I mean, yeah, it was lucky for us the Steelers were so beat up when our team is so healthy. Except for our Pro Bowl FS who probably played the last down of his career a month ago, forcing us to start two scrub rookies in our secondary, and bring in another good rookie for nickel. And our DROY candidate playing with his hand in a cast for the past month. And what I thought until Sunday was our ONLY decent pass blocker at guard having the injury linked below against KC. And losing our #1 WR to (yet) a(nother) James Harrison cheap shot when we were down 6-0.

Guess what: It is January; EVERYONE is hurt. If Schaub and Mario Williams were healthy I think the Texans could beat anyone in the League now that they have Foster and Johnson back, but neither is, so they will be lucky to beat the Ravens next week.

As for Tebows OT pass being the best one he has thrown all year, it was not even the best one he threw in that GAME; the TD to Royal at the side of the endzone and over a Steeler defender was MUCH better. The OT pass was not even his best of the game to Thomas: It was a pretty straightforward slant route where he just had to hit the open man; after that, Thomas did all the work throwing a couple stiff arms and turning on his jets to reach the endzone. His first pass to Thomas, a 50 yarder dropped over his shoulder in stride, was MUCH more difficult. Watch the tape, man:

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d825d5375/Wild-Card-Weekend-Tim-Tebow-highlights

There are a LOT of VERY good throws in there; the question is (still) whether Tebow can make them consistently. The more he does it though, the smaller that question becomes; a second year 15 game starter doing it as often as he has is still pretty impressive.

Obviously Tebow is not comparable to ANY 11 year pro, whether or not they won three Super Bowls. The only extent to which Tebow and Brady can be compared is in terms of the 14 starts each had their second year:

Brady 264/413 for 2843 yards, 18 TDs and 12 Ints
Tebow 126/271 for 1729 yards 12 TDs and 6 Ints

Incidentally, Brady also lost 2 less fumbles but ate 8 more sacks; obviously I am completely ignoring their rushing numbers, which is good news for Brady. Obviously, Brady has a lot more attempts, so the best way to compare the two is per attempts:

Brady 63.9% complete 6.9 YPA 4.4% TDs 2.9% Ints
Tebow 46.5% complete 6.4 YPA 4.4% TDs 2.2% Ints

Basically, Tebow needs to raise his completion percentage, which we already knew; otherwise the numbers are pretty comparable: TD% is even, but Brady has slightly more Yards Per Attempt offset by a slightly higher interception percentage. Their Passer Ratings are not even, because the NFL PRS is obsessed with completion percentage, but in terms of passing numbers that actually extend drives and score points, it is about even.

Interestingly, the reason is the same thing I have seen people claim lowers Tebows completion percentage: A disproportionate number of his passes are WAY downfield. In that respect, Sunday was a typical day: When QBs heave it downfield 50 yards a lot, they tend to complete less passes--but those they DO complete usually result in at least a FG, and often a TD; the interceptions are essentially punts. I actually prefer that approach complementing heavy running, but it takes a good QB, WRs and pass protection to work consistently, and since the average age of Denvers offensive starters is about 25, I do not think they are there yet.

In fact, that last line covers our offensive starters individually and collectively, which includes our QB: Nearly all of them have shown flashes of the ability to be stars in a few years, but do not do it consistently, which they must to become those stars. Is Tebow Brady? Obviously not. Could he be Brady in 10 years time? Sure; he could also be flipping burgers at McDonalds. The odds favor something between the two, but he has shown a lot more signs of greatness than infamy so far; it is still on him to finish the job.