By: Holden Rexius
Sunday night at Invesco Field, the Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow surprised football fans across the nation. They beat the Pittsburgh Steelers with an 80-yard pass in overtime. Going into the game as a nine-point underdog, the Broncos used the motto “We believe.” The team believed and came up with a big win.
Early in the game the Steelers kicked two field goals to put themselves up 6-0. The Broncos had no answers in the first quarter and totaled only 8 yards. In the second quarter, the Broncos made the necessary adjustments and improved their game. They scored two touchdowns and two field goals to go in to half time with a commanding 20-6 lead against a tough Steelers defense. Demaryius Thomas was responsible for two 50+ yard catches, and Eddie Royal caught a 31 yard touchdown pass.
The second half the Steelers defense played to their usual standards, only allowing Denver three points. Pittsburgh’s offense also came through in the second half. They scored 17 points to tie the game and force overtime.
At the overtime coin toss Pittsburgh chose heads. The coin landed on tails to signal the Broncos would get the ball to start overtime. The new NFL overtime rules state that if a team scores on a field goal the first drive, the other team gets a chance to score. If the team who gets the ball first scores a touchdown, the game is over. After running the ball on 22 out of 21 first downs, the Broncos decided to throw this time. The Steelers shifted their safeties play side, but corner back Ike Taylor did not drop back into a zone as he had on previous plays. Tebow saw this and threw a strike to Thomas on a slant. Thomas Stiff armed Taylor, and with no one else to beat, he ran the ball into the end zone. When asked about the game winning play, Juan Hernandez (12) replied “When he (Tebow) threw the ball, I didn’t even know who it was going to. Then Thomas caught it and stiff armed Ike Taylor to score.” This score led the Broncos to victory and puts them against the New England Patriots this coming week.
This was by far Tebow’s best statistical game of the season. He ran for a touchdown and threw for two more. Though Tebow won his first ever playoff start, there are still people who doubt him. Nick Gregory (12) said “He played his best game of the season, but it was against a hurt Steelers defense.” He also continued to say about Tebow as a quarterback in the NFL, “He is a good running back and got lucky on the 7 wins in a row”. Other people believe that Tebow is the answer to all of Denver’s problems. Alexis Truax (13) said, “A team needs leaders, and Tebow is one of those leaders”. Tebow has led the Broncos to the playoffs and won his first playoff game, something the Broncos have missed out on for years.