Thread: Q&A: Dolphins' defense allowed Tebow room to maneuver

Today's question comes from Orrin Davis.

Q: I know you will be bombarded with Tim Tebow questions, but mine is about the Dolphins' defense. Did their defensive scheme change, allowing Tebow easier reads and throws? Or did he really just make better decisions and throw better?

A: Orrin, the answer lives somewhere in between.

Tebow was in a serious funk in the first three quarters of the game, having been 3-of-8 passing for 24 yards, with a handful of missed opportunities.

The Dolphins were aggressive in their approach in those three quarters, showing the flexibility and surprise factor that a 3-4 defense allows in the pass rush. They varied their approach in terms of adding a fourth rusher from all over the formation in the four-man push, but also showed some five-man rushes as well as six or more players.

rest - http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_19191851

Musta been the genius of Mike Nolan.

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This is really the key part:

The NFL "book" says protect the lead . . . And to protect the lead, teams often drop players into coverage, pulling them away from the line of scrimmage. The idea is for the defense to keep everything in front of it, prevent long, quick scoring plays.

But it is a mistake, at least at this point in Tebow's career, to give him a chance to work in open space. Because he will keep moving by leaving the pocket and trying to extend plays. . . . So when the Dolphins backed off the line of scrimmage — just like the Chargers had backed off when Tebow came in relief two weeks before — they gave Tebow the room to move and allowed him to play in his comfort zone.

The point is that with the NFL rules sharply favoring the WR (you can't touch him after 5 yards) the longer the QB can extend the play, the greater the chance of a completion. Broncos fans are all familiar with this from watching teams complete passes all day on our defense the last 5 years (despite having Champ Bailey) because there was never any pass-rush pressure. So, the QB could stand back there all day and eventually someone will come open. Same thing here.

I imagine teams will figure this out pretty soon. Give Tebow space to run around and extend the play and he can eventually find an open WR. Keep the pressure on him and keep him in the pocket and he struggles not to over-throw the WR by 10 yards.

We'll see if he ever learns to be an effective pocket passer before the Broncos give up on him. Right now it doesn't look good at all, but he has 10 more games to show some improvement.

Originally Posted by rcsodak

Musta been the genius of Mike Nolan.

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It's not really "stupid". As Chargers S Eric Weddle pointed out, if Robert Ayers doesn't strip the ball from Phillip Rivers then the Chargers just run out the clock and all Tebow's heroics go for nothing.

Weddle said that they "don't care" if the QB runs around and extends the play because then "he's just running time off the clock" and their defense is just trying to keep Denver from making a quick score.

In short, Weddle is arguing that it would normally be just "garbage time stat pumping" where the QB moves the ball downfield, piling up yards, but time is running out and the defense prevents the quick score which is all they care about.

I think teams are going to have to re-think their approach with Tebow and they will watch film and all see that.