Every QB in the NFL does that. The good ones still complete >60% of their passes. Tebow is a good player, but he's an absolutely terrible passer. One of the worst in the league.
Obviously not, because Ben didn't and you're probably only analyzing things at face value like a lot of others when making that statement. I disagree completely and this is why other analyst like Skip Bayless fly off the handle and so adamantly disagree with those saying it. It's just false and it's not what makes a good or bad passer.
Those stats you look at are summation stats. They count things and are to be used in combination with other stats for other types of analysis. They are not meant to be used to compare one QB to another in that particular category and rate their "passer" status. A completion % number by itself cannot tell you how accurate a quarterback is, how good a decision he makes, or even how he compares to other QB's if you only use their completion %. They don't explain under what type of situation the completion, incompletion, sack, or interception took place. For one thing it's also 50% dependent on the receiver for any quarterback. Your receiver's own ability to catch the ball makes up half of that completion percentage. It doesn't tell you how many of those were purposely thrown away, how many were not. It really says little to nothing about decision making for the individual quarterback.
When you are talking about 2 pass completions being the difference between being a 47% and a 55% passer, and it just so happens one of those is an interception, then it makes no sense to say it's bad to come out with 0 interception and 2 completions less than the guy who throws 1 pick. None. If you analyze the game and you are backed up in your own territory, the reward of any completion that may even go for 10+ yards or a first down, does not really outweigh the risk of the odds of throwing an interception, especially in a tied game.
This is why you have so many 55% and even 60%-65% passers in the NFL that can't make the correct decisions when the game is on the line and always end up with average careers. Or they can sometimes, but aren't consistent enough in doing it game after game, pass after pass, regular seasons, playoff, super bowl, etc. Tony Romo is a perfect example. I highly doubt the Cowboys will ever get deep in the playoffs with this guy, who is putting up the numbers to keep his job and even get thrown in to elite passer conversations but just isn't able to make those correct decisions consistently under high pressure situations.
That's why what Brady did in his first super bowl was considered so amazing. The risk-reward for passing in that situation to move the chains backed up in his own territory with short passes required such a low margin of error for it to make any kind of sense. Throwing a pick or even getting stopped in that situation, effectively ends the game because both, a 3 and out as well as an interception or fumble, would likely result with great field position for the opponent to put up the winning FG. That's why Tebow's pass in OT was so incredible. It's such a high risk call down the middle. You still have to pass through or over traffic and you still need to have nerves of steel and simply be absolutely spot on with your throw.
Again I point to the example between that pass which Tebow nailed in stride or the one he "missed" on 3rd and long with the game tied, and the one Ben threw off of his back foot, that was only half a second too late and ended up behind his receiver allowing it to be picked off. THAT's inaccurate. THAT's bad passing. That's also bad decision making. That's also inconsistency in decision making. And that wasn't the only one for Ben. The lateral pass, Ben admits in NFL's "miced up film" that he was trying to throw the ball away. It almost ended up in a fumble and backwards pass. Instead of throwing it at your receiver like that, he should have thrown it over the top and out of bounds, or short of his receiver in the grass. Instead he threw it at him and the guy caught it and got clobbered by the defender who had the jump on him, almost resulting in what should have been a turnover. Bad decision making on Ben's part. It's just not advisable to force a completion in that situation, and if you're going to throw the ball away, then throw the ball away definitively.
You really believe Tebow can make a perfect pass as accurately as he did in OT, hitting his receiver in stride which was all on him, not his receiver, but he can't complete a much simpler pass in regular time when he has a clear lane, no one in front of him and plenty of time to throw? What would be the explanation? He farted? His arm has jerks that just show up at times and makes the ball fly out of bounds or on the ground but magically always seems to be out of reach of any defenders who have their eyes on it?
But it's pretty clear to me how much confidence Fox and his OC have in Tebow as a passer, and to be accurate if they make that call. Defense biting on the run aside, the only type of throw that really makes sense to make in that situation is a deep ball, not a short one down the middle in traffic which is what Tebow did. And you usually do it on 3rd down, not 1st down. That's why Pittsburg did what they did.
It's not simply that they didn't expect Tebow to throw, but it's also such a high risk call, from a play calling and coaching perspective. It only makes sense to call it as a means of surprise, but it requires you have an incredible amount of confidence in your quarterback to not make a mistake, and not so much complete the pass but AVOID the interception. That's what it mainly requires. The ability to first, avoid the interception, at all costs first. Completion, and yards after catch comes second in that situation and are more of an afterthought.
Tebow has some of the same exact abilities that Brady does. His ability to remain calm under pressure, understand the game, and knowing when it's ok to take a risk that might end up in an incompletion and when it's not ok to take a risk, needs to be credited. Those are part of a quarterback's job and don't just happen at random. There is a science behind it and they do teach them this. People see Tebow as some kind of a ******ed passer out there. Not the case at all. He's very intelligent with a good football IQ.
That's really the mark of a great quarterback. Not so much the result that may occur due to a decision made. Understanding those things and many others. Being able to keep track of all those things in your head, while not letting it slow your game down and slow down your decision making, or affect your timing and accuracy.
Being able to process in your head, the down, distance, location, risk-reward, expected outcome of the pass, identifying the coverage and the match-up, then recalculating all of those things in the span of a second without letting it affect anything is the difference between Tom Brady and, for example, a gunslinger like Bret Farve.
Some guys just let go of all those things, say screw it and throw it up. Other guys like Brady just get even better at doing all those things, without ever having to say "screw it, I'm going to just blindly let it rip." Tebow's the type of player that's proving he can do things like that and is only getting better.
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