Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos: Breaking Down Their Improbable Playoff Win

I don't care if I'm accused of being a hater, I have something I need to say: The Denver Broncos would not have beaten a healthy Pittsburgh Steelers team.

I don't bring this up discredit what Tim Tebow and the Broncos accomplished—you can only beat the team that lines up opposite you.

But I also think the game deserves some perspective. The Steelers were without starters Ryan Clark, Maurkice Pouncey and Rashard Mendenhall; Ben Roethlisberger was far less mobile than usual given his high ankle sprain; and the Steelers lost defensive linemen Brent Keisel and Casey Hampton and offensive tackle Max Starks during the game.

So credit goes to the Broncos for handling their business—they deserved to win. But let's not ignore that one factor in there was a beat-up Pittsburgh team.

Another key was Tebow's success throwing the ball down the field, essentially negating Pittsburgh's strategy to stack the box against the run. From Jamison Hensley of ESPN:

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Playing aggressive man-to-man defense with no help over the top essentially forced Tebow to win the game. And, based on Tebow's numbers, that's exactly the game plan that Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau and everyone else in the football world would've written up.

In the final three weeks of the regular season, Tebow was 4 of 22 (18.1 percent) on throws over 15 yards for one touchdown and three interceptions, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Against the Steelers, he was 6 of 11 (54.5 percent) on those passes for two touchdowns and no interceptions.

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Overplaying the run and getting beaten by Tebow down the field hurt the Steelers all day long. It was only fitting that Tebow should win the game on an 80-yard strike to Demaryius Thomas.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Tebow finished the game as the first player in postseason history (with five or more completions) to average over 30 yards per reception. Remember, Tebow only finished the game with ten completions—and 316 passing yards.

It was the second quarter that did the Steelers in, as Elias notes:

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The Broncos scored 20 points in the second quarter of Sunday's win. In 53 previous postseason games, the Steelers allowed 20 or more points in one period only once. The Raiders scored 21 points in the third period of a 38-10 win over Pittsburgh in a divisional playoff game on New Year's Day 1984.

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And let's give Denver's defense some credit. They intercepted a pass, sacked Roethlisberger five times and held the Steelers to 13 points for the first 50 minutes of the game.

Had they not given up 10 points to the Steelers in the last 10 minutes—and had they pressured Roethlisberger rather than sit back in coverage on his 31-yard touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery late in the game—we wouldn't have been bothered with all of those new overtime rules.

But for all of the times we've pointed out that Tebowmania was over-hyped and it was the defense that was the cause of Denver's success, or that Tebow was a one-trick pony and couldn't beat teams through the air, it's time to give him his due.

Tim Tebow won the game for the Broncos by effectively throwing the ball down the field against the Steelers.

I never thought I would write that sentence. Sometimes, you just have to tip your hat to a job well done.

Hit me up on the Twitter—it's the best way to spend the last year of existence.

Elias Sports BureauElias Sports Bureau