Perfect: Denver Broncos Cap Hard-Fought Win with Flawless Execution

Don't misunderstand—the Broncos' win was far from perfect. Willis McGahee's fourth quarter fumble had me shaking my head and resigning myself to yet another Steelers' playoff win. I only felt a shred of hope when the Broncos sacked Big Ben to force overtime. I had a feeling that if this turned into a slug fest in OT that the Steelers would prevail. It's what they do. In 11 seconds, however, everything changed.

Really, the best, and probably the only way Denver had a shot was if they made a big play, or if Pittsburgh made a mistake. Turns out, they got both.

I actually missed the play. I wasn't watching the game, just listening to the commentators call it. I figured I'd hear something about a McGahee three-yard gain or some such thing. The thing is, that's what the Steelers figured too. Denver's much accused offensive coordinator Mike McCoy threw in a gutsy call. Play-fake a run and throw it up. Maybe he thought it would catch the defense off guard. Did it ever.

Nearly everything about the play was perfect. With every Steeler defender thinking run, everyone pressed up near the line of scrimmage. That left Demaryius Thomas — who had already had a huge day catching balls from Tim Tebow — being covered solely by cornerback Ike Taylor.

The ball was snapped to Tebow. The Steelers half blitzed, but the offensive line picked it up. Instead of making a break for further down the field, Thomas cut in to the center of the field, putting Taylor on his outside shoulder. Tebow got the ball out quickly — something he has been derided for not doing. The ball was a little high, but it was not overthrown, behind Thomas or slow down his momentum. He was able to stiff-arm Taylor and then outran him and a safety to the end zone, giving Denver a big time OT win.

Denver has not been playing pretty football as of late, and we'll see if they can compete with the Patriots next week, but for one night, Denver gave its playoff-starved fans something to go nuts about. One perfect play.