The reason the defense can sit back and contain is because they know what’s coming. The traditional solution is better balance and lack of predictability between run, keep, short pass, and long pass play calling. Take what the defense gives you. This has been pointed out by many others and isn’t rocket science. Stretch the field vertically as well as horizontally. Actually, the Ponies already do this pretty well… they just don’t take full advantage of it. And with a Tebow at QB, we can really take full advantage of it.

Analyze most of the big, game-changing offensive plays of the past few weeks and you’ll see two things in common. 1) The plays took a while to develop; and 2) The Tebow-tracking defender was forced to make a no-win decision. This tracker is key… isolate him and force him to choose between guarding a receiver and stopping a Tebow-run. He can’t do both. And in those situations, Tebow will burn him for big yards every time.

The key to making this work is patience. Most traditional offensive plays are designed to get the ball out of the QB’s hands as quickly as possible. A Tebow-led offense doesn’t need to suffer this limitation. If the defense wants to passively contain the QB, let them. The first five seconds after the snap don’t matter much when most Tebow-sacks take 10 seconds or more to develop. After that initial 5-second period, stuff a TE or RB coming late out of the backfield into the gaping 20-yard black hole behind the tracking defender. The tracker will be forced to choose between the QB and the receiver. Whatever he picks, do the other. Collect 20 yards. Repeat.

I was at the KC game and was shocked at how often Tebow was scrambling around, desperately searching for an open receiver downfield, while the whole middle of the field was completely empty. A short, safe pass there could result in a huge gain. Do this a few times and the whole defensive containment scheme will break down.