God's Quarterback Part 3

Near the end of my last post on Tim Tebow last January, God's Quarterback Part 2, I predicted that for this year, "Tebow will probably have a season like Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets had in 2011, he'll win a game or two, then lose a game or two, and so on until the end of the season."

As a lukewarm Jets fan, it never would have dawned on me that Tebow would eventually be traded to the Jets.  When the trade was announced earlier this year, I had to confess I was extremely baffled by it.  Admittedly, I am not a super knowledgeable football fan, but the rationale for the trade, that Sanchez would remain the starting quarterback, while Tebow would be utilized as a quarterback in special plays, just sounded plain dumb to me.  Since then, experience has appeared to validate my doubts.
 
What I have frequently witnessed in some of the games I have watched is Sanchez leading the Jets on an offensive drive.  Then, when they would get within a certain distance of the other team's end zone, they would pull Sanchez out and bring in Tebow, who more often than not, would either gain little yardage or end up losing some.  Then Sanchez would come back in, his momentum disrupted, and throw for an interception.  On a couple of occasions, while switching from one quarterback to the other, the Jets would end up having to call a time out because it took too long.

At other times, Rex Ryan would have Tebow play in other positions, both on offense and defense.  I couldn't help but think that the Jets couldn't figure out what to do with Tebow.   While Tebow tries to project a gung ho eagerness to do whatever he can however Ryan wants to use him, it has to be killing him on the inside that he has gone from being a quarterback on a team that made it to the playoffs against all expectations to being essentially a spare tire on a mediocre team that has already blown its playoff chances for the season.

In my last Tebow post, I had expected that Tebowmania would fade once he had a full season as a starting quarterback with a mixed record.  Instead, he has had even that taken away from him, as he mostly sits on the sidelines sliding into irrelevance.  Even assuming the Jets give Tebow the chance to play a game as their starting quarterback, the damage has already been done.  I have to admit I feel bad for the kid.  To quote Switch's last line in The Matrix, "Not like this.  Not like this."