skeptics will point to the first 54 minutes, during which he struggled noticeably -- he completed only four of 14 passes for a paltry 40 yards and failed to get his team on the scoreboard -- and say, "That's why he isn't ready to play in the NFL, and might never be."
So who's right? On this particular occasion, both of them.
But don't dismiss the contributions of the still-winless Miami Dolphins -- who, as usual, played their worst when it mattered most and found themselves on the wrong side of another NFL Sunday. The Denver Broncos rallied for an improbable, 18-15 victory in overtime.
The Dolphins led 15-0 late in the fourth-quarter, only to let the Broncos tie the score in the final minute. And let there be no doubt: They had as much to do with Tebow's big finish as anyone.
"We had a lot of good things happen there at the end," Broncos coach John Fox said.
It was the Dolphins who made a lot of those good things happen.
For most of Tebow's first start of the season, the University of Florida football folk hero was terrible. He struggled to read coverages. His passes were off-target, sometimes way off. He was sacked seven times, mostly because his indecision forced him to hold the ball too long.
When he did make a positive play, it was usually with his feet and too often ended with him getting hit -- and hit hard.
"Overall, I was probably trying to be a little too safe and cautious and throwing the ball away," Tebow said. "We did, for the most part, do a good job of not forcing things into traffic. A few throws I should've made but I just missed."
As a result, the Denver offense had done no real damage. So there was no good reason for the Dolphins, very much in control of the game with a 15-0 lead midway through the fourth quarter, to do anything different.
But they did.
They switched to a bend-but-don't-break, prevent defense that gave Tebow, now operating exclusively in the shotgun, a chance to complete passes, find his rhythm, get comfortable.
And he did.
The result was an eight-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas, who made a diving catch so close to being incomplete that it underwent a replay review.
On the ensuing kickoff, with 2:39 remaining, the Dolphins backup receiver Marlon Moore had the Broncos' onside attempt in his hands, then somehow lost the ball.
The Broncos recovered. The Dolphins were still in their prevent defense. And Tebow was at it again, this time connecting with tight end Daniel Fells for 28 yards -- another diving catch that went to the replay booth -- and a first down at the Miami 3-yard line.
Two plays later, Tebow and Fells hooked up for a touchdown that cut the Dolphins lead to 15-13 with 17 seconds remaining, and everyone knew what was coming. But the Dolphins couldn't stop Tebow as he plowed across the goal line for the tying, two-point conversion.
The Dolphins were stunned. The outcome was inevitable. It was merely a matter of how they were going to lose.
The headlines, though, went to Tebow, who completed nine of his last 13 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. "It's my fault we were in that position in the first place," said Tebow. "I have to play better in the first three quarters so we don't have to make that comeback in the fourth."
Fox agreed.
He said he liked the way Tebow fought through a tough day and made plays at crunch time, calling him "an excellent young man and an excellent competitor" who has "great intangibles." But he chose his words carefully, making sure not to give his quarterback too much credit.
Clearly, Tebow is a work in progress. That's why he'll likely be the Broncos starter for the remainder of the season. They need to find out if he's the first 54 minutes of Sunday's game, or the final five.
It's simply too soon to know if his believers or skeptics are right.
It's too soon to know if Tebow can win games like this against good teams in the NFL.
Or just against the Dolphins.
(Ray McNulty is sports columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. Contact him at ray.mcnulty(at)scripps.com. On the Web at www.tcpalm.com.)
