The Denver Broncos won’t win the Super Bowl this year. Hell, they probably won’t even win their next game, but the 2010-11 NFL season belongs to one man: Tim Tebow.
Not to a collapse by two NFC East powerhouses, not to Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints breaking every offensive record ever, not to Peyton Manning’s neck, not to Cam Newton, and not even to the eventual Super Bowl Champion who will go the way of the Dallas Mavericks, lauded for their win in the moment, but archived only in history books for their greatness.
This entire Denver Broncos run has consisted of people either heaping all the credit to winning onto Tim Tebow or granting him none. The foot of Matt Prater, the resurgence of Willis “I shouldn’t be able to walk” McGahee and the bullrush of Von Miller and Elvis Dumervill were the sole reasons for the Broncos’ victories shouted Tebow’s critics.
The truth, was somewhere in the middle, obscured by Skip Bayless’ idiotic ranting and a grandma or girlfriend saying how wonderful to have Timothy Richard Tebow succeed because he works just so darn hard and deserves it.
What happened on Sunday seems a story written by a scribe from the Disney Entertainment sports movie department: A team known for its cardiac comebacks all season losing their last three games heading into the postseason, two of those losses being huge blowouts. In those losses, a quarterback who was so careful with the football, became careless, turning the ball over seven times, more than he had total previously in the season. The defense had lost its edge and the running back couldn’t break any opponent’s tackle. But all that changed when their quarterback’s passes connected with their targets, where previously they tumbled harmlessly on the turf. His confidence returned, the team’s confidence returned. The two opponents fought to the end, but ended in a pass and catch that should only be seen in slow motion with Explosions in the Sky playing in the background.
No one believed in the Broncos to win this game, and no one believed Tim Tebow would be the main reason if they did. Prater’s leg wasn’t needed. The defensive veteran Champ Bailey dropped an easy interception that would have effectively ended the game. Willis McGahee provided the Steelers the opportunity to comeback when he fumbled the ball. Tebow won the game with Demaryius Thomas playing his sidekick.
The real reason the Pittsburgh Steelers lost lies with their lack of respect for the Denver Broncos’ offense. Broncos head coach John Fox knew they didn’t and capitalized by playing the “Nobody believes in us” card all week, a feeling that inspires any sports player. A look into the Broncos’ postgame locker room confirmed Fox’s mantra when he shouted, “People said you couldn’t, people said you can’t, and you did,” following their win.
Steelers defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau schemed to shut down the Broncos running attack and force Tim Tebow to beat the Steelers with his arm. Lebeau succeeded in what he wanted to do; Willis McGahee culminated a mere 61 yards on 19 carries. The aspect of the game he didn’t count on? Tim Tebow throwing for 316 passing yards on 10 passes resulting in a 31.6 completion percentage, those numbers made only more significant because John 3:16 happens to be Tebow’s favorite Bible verse.
The yards largely came from Tebow’s three 50-yards plus throws, one more 50-yard plus pass play than he’s thrown his entire career. In those plays, the Steelers sold out to stop the run, believing each time Tebow couldn’t throw over top of them. All game the Steelers brought their safeties into the box, even following those big pass plays. Sometimes Tebow beat them, other times he didn’t, but watch the last play of the game, the big 80-yard touchdown pass.
Right before the ball is snapped, Steelers safety Ryan Mundy creeps into the box on his right side for run support or maybe to blitz. The cornerback Ike Taylor—who Tebow abused all game—is supposed to cover Demaryius Thomas over the top like a safety would. Instead, Taylor is playing Thomas tight and gets beaten at the line of scrimmage. Tebow sees this and quick fires to Thomas who stiff arms his way into the end zone.
“We called underneath coverage, I was underneath, [CB] Ike [Taylor] was over top,” said safety Ryan Mundy to Yahoo!’s Doug Farrar. “I’ve got to watch the film, but I felt like I could have given him a little more help underneath. That was particularly our run-stopping defense.”
The Pittsburgh Steelers possess too many excuses for their loss on Sunday, all of them valid. Had safety Ryan Clark played, the Steelers would have won, but instead he was on the sideline ailed by a heart condition that doesn’t allow him to play in Denver’s high altitude. Maybe if Ben Roethlisberger sat the week before and rested, he would be more mobile for the entirety of the game, and not just the 4th quarter. None of that matters now. The Broncos won because their players outperformed the Steelers’, plain and simple.
Actually, it was one player who owned the game much like he has this entire season. The final touchdown thrown by Tim Tebow even had John Elway smiling, you know, the guy who secretly hates Tebow. This will all come to a screeching halt soon enough, but for now, sit back and enjoy. Tebowmania has started once again.