Broncos 29, Steelers 23: How the Stars Aligned on the Final Play

It was a kind of play that defines a career.  It will undoubtedly be replayed until it is a cliche, synonymous with the NFL playoffs in the same way "The Catch" and the "Music City Miracle" are.

Some of the more subtle causes of the play may be forgotten in time, but these nuances shall be celebrated here.

Situation

Entering overtime, the momentum was firmly on the side of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  After all, Pittsburgh outscored Denver 17-3, including a tying touchdown in the final four minutes.  Hence, the pressure was on the Denver Broncos to score on that first possession to stop the momentum from growing and getting out of hand.

It was first down

It may seem like a very small point, but the fact that it was first down has great significance in this game.

Through the first four quarters, the Broncos had 25 first down plays.  Of those, they ran the ball 21 times.  (Of the other four4, one was a kneel-down to end the first half, two were pass plays that ended in penalties and the last was an incomplete pass).

What was even more incredible was the Broncos' dedication to the same formation on every first down. Shotgun formation with McGahee standing aside Tebow, Royal in motion to the end of the offensive line, and the option follows.

When the Broncos lined up with this exact formation for the umpteenth time, I certainly thought the option was coming.  Clearly, so did the Steelers, as they stacked the box to defend the run.

This trickery was subtle, but after running the same play over and over again, this deviation became all the more effective.

It's as if John Fox kept that trick in his back pocket in case of overtime.

The new rules may have wreaked havoc

It was the first time these new playoff rules got a workout, but it seemed as though they did not have any effect on the game.

Maybe not.

Before these rules were in effect, overtimes were played in a very conservative fashion.  After all, as long as you got in field goal range, you won.  Giving the other team a chance to be in field goal position was suicide.

In this game, the Broncos started with the ball and momentum against them.  If they were able to get a field goal, the Steelers would still have a chance to respond, and even a chance to win with a touchdown.  Obviously, this shadow may have loomed on Denver's decision-making, leading to an aggressive play-call.

Seeing as this was the first time such strategies have been implemented, the Steelers may have misread the Broncos' situation and built their strategy around playing a sudden-death overtime opponent.  They stacked the box against the run, leaving the deep pass a threat.

Perhaps these new rules had more of an effect than we thought.

These are small details of the play, but they had just as large of an effect on the outcome as Tebow's spiral and Thomas's stiff-arm.  The play will certainly live on in the annals of NFL lore.