John 3:16 in the bible says "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Tim Tebow has quite a few more believers after throwing for, coincidentally, 316 yards and two scores. The biggest pass play of the game was the 80 yard game winner in overtime to Demaryius Thomas on the first play from scrimmage. I thought the NFL went away from "sudden death" this year.
The Steelers were heavily banged up heading into this game, but coach Mike Tomlin loves to preach about how "The standard is the standard." Well today, the standard was substandard.
Even being down their starting center (Pouncey), starting running back (Mendenhall), starting safety (Clark), and losing Brett Kiesel and Casey Hampton early in the game, I thought the Steelers would have more than enough firepower to defeat Tim Tebow and the Broncos. I was wrong.
Ike Taylor, who many including myself touted as a Pro Bowler, got shredded for over 204 yards by Thomas, to go along with the pass interference and holding calls he got flagged for repeatedly. He looked clueless out there. Worst possible time to have his worst game of the year.
The Steelers dropped some easy catches early on to fizzle out promising drives and the Broncos took advantage with a huge 20 point outburst in the second quarter to take early control of the game.
The Steelers got things under control and a late fumble by Willis McGahee allowed the Steelers to score the game tying touchdown. The Steelers even had the ball at the Denver 50 yard line with time ticking down in regulation but could not get the ball into Shaun Suisham field goal range.
They elected to bypass a 67 yard attempt as time expired. If you have no faith to at least let the kicker try it from that range in Denver of all places, then why is he on the team in the first place?
You have to credit the Steelers for fighting all the way to the end. It would have been very easy to knuckle under when down 20-6 but the team did a great job getting the game to overtime.
Major kudos to Isaac Redman who ran for 121 yards on 17 carries for an astounding 7.1 average per carry. He ran hard and with a purpose and should factor prominently in the backfield next season.
Overall it was just way too many mistakes for the Steelers to overcome. The effort was not good enough against a team many called "the worst playoff team ever."
Maybe God really is a Tebow fan after all.