Tebow talk is already disarming the Jet set
Four games into the season see pundits calling for Tebow to replace Sanchez
The New York Jets have the same record as the New England Patriots, the Denver Broncos, the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers, none of whom have quarterback controversies on the go. But then, none of them employ Tim Tebow as some sort of combination backup quarterback/motivational speaker/celebrity circus animal, which is a little like employing Kim Kardashian as your backup TV anchor on network news. It should not really be a distraction, but man, it will be.
And it took four whole games for people to start calling for Tebow to start at quarterback for the Jets. “Bring on Tim Tebow,” wrote columnist Kevin Kernan in the New York Post after last week’s 34-0 loss to San Francisco.
“At this point Tebow, who saved the Broncos season last year, can’t be any worse than the jittery Mark Sanchez.” A quick aside: Whenever anybody says that something cannot get worse, kick them in the shins. That’ll show ’em.
While Tebow has thrown one pass this season, and has produced very little in the wildcat formation, he is still fulfilling his primary function as a bottomless topic of conversation. An ESPN New York report cited sources that believed Jets owner Woody Johnson might possibly push for Tebow to start.
Coincidentally, a former ESPN employee, Doug Gottlieb, told a radio show that when he was with the network: “I was told specific- ally, ‘You can’t talk enough Tebow.’ ”
In pre-season, actually, oil’ Woody said, “I think you can never have too much Tebow,” but then, he also said he would take a Mitt Romney presidency over a winning season.
The Jets openly chased Peyton Manning over the summer, and brought in Tebow. It was as if Woody was trying to give Sanchez both a threeyear, $40.5-million contract extension and a complex.
In fairness, Mark Sanchez’s career quarterback rating is 72.9, and Tebow’s quarterback rating during last season’s quasi-mystical luckfilled thrill ride in Denver was 72.9.
Meanwhile, the Jets are a mess everywhere else. Even before the injuries to Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes, the Jets have done a lousy job at collecting skill players and offensive linemen, and the media, this relatively thick place included, is still talking about Tim Tebow. Hey, wait a minute! Maybe Woody’s slow, all right. Slow like a FOX.
Last week, this space went 10-5. This space then doublechecked, and yep, 10-5. Look, I know I’m repeating myself, but I may not ever get this chance again, OK? OK. 10-5. The picks
Philadelphia (+3) at Pittsburgh
The Eagles are fifth in yards gained, sixth in yards allowed, first in turnovers, ninth in take-aways, 30th in scoring, and have won their three games by a combined four points. Last week Andy Reid basically played his greatest coaching goof-up hits, and won. What a weird team. Pick: Pittsburgh
Atlanta (-2.5) at Washington
The Kansas City Star is refusing to print the word “Redskins,” correctly calling it a “patently offensive name.” Now if we can just get everyone to stop calling Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan “Matty Ice,” we’ll have made some significant linguistic progress here. Pick: Atlanta Miami (+3) at Cincinnati Before this season Dolphins receiver Brian Hartline had played 44 NFL games, and never gone over 100 yards. In his Week 2, he went for 111. In Week 4, he went for 253, and now leads the league in receiving yards. But please, continue pretending you can control fantasy football. Pick: Cincinnati
Denver (+7) at New England
Last week Peyton Manning shredded Oakland, going 30-for-38 for 338 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. Tom Brady, meanwhile, went 22-for-36 for 340 yards and threw three touchdowns, no interceptions in Buffalo. They are both really good. Just mentioning it in case nobody else does. Pick: Denver
Buffalo (+10) at San Francisco
Buffalo was 2-1 last week, and had a chance to push New England to 1-3, and had both their running backs healthy again, and led 21-7 in the third quarter. The Bills were then outscored 45-7 in 23:10 of game time, and lost 52-28. It may not have been their Mona Lisa of trap door performances, but it was close. Pick: Buffalo Houston (-8) at N.Y. Jets’ Arian Foster has carried the ball 103 times in four games, and Texans head coach Gary Kubiak told reporters this week, “He can handle it.” Five running backs have carried the ball 400 times in a season. Every one but Eric Dickerson immediately crumbled to dust and was swept up by the janitor. Pick: Houston The rest
Green Bay (-7) at Indianapolis Pick: Indianapolis
Cleveland (+8.5) at N.Y. Giants Pick: Cleveland
Baltimore (-6) at Kansas City Pick: Baltimore
Seattle (+3) at Carolina Pick: Carolina
Chicago (+4.5) at Jacksonville Pick: Chicago
Tennessee (+5.5) at Minnesota Pick: Minnesota
San Diego (+3) at New Orleans Pick: New Orleans
Byes: Oakland, Dallas, Detroit, Tampa Bay
Last week: 10-5 Season: 3031-1