Please Hire Tim Tebow - Week 10

Historically, NFL teams coming off their bye week haven't fared much better than at any other point in the season. Since 2000, the chances of these well-rested teams notching a win have hovered around fifty percent. Blogging can take it out of you. In amongst my day job, family and church responsibilities, taking care of the dog, and all sorts of other mind-sapping activities, I have to follow current events, catch up on relevant news, look up key statistics on teams I really don't care about...all of these things can drain a man.

So I took a bye week.

I've got a fifty-fifty chance of winning this week; what does that even mean? For me, it means writing an entertaining and informative piece on that man Tim Tebow which pulls in a goodly number of readers. As a writer, that's all I really want: people who read and enjoy my work.

Not much happened in the Tebow-sphere during my bye week - better known as week 9 of the NFL season; oh, except those pesky Jaguars fans are still urging ownership to sign the ex-Gator...

Promises, promises...

Mr. Khan may want to consider that advice. Everbank Field holds a little over 67,000 fans. If signing Tebow would fill all those seats with popcorn eating, Coke drinking fans, that might help offset the poor results in Jacksonville and on the other side of the Atlantic, where his Barclay's Premier League football team - Fulham - have not been faring well either. The Cottagers - Fulham play their home games at historic Craven Cottage which only seats 25,700 fans - have won three games out of eleven this season and currently sit 18th out of 20 teams in the league. That may not mean much to American Football fans but if Fulham end the season in one of those bottom three places they get relegated to the Championship - kind of like the minor leagues.

Packing them in at the Cottage

One other piece of Tebow news that has recently surfaced is that he has signed an additional representative to explore opportunities in college football broadcasting. Naturally, all the Tebow is no Jedi/Quarterback folks out there are cackling that this signifies the end of Tebow's NFL career. Personally, I don't think so but let's wait for this all to play out before we start shoveling dirt over him.

In week 10, both the Jaguars and Buccaneers broke their seasons wide open...well, at least they each notched their first win of the year, keeping the overall first round draft pick sweepstakes tied up tighter than a Tebow spiral. So assuming that Tim is not over in the Philippines helping out with typhoon recovery efforts, what teams are still in the running to sign him?

As I've noted before, the New York Football Giants have begun their annual late season tear. Winners of three consecutive games after dropping their first six, it certainly appears as if Eli's bunch have woken from their regularly scheduled hibernation and are starting to play some football. I never seriously considered Eli getting kicked to the curb a possibility, and it certainly is less likely now.

Another week, another...holy cow! The Jacksonville Jaguars won! The previously winless Jags held off the Locker-less Tennessee Titans despite two TD passes from backup Ryan Fitzpatrick. Does this mean Jacksonville is out of the running for Tebow? Hardly. Chad Henne was underwhelming in the win, completing 14 of 23 passes for 180 yards, no touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The Jaguars current game manager was also sacked three times. I'm sorry, to me Jacksonville remains the most obvious destination for Tebow. With Jake Locker leaving a game yet again - this time due to a Lisfranc foot injury - the Flaming Thumbtacks could be a late-season entrant in the Tebow sweepstakes.

Did Greg Schiano save his job Monday night after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also notched their first victory of the season? Schiano may be a caretaker coach until the end of the season; I'm not what replacing him now would bring to the table. As much as I still believe Tampa Bay is the best fit for Tebow, it is doubtful the team will make any major player moves unless something drastic happens. Quarterback-wise, although the Bucs won, new QB Mike Glennon didn't light it up. The young NC State product was 11 of 21 for only 139 yards. The rookie did have a TD pass - to a tackle! - but that was offset by an interception that led to a Dolphin field goal. Couple Glennon's mild night statistically with the loss of running back Mike James, who suffered a fractured ankle, and things are not going to get any easier for my hometown Bucs.

So who else could benefit from the athletic skills and leadership abilities of Tebow?

With everyone dog-piling young Tim for his poor completion percentage, it's noteworthy that Terrelle Pryor of the Oakland Raiders was 11 of 26 (42%) for only 122 yards, with no touchdowns, an interception, and four sacks. Pryor did have a rushing touchdown but that was not enough to overcome the resurgent G-Men. Although TP's season completion percentage is much higher (almost 59%), he has only thrown 5 touchdowns against 10 interceptions, and he has been sacked an incredible 29 times. Is Pryor really a better option than Tebow?

Looking around the league you might make the case that the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings are still in need of QB help. If Cutler heals or McCown performs well the Bears would be off the table. Minnesota is on odd team this year, and after picking up Tampa Bay castaway Josh Freeman, Christian Ponder is still getting the nod as their starter. It's doubtful that Tebow could walk into that funhouse and make a difference.

So what do we know after week ten? The Jags and Bucs still look like the two best candidates to bring Tebow back to the NFL, with the Raiders running a close third. Will anything happen this year? The chances are getting slimmer by the week. But Tebow himself may not be putting too much thought into it at the moment. I suspect his heart and mind are far away from Jacksonville or Tampa or Oakland right now, and focused more on what he can do to help the good people of the Philippines recover from Typhoon Haiyan.

We're right there with you big guy.

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