Kyle Orton took care of business early in Denver’s preseason win over Buffalo, showing why he’s on top of the Broncos depth chart.
Then the real competition started. (Or at least it was supposed to.) Brady Quinn got his crack to run the No. 2 Broncos offense, and he looked good overall.
Tim Tebow, on the other hand, barely played.
Quinn completed 10-of-16 passes for 135 yards, with one touchdown, and one interception. Quinn had four drives, which included a touchdown, a field goal, a three-and-out, and an interception after a long drive. The pick came on a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage on the goal line, seemingly the result of bad luck.
Tebow got only two drives, and he wasn’t allowed to finish the second one. The first drive wasn’t pretty. After an incompletion on a deep throw, Tebow took a delay of game penalty. He was sacked on the next snap, ending the drive.
Tebow didn’t get the ball again until just over two minutes left in the game. After running for a first down, Tebow got pulled so that fourth-string quarterback Adam Weber could practice handing the ball off. The Broncos just wanted the game to end.
We’re not sure whether Quinn is the clear backup to Orton just yet, but the Broncos beat writers and television announcers seem to think Quinn is the favorite for the job.
That would make Tim Tebow the most well known No. 3 quarterback in the NFL.