Patriots vs. Broncos: Tim Tebow's Career Starting Similarly to Tom Brady's

Tim Tebow may not go down as the legendary quarterback that Tom Brady has become.

He may not reach 39,000 passing yards, win three Super Bowls or throw for 50 touchdowns in a single season. 

It's early in his career, but Tebow's off to a great start, and he's doing it the same way Brady did it. All he does is win.

Make no mistake: Tebow isn't winning pretty. Neither, though, was Brady. Yup, even in those games where he majestically helped the Patriots win late, Brady wasn't always the reason they got there even if he was the one driving the car.

Just look at a side-by-side statistical comparison of the two quarterbacks in games where they commanded a game-winning drive.

Tom Brady

Tim Tebow

*note: this doesn't include Tebow's fourth-quarter comeback in his rookie season, a 24-23 win over the Houston Texans in Week 16 of 2010.

There are a lot of similarities. The completion percentage and the number of attempts are the only differences worth noting. That, of course, is offset by Tebow's scrambling ability, a trait which has never been a strong point of Brady's skill set (except that one time).

A few similarities worth noting:

• Tim Tebow has a passer rating over 90 in three of his fourth quarter comebacks. Tom Brady had over 90 passer rating twice.
• Both Brady and Tebow scored over 20 points just once.

Another striking similarity? Both got a huge assist from the defense and a clutch kicker. The Broncos defense gives up an average of 20.25 points this season in Tebow's eight games starting. That is the exact same average as what the Patriots defense gave up in Brady's first eight games as a starter in 2001.

But those similarities are all too finite to really paint the picture of what these two men mean(t) to their teams, and what their teams mean(t) to these two men.

Both quarterbacks are credited with making smart decisions and not turning the ball over. Brady gave up just 15 turnovers (12 interceptions, three fumbles lost) in 2001, and Tebow has given up just five (two picks, three fumbles lost) in 2011.

Smart football is what helped both achieve instant success. In a league where many players are praised in spite of turnovers, Brady and Tebow deserve praise because of it. It's the singular thing that, while not necessarily putting the team in position to win, prevents them from handing it over.

All stats aside, it comes down to one word: intangibles; a word that, incidentally, both shared on their scouting report. A word that, on those scouting reports, was surrounded by a lot of other not-so-nice words.

But the will to win is a powerful thing. Both the 2001 Patriots and the 2011 Broncos were dead to rights. The Pats were 0-2 and had just lost their starting quarterback. The Broncos were 1-4 and four games out of first place in their division just five weeks into the season.

Then Brady and Tebow showed up and everything changed in a hurry.

Plenty of credit goes to the defense and the kicker for each quarterback. Nonetheless, the efficient play of the quarterbacks and their ability to pick up the pieces to win the game when it matters are eerily similar. 

In a sport where the outcome is so often decided by who makes the big mistakes, this game could be decided by who doesn't make them.

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