The polarizing Tim Tebow

With the Patriots set to visit the Broncos this weekend, it's got me thinking more about the league's most polarizing figure.  Tim Tebow has been one of the league's biggest stories this season after leading the Broncos to victory in 7 of their past 8 games since he took over as the starter and launching the team into first place in the AFC West.  There's no doubt that Tebow deserves much of the credit for changing the culture of that team, but it's how he's been doing it that has left many of us skeptical.

For starters, there is his unorthodox style.  Any football scout will tell you that Tebow's mechanics are a mess, which led many to doubt that he'd ever succeed as an NFL QB.  While Tebow has been proving the doubters wrong with every victory, he's also proving them right with his performance.  The Broncos have adapted their entire offense around Tebow, changing on the fly to accommodate his strengths.  Their strategy of pounding the ball with their running game to open up the occasional deep pass seems straight out of a High School playbook.  It's unfathomable that it could work in the pros, but Tebow somehow makes it work.

Naysayers will point to Tebow's putrid 48.5 completion percentage (worst among starters this season) as a sign that his QB skills are not up to par.  Watching him play, there are far too many occasions where he's so far off from hitting his target that you have to question where he was intending to throw it.  While his supporters will point out that he's only thrown two interceptions all season, others will counter with the fact that when he makes a bad throw it is so far off target that it lands harmlessly away from where anyone on the field could catch it.  True, he manages to make plays with his legs as well, scrambling for over 500 yards this season.  While his ability to take off and run the ball when a play breaks down has helped his team move the offense to extend drives, he tends to be overly reliant on his scrambling ability, often times looking to run before checking for a second or third passing option.

Things I noticed: Week 14

It was another exciting week as the season begins to wind down.  The playoff picture continues to form as another team clinches their division and more teams fall out of the race.

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• Ben Rothlisberger left in the first half against Cleveland with a leg injury, but hobbled back onto the field to lead the Steelers to victory on Thursday night.  The Steelers don't have the luxury of resting Big Ben, or anyone, because if they fall a game behind the Ravens it all but assures that their best case scenario will come as a Wild Card given that Baltimore already owns the tie breaker for the division title.
• The ineffectiveness of the Steelers offense behind a hurting Rothlisberger allowed Cleveland to stay within reach near the end, but a 79 yard bomb to Antonio Brown finally put them away in the final few minutes.
• Speaking of injured QBs, Colt McCoy also briefly left the game after a hard helmet-to-helmet hit from James Harrision.  McCoy was apparently ok, since he was allowed back into the game, but Harrison can probably expect some discipline from the league for the hit.  That's nothing new for him.
• The league announced on Tuesday that Harrison has been suspended for 1 game for the hit.
• The Patriots defense is struggling just to find healthy bodies to put on the field at this point.  Once again they gave up a ton of yardage, but they held with a strong defensive stand when it counted in the end, stopping the Redskins potential game tying drive in the red zone with an interception.
• Rob Gronkowski had a career high 160 yards and 2 TDs.  His first trip to the endzone gave him sole possession of first place on the all time list of receiving TDs in a season by a TE.  Gronk celebrated with his trade mark spike in the endzone, which then sent him scrambling to chase after it when he realized the importance of hanging on to that milestone ball. 
• In only his second season, Gronk has not only established himself as one of Tom Brady's most trusted receivers, but also become perhaps the best TE in the league.  The Saints Jimmy Graham and Chargers Antonio Gates may have something to say about that, but when you factor in other responsibilities TEs have, such as blocking, there is nobody better at the position than Gronk.
• The victory for the Patriots helps overshadow a bit of drama that occurred late in the 4th quarter when Tom Brady got into a shouting match on the sidelines with OC Bill O'Brien after Brady threw a costly INT in the endzone.  It was a rare example of a poorly thrown pass, intended for Tiquan Underwood.  Making matters worse, the play came right after Wes Welker dropped a TD pass on a ball that was thrown slightly off to his back shoulder.  Not a great end to the drive for an offense known for it's efficiency, but luckily it didn't cost them the game.
• Roy Helu became the first Redskins RB to rush for 100+ yards in three straight games.  It wasn't long ago that it was fair to question if Helu would even get a chance to play in three straight games, but it's clear they've found a reliable option for their backfield.

Marlins, Angels heat up Winter Meetings

Dallas is known for it's scorching hot weather in the summer time, but a couple of teams are cranking up the heat during this year's Winter Meetings.  The Miami Marlins and LA Angels have made the biggest splashes this off-season, reeling in some of the biggest names on the free agent market.

Miami Marlins
The new look Marlins will open their season in a new stadium, with new uniforms and a few new faces.  Miami entered the off-season with the intention of spending some money.  With the revenue they expect to make from their new stadium, Miami insisted that they would be increasing their payroll up toward the $100 million range for the upcoming season, which is up from the approximately $57 million they spent last season (the 7th lowest payroll in the majors).  So far they have yet to disappoint, kicking off the spending spree this off-season by signing Jose Reyes to a six year, $106 million deal.

The Marlins made it known from the start of the off season that Reyes was one of their main targets, which comes as a bit of a surprise considering their roster already includes a multi-time All-Star that happens to play the same short stop position.  Hanley Ramirez is one of the game's other elite short stops, but his size and decreasing range may make him a better fit for third base.  The Marlins intend to move Ramirez over to the hot corner in a move that has previously been made by greats such as Cal Ripkin Jr. and Alex Rodriguez.  Reyes is a better defensive short stop, and while it remains to be seen how Ramirez would fare defensively at third, the change should benefit their infield defense.  The problem is, Ramirez is reportedly less than thrilled with the idea of switching positions.  He has a reputation as being a bit of a diva, who can be difficult to deal with when things aren't going his way.  Already there are rumors that Reyes' arrival could trigger a trade demand from Ramirez.  While trading Ramirez could free up even more payroll space to make more moves, as well as bring a bounty of assets in return, it's not exactly what the Marlins had in mind when they acquired Reyes.

Assuming Ramirez can be convinced by new manager Ozzie Guillen to buy into the team's plan, the NL batting champions from two of the past three seasons will form a formidable 1-2 punch at the top of the Marlins line up.

Things I Noticed: Week 13

They say 13 is an unlucky number, but which teams were hit by the misfortune of bad luck this week?  In some cases it's not bad luck, just bad teams.

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• Vince Young's night got off to a bad start with an INT on his first pass attempt of the game.  It didn't get much better after that, as he finished with 4 of them.  Granted, he was the victim of several dropped passes by his receivers (1 of those INTs came after a ball tipped off the hands of his receiver), but he still missed on many throws that he has to be able to make.  He was constantly throwing behind receivers, badly missing his target.  When it wasn't picked off it was only because it was so far off target that nobody on either team could get to it.

• On the bright side, at least VY seems to be one of the few Eagles players that hasn't given up yet.  He played poorly, but played hard.
• Marshawn Lynch ran wild against the Eagles for 148 yards and 2 TDs.  His 2nd TD came on a 40 yard run where he managed to beat the defenders to the outside before bursting up field with no defenders in front of him.  Not to take credit away from Lynch, but that was just terrible defense.
• Rob Gronkowski tied the all time record for TDs by a Tight End in a season by adding two more this week to give him 13 for the season.  He scored a third TD, which originally was ruled as the record breaking 14th receiving TD, but it was later corrected to be scored as a lateral pass.  Therefore the score actually counted as a rushing TD.
• New England looked dominant against the helpless Colts team through three quarters, but their defense got a little too nonchalant in the end, giving up 21 unanswered points in the 4th quarter.  They never really seemed in danger of blowing the game, but it was frustrating to watch them fail to stop the Colts from piling up yardage and points during garbage time.  This is one of the reasons why the Pats rank last in the league in total defense.
• The Colts defense played just as bad for most of the game, before tightening up a bit near the end of the game when the Pats were trying to run down the clock.  For some reason they backed their secondary off the line instead of trying to press the Patriots receivers.  That allowed Wes Welker far too much room to work with.  On one drive in the third quarter, Brady connected with Welker 4 times, including three straight plays.  Welker caught all 11 of his targets in the game for 110 yards.
• Dan Orlovsky is now the Colts starting QB.  Oddly enough, he was on the winless Detroit Lions team that became the first 0-16 team in league history back in 2008.  Now he has a chance to be a part of history once again.  Just not the type of history he would hope for.

Celtics dream scenario

The Boston Celtics will soon be at a cross roads.  This may be their final season to make one last run with their existing core before they are inevitably forced to start rebuilding.  With the contracts of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen set to expire at the end of the season, we may be approaching the end of the Big Three era in Boston. Rebuilding processes can often be long, painful experiences.  With a few crafty moves, Boston has a chance to skip that process and jump right into a new era with a new championship caliber core.

After this season, the only contracts remaining on Boston's salary cap will be Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Avery Bradley.  We can assume first round draft pick JaJuan Johnson and possibly second round pick E'Twaun Moore will also be included, along with potentially whoever we draft in the first round in the next draft.  This is also dependent upon the team's decisions with their current free agent group, which includes Glenn Davis and Jeff Green, but for the sake of this scenario, let's assume that they are all either involved in a sign-and-trade deal or allowed to walk as free agents.  That would leave Boston with potentially 6 players under contract for next season, totaling approximately $30 million, which is well under the $58 million salary cap.  That leaves plenty of room to sign one of the top prizes on the 2012 free agent market.  Boston isn't a warm weather city that top free agents desire, but it's a good market with a rich history, a committed ownership group and strong leadership.  Will that be enough to lure in a top free agent?  Considering those top targets include two point guards (Derron Williams and Chris Paul), that narrows the field of options as long as Rondo is still on the roster.  That leaves Dwight Howard as the most likely target, but is Rondo and an aging Pierce enough to convince him to come to Boston?  Unlikely.

To change that, the Celtics may be forced to shake things up even more.  The only trade-able asset they have on their roster is Rondo.  Rumors have swirled that Boston would be willing to part with Rondo for the right deal and it's no secret that the right deal includes Chris Paul.  New Orleans is in the difficult position of knowing that they can't afford to hang on to their star point guard and will almost certainly be forced to either trade him or watch him walk as a free agent after the season.  As has been previously reported, Paul seems to have already squashed this rumor by stating he would not be willing to sign an extension to stay in Boston.  With the uncertainty of the team's future beyond this season, it's fair to see why he'd be hesitant to commit to the Celtics, but that doesnt' mean they can't change his mind.  After all, Kevin Garnett didn't want to come to Boston either, but the Celtics changed his mind by going out and trading for Ray Allen.  If the Celtics can lure in another star to join him in Boston, perhaps Paul can still be persuaded