Denver Broncos: Report Card Grades for Sunday's Game vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

The Denver Broncos are moving on to the divisional round in the 2012 NFL playoffs.

They've toppled the Pittsburgh Steelers and the No. 1 defense in the league. Now, they move on to New England and the Patriots' 32nd-ranked defense (YPG). 

This win was probably the most exciting one for Denver and Tim Tebow in this magical 2011 season.

The team now has four overtime wins this year, and Tebow has added to his impressive total of seven fourth-quarter or overtime wins in his career.

Every piece of the puzzle came together on Sunday for the Broncos to win this game. There were some big stars, but also some shortcomings.

Here are the grades for each of Denver's units during Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Defensive Line

The defensive line's performance for Denver was most likely one of the biggest elements of the Broncos' game plan on Sunday.

Get to Big Ben, disrupt the play, win the game.

When a quarterback is limping, it's a great time to put him in the dirt, and the defensive line and coaches knew this on Sunday.

The Denver defense reached Ben Roethlisberger for the sack five times on Sunday, and it had him running around the backfield the rest of the game.

What the Denver defensive line didn't do well for the whole game is stop the run.

The game started out with some seriously impressive stops of the running game for Denver. But after some big runs, and what seemed like a ridiculously long second half, Isaac Redman ended up with 121 yards on this defense.

Overall, the defensive line was still good enough to keep this team in the game.

Total Grade:  A-

Linebackers and Secondary

These were the two most effective units on the field for Denver on Sunday.

Linebackers D.J. Williams, Joe Mays and Von Miller were good against the run and pressured Big Ben for the majority of the game.

Quinton Carter added an interception during the first half, and Champ Bailey could have added the game-ender in the fourth quarter.

Bailey dropped a tough but manageable interception in the end zone—one that could have effectively sealed the game for Denver without the need for the overtime win.

There were no big-time receivers for Pittsburgh on Sunday and no big plays.

The one passing play that looked to be a huge gain for receiver Mike Wallace was challenged and eventually ruled an incompletion.

The secondary put up the turnover needed to swing the game, and Miller added the sack and pressure on the quarterback.

Total Grade: A

Offensive Line

The offensive line underachieved a bit for Denver on Sunday.

Normally, this team's first and foremost staple is its rushing attack.

Instead, this game featured a heavy dose of the pass from Tim Tebow, leaving Willis McGahee virtually ineffective for the majority of the game.

The failure of the running game could be attributed to a good game plan by the Steelers, but it also falls on the shoulders of the line, whose responsibility is creating gaps for the running backs.

But, what the line did do well is keep Pittsburgh's sack total at zero for the entire game.

It didn't hurt that Tebow is very mobile, but this line still never allowed a clean hit against its quarterback and allowed the offense to continuously have the chance to move the ball up the field.

And the line did it without Pro Bowl-snubbed, season-long starting center Chris Kuper.

Total Grade: B+  

Running Backs

This is where the easiest "A" is normally achieved for Denver.

On Sunday, that wasn't the case.

The running game was ineffective throughout the majority of the game. Willis McGahee added only 61 yards on the ground. Lance Ball totaled only 11.

Tim Tebow was actually the second leading rusher for the Broncos on Sunday with 50 yards and Denver's only score on the ground.

What really hurt this unit's grade was McGahee's fumbles. He fumbled early on, and the ball was recovered by Denver. But late in the game, with the game still within reach for the Steelers, McGahee coughed it up near midfield and left Pittsburgh with a short field.

This unit needs to step it up big in order to continue this roll against New England next week.

Total Grade: D

Wide Receivers

The Denver Bronco receivers finally did their job on Sunday.

A five-game streak of critical drops came to an end on Sunday as the wide receivers for Denver stepped up big to beat the Steelers.

It didn't hurt that Tebow was finally throwing the ball accurately.

Without No. 2 receiver Eric Decker, who left the game early with a leg injury, the other receivers needed to come through with a big game.

They did just that.

Led by Demaryius Thomas and his 204 yards receiving, this corps of wideouts made Tebow look like a polished passer.

Thomas would eventually be credited for the win as he stiff-armed Ike Taylor and ran for 80 yards on the first play of overtime to end the game in the end zone.

This unit won this game for Denver. Hands down.

Total Grade: A+   

Quarterback

When everybody was against this team, and it seemed like all hope was lost, the Broncos stepped up together and won.

And leading them to the win, with a lot of help from his supporting cast, was quarterback Tim Tebow.

Tebow silenced his critics again and threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns. A lot of those yards came as a result of receivers running their butts off after the catch.

Nevertheless, Tebow found a way to get them the ball on Sunday—something he couldn't do for most of the season.

The most impressive part about it is that Tebow and this offense managed to do it against the No. 1 ranked defense in the NFL.

A defense that was supposed to walk all over the passing-impaired Tebow was decimated by what was expected to be an anemic offensive attack.

Tebow threw for over 300 yards, ran for another 50, added a total of three touchdowns and accounted for 18 of Denver's 29 points—including the winning touchdown pass in overtime. 

Total Grade: A+