Tebow Overreaction: How the Broncos' Postseason Run Mirrors Recent Greats

Tim Tebow's season may be over, but the hysteria surrounding him is clearly still alive.

The initial fallout from the rout the Broncos suffered from the Patriots on Saturday night is the reemergence of Tim Tebow's notorious naysayers.  Whilst jumping for joy at the failures of another human (Stephen A Smith, @stephenasmith, tweeted "TEBOWMANIA: REST IN PEACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:-)" as the game was concluding), these fellows claimed that such a thorough beating is indicative of just how correct they have been all along: that Tim Tebow does not belong as a starting NFL quarterback.

Looking through the NFL playoffs' recent history, however, there are abundant examples of playoff runs that mirror Tebow's by well-respected quarterbacks.

In his final season in the NFL, Dan Marino led the Dolphins to the playoffs.  In the Wild Card Round against the Seahawks, Marino engineered a miraculous finish, coming from behind to defeat the Seattle Seahawks.  The next round, the Dolphins ran into a buzz-saw by the name of the Jacksonville Jaguars.  The result: 62-7 Jaguars; Marino went 11-of-25 (44 percent) for 95 yards.

In his final season in the NFL, Kurt Warner led the Cardinals to the playoffs.  In the Wild Card Round against the Packers, Warner engaged in the NFL's wildest shootout, getting the better of Aaron Rodgers by the score of 51-45.  The next round, they ran into the eventual Super Bowl champion Saints.  The result: 45-14 Saints; Warner went 17-of-26 for 205 yards.  (Trust me, the stats lie in this case.)

Yes, those were older quarterbacks, so here is a younger one.

In his fifth full season as a starter and his third playoff appearance (0-2 beforehand), Peyton Manning's Colts faced the Jets in the Wild Card Round.  The result: 41-0 Jets; Manning went 14-of-31 (45 percent) for 137 yards.

Yes, that Broncos loss was a setback for a young, developing quarterback, but it is not unheard of; other quarterbacks' struggles have been similar.  Clearly, reports of Tebow's demise from such a game have been grossly over-exaggerated.

Let's linger on the positives for a moment.  In his first postseason game, Tebow was able to lead his team to victory.  That's a feat that Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, Tony Romo and even John Elway failed at.  And he did it with a team that was 1-4 and had a defense ranked 32nd in the league when he took over.

Perhaps Tebow will regress next year; however, there is also ample historical proof that the opposite may happen.  There's just no predicting where this train's going.

One thing is clear: Once these pesky playoffs are over and a champion is crowned, Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos will return to being the most interesting and polarizing story in the NFL.