With 1 Win Under Their Belts, How Far Can Tim Tebow Lead Broncos in Playoffs?

When I think of the term "sports Cinderella," I automatically think of the Tim Tebow-led Denver Broncos. The Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to Denver to face the Broncos in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs and flew back to the state of Pennsylvania in a state of shock.

Not only did the Broncos beat them, they did so in dramatic fashion. On the first play of overtime Tebow found wide receiver Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown that ended the game. Denver won 29-23 and now turns its attention to the New England Patriots.

The Tim Tebow legend continues to grow along with his bandwagon. The Broncos are like a terrible movie that all of a sudden gets better at the end. Denver plays close to awful for three quarters of some games and decides to wake up in the fourth quarter. It's a phenomenon that cannot and will not last in the National Football League, but it is still interesting to watch.

Tebow has the excitement belt wrapped tightly around his waist, but that championship one still resides with Mr. Discount Double-Check Aaron Rodgers and Uggs spokesman Tom Brady.

So how long can this continue? How much more can we expect out of this runaway train close to being out of fuel? My answer is not very much.

Tim Tebow is an average starting quarterback at best. Tebow had a fantastic throwing day as he amassed 316 passing yards, two touchdowns and a 125 quarterback rating. However, he completed less than 50 percent of his passes, and receiver Demaryius Thomas was the recipient of most of Tebow's yards.

The Steelers were so concerned with the run that they dared Tebow to beat them with his arm and he did just that. Pittsburgh played man for many a play and Tebow punished it because of it. Steelers corner Ike Taylor was played like a rag doll on the last play of the game by Thomas as he was stiff-armed and watched Thomas run into the end zone.

Tebow did what he was supposed to do against the Steelers. He didn't turn the ball over and took advantage of every opportunity he saw against Pittsburgh. That's the mark of a good football player as his big-play ability came shining through. For all of his faults as a quarterback, Tebow makes everyone forget about them with wins and the way he plays football.

But I believe that the Tebow train is about to be derailed in New England. The Broncos lost to the Pats a few weeks ago by a score of 41-23. Tebow had a decent game but the Patriots controlled the clock, caused turnovers and ran the ball for over 140 yards.

Denver will have a better game plan going into their second matchup with the Patriot,s but as many believed the Steelers would stop the Tebow mania I am more inclined to believe New England has a better shot than the Steelers.

Pittsburgh was injured and severely underestimated Tebow's throwing ability. New England will not, and because of that Tebow will be controlled. He will not complete more than 55 percent of his throws against the league's second-worst passing defense.

Bottom line is Tim Tebow and the Broncos as a whole aren't good enough to beat the Patriots. The Broncos had a combination of opportunistic and sound defensive play when it counted, few penalties and a little luck. They will need much more than that in New England.

I wouldn't book those plane tickets to Indy just yet, Broncos fans, but with a full offseason and a tinkered offensive game plan the future doesn't look bleak for Denver next season.