In a shocking upset Sunday, the Broncos heisted the Super Bowl dreams of the heavily favored Steelers, capping wild-card weekend with the wildest of wins -- a 29-23 victory in overtime.
On the first play from scrimmage in overtime, Tim Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas over the middle, and Thomas outraced the defense for an 80-yard touchdown. The delirium in Sports Authority Stadium seemed to cause it to sway, the unbelievable outcome scripted in orange.
Minutes after the game, Tebow recounted his memories of the final play as if they were snapshots in his head.
"When I saw him scoring?" he said. "First of all, `Thank you, Lord!' And then I was running pretty fast chasing him -- like I could catch up to DT -- and then I just jumped in the stands. First time I've done that. That was fun. Then just got on a knee and thanked the Lord again and tried to celebrate with my teammates."
Thomas' description, like his dash to the end zone, was more straight-forward: "I was open, and I just had to take it to the house."
Tebow threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another, pumping new hope into a franchise that backed into the postseason while losing its last three games.
Asked what he would have said a year ago if he were told he'd take over a 4-12 team and not only make the postseason but win a playoff game, Broncos coach John Fox said: "I would have taken it and run -- and I probably would have pulled both hamstrings."
Fox said he was particularly proud of Tebow, who was able to turn down the outside noise and simply focus on football.
"A lot was said, a lot was written, there was a lot of critique on him," the coach said. "I thought he stepped up in a huge way tonight, and I think he was a big part of us winning the game."
Now, the Broncos will head to New England, where they play the Patriots in a divisional game Saturday night. The Steelers, favored by 81/2 points, have all offseason to dissect what went wrong.
Pittsburgh trailed 20-6 at halftime but chipped away. With 3 minutes, 48 seconds left in regulation, the Steelers forged a 23-23 tie when Ben Roethlisberger threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery.
Tebow became just the second Broncos quarterback, along with Hall of Famer John Elway, to both pass and run for a touchdown in a postseason game. What's more, Tebow and Thomas joined Elway and Michael Young as the only quarterback-receiver tandems to connect on a pair of 50-yard completions in the same playoff game.
stephen sondheim los angeles news grammys 2011 mike leach mike leach billy graham scion fr s
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.