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Tim Tebow Closes Strong in NFL Debut

Aug 15, 2010 – 10:30 PM
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Chris Burke

Chris Burke %BloggerTitle%

It tooTim Tebow Broncos debutk until the waning seconds of Denver's preseason opener with Cincinnati, but Tim Tebow eventually showed why the Broncos faithful have such high hopes for him.

Tebow finished off a bit of an uneven night by marching Denver down the field in the game's final minute, then capping that drive with a seven-yard touchdown run as time expired on the Bengals' 33-24 win.

"I saw an opening, so I went to go get it and thankfully got in there," Tebow said.

The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner hit on 4 of 5 passes in that closing drive for 66 yards, highlighted by a 33-yard strike to Britt Davis.

"It was one of those things where you knew he was going to score on the last play of the game, either run it in or throw it in there," Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer said. "He's such a competitor. I've been a big fan of his ever since he started at Florida. He's one of the greatest college football players."

Prior to that, Tebow had been 4 of 8, including one dropped deep ball by Matt Willis. He also found himself on the fortunate end of a video review -- on a third-and-11 from the Denver 42, Tebow was clobbered by a Cincinnati blitz, lost the ball, and the Bengals' Frostee Rucker recovered it and ran it in for an apparent score. A video review overturned that play, though, instead ruling it an incompletion. On the ensuing fourth-down play, Tebow fumbled the ball, leading to a turnover-on-downs.

Tebow finished with 105 yards passing, a game-high for the Broncos -- Quinn finished 6 of 16 for 68 yards and an interception, while starter Kyle Orton threw for 84 yards and two touchdowns. While Tebow's throwing motion did appear to have progressed since his days as a Florida Gator, he was still plagued by the slow windup-style delivery that many scouts pointed to when questioning Tebow's ability to jump to the NFL as a quarterback.

Orton's TD passes staked the Broncos to an early 14-0 lead, but the Bengals rallied back to tie the game at 17 at halftime. Cincinnati then scored 16 unanswered points to secure the victory, before Tebow's final-gun score.

-- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Filed under: Sports

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