Tim Tebow gets his first touchdown pass in Broncos’ win
Rookie Tim Tebow made his home debut for Denver and threw his first NFL pre-season touchdown as the Broncos cruised to a 34-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
After missing last week's game with bruised ribs he suffered in his pro debut against the Cincinnati Bengal, Tebow was back in the lineup.
"I feel pretty good. You know, just up and down out there - some good things, some bad things and a lot of things I've got to go work on and get a lot better at," Tebow said of his performance at Invesco Field at Mile High.
The play calling was simple and conservative, but Tebow turned the ball over after Crezdon Butler jumped the route and intercepted a pass, returning it 40-yards to set up a three-yard touchdown run from Jonathan Dwyer early in the fourth quarter.
Tebow responded on the very next series, driving the Broncos 74 yards in five plays, which was capped by a three-yard touchdown strike to Eric Decker. The former Gator completed 5-of-10 passes for 72 yards and earned his first passing TD.
Steelers’ third string quarterback, Charlie Batch responded with a touchdown of his own, connecting with Antonio Brown to cut the lead and make it 27-17 for the Broncos. Both teams exploded in the fourth quarter, combining for 28 points.
Once again Tebow’s performance drew mixed responses from critics, but the general consensus, according to the Denver Post, is that the former Heisman Trophy winner may have the edge on Brady Quinn as the number two quarterback on the Broncos roster.
Kyle Orton, the projected starting quarterback, led the Broncos on a 60-yard touchdown drive on the opening drive. Penalties and sloppy defence allowed newly acquired running-back LenDale White to get his first rushing touchdown as a Bronco.
White is competing for a the starting job in Denver’s backfield and got the start with Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter out of the line up with nagging injuries.
White rushed for 34 yards on 12 carries while backup Lance Ball racked up 75 yards on the night.
"I thought we did a decent job at times. Again, this is one of the best run defenses in all of football in the last decade. You're not always going to have a bunch of pretty runs against this team and I thought we tried to continue to stick them in there and our guys made some plays and we kept them out of the backfield" said head coach Josh McDaniels.
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