John Elway has tread this road before, so his counsel for a struggling Tim Tebow should resonate.
"Pull the trigger," the Broncos' executive vice president of football operations told The Denver Post this week, in advance of Sunday's wild-card game against the Steelers.
Elway wants his quarterback to forget about the ugly events that dropped the once-surging Broncos from 8-5 to 8-8, backing their way into the AFC West title. It's Tebow Time, postseason edition, but that clock has been off the past few weeks, with the quarterback floundering mightily.
Elway, a Hall of Fame quarterback known for slinging it, has seen his young signal-caller grow tentative -- completing just 41 percent of his passes during the three-game losing streak -- and believes it's time for the once-fearless version of Tebow to return.
"That's human nature, especially when you're young, to become more cautious," Elway said. "He had a tough week before (playing the Chiefs in the regular-season finale) against Buffalo. The key thing for (Tebow) is to go out, put everything behind him, go through his progressions and pull the trigger.
"When you get into these playoff situations, he's a good enough athlete ... to pull the trigger. He's obviously upset with last week. He's already got an edge to him, so he's ready to go. I like seeing the edge. Oh, yeah. I actually love it. I have full confidence he'll bounce back and have a good week."
Pulling the trigger isn't a sure strategy for Tebow, and few give Denver a chance against Dick LeBeau's Pittsburgh defense Sunday. But Elway -- and the city of Denver -- hope there's one more miracle along that Broncos sideline.
