Denver Broncos 2011 regular season Review: It's Tebow! time - NFL Special Part I
The Denver Broncos this season provided fans some of the most memorable moments ever witnessed in the league.
The Broncos were all about just one man quarterback Tim Tebow who became the franchise’s long needed messiah as he turned around a season which looked to be going downhill into one that will be remembered for years to come.
Denver started off with a 1-4 record as quarterback Kyle Orton struggled to get into groove. He was waived and Tim Tebow got the opportunity to showcase his talent.
Tebow did more than that though. His on-field performances led to some late turnarounds in games as the Broncos powered their way to the top of the American Football Conference (AFC) West taking the division title and reaching the playoff rounds.
The quarterback also provided America with a new fad known as “Tebowing” and he won the hearts of the Nation and its media as he became America’s golden boy.
Denver finished the regular season with an 8-8 record and reached the playoffs where against all odds Tebow led them to a 29-23 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Steelers to qualify for the divisional rounds.
Their campaign ended when this year’s AFC Champions and Super Bowl finalists New England Patriots easily defeated the Broncos but it did not matter as Tebow had proven to everyone what he can deliver on the field.
Let us take a look at what was a memorable 2011-12 campaign for the Denver Broncos.
Against Oakland
Tebow had been out passed and out classed by Kyle Orton in the team’s training camp and the Broncos stuck with Orton to be their starting quarterback.
Denver started its campaign at home to the Oakland Raiders.
The game started off well for Denver who took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to kicker Matt Prater’s 28-yard field goal.
However, things started going downhill from that point onwards.
The Raiders took a 16-3 lead in the second quarter thanks to kicker Sebastian Janikowski’s three field-goals including a 63-yard mammoth kick while Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell’s three-yard pass into the end-zone found Marcel Reece.
Broncos’ attempts at attacks faltered inside the Raiders zone as Orton was intercepted once and was repeatedly hampered by a physical Raiders defence.
Orton threw for just one touchdown pass in the final quarter to make it 23-20 but Oakland held on for the win.
Denver’s new coach John Fox was unhappy of the loss in his first game in charge.
"There's no consolation for close but we're still optimistic. We just happen to be 0-1 like half the teams in our football league."
Against Cincinnati
The Broncos were reeling from multiple injuries entering into this game but a brilliant performance by the players left and two touchdown passes from Kyle Orton helped secure a close 24-22 victory.
Denver was so low on numbers that they had to get Tim Tebow to play at wide receiver even though Orton never passed his way.
Eric Decker received both touchdown passes from Orton and made no mistake with the catch helping Denver and coach John Fox to their first win of the season.
Orton was happy no matter the manner of their victory.
"It didn't always look pretty -- it couldn't look pretty with the way our personnel was, we had nine or 10 guys that are usually on the field that are out. ... It was tough sledding out there but we stuck together."
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