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Monday, January 9, 2012

Tebow, Thomas Lift Denver to Fast 29-23 OT Victory

DENVER (AP) - The Drive. The Fumble. And now, The Blink of an
Eye.
      With a quick flick of the wrist and a mad dash to the end zone,
Tim Tebow, Demaryius Thomas and the Denver Broncos put a sudden end
to their playoff game against Pittsburgh - an 11-second throw,
catch and run that accounted for the quickest overtime in NFL
history.
      On the first play of the extra period Sunday, Tebow threw a
crossing pattern to Thomas, who stiff-armed Ike Taylor and won the
race to the end zone for an 80-yard score that lifted the Broncos
to a 29-23 playoff victory over the stunned Steelers.
      All in 11 ticks of the clock - the quickest overtime ever,
regular season or playoffs.
      It will be talked about for much longer, destined to earn a spot
in Denver's colorful playoff history, somewhere up there with The
Drive, The Fumble and the franchise's two Super Bowl titles.
      John Elway, the quarterback who was around for those magic
moments, was like every other Broncos fan for this one - he could
only watch and hope. When Thomas crossed the goal line, ol' No. 7
raised his arms and celebrated like a kid on the sideline.
      And Tebow?
      "When I saw him scoring, first of all, I just thought, `Thank
you, Lord,"' he said. "Then, I was running pretty fast, chasing
him."
      A few moments later, he was Tebowing in the end zone - down on
one knee, resting one hand against his forehead, while he punched
his other fist in the turf. After that, he did victory laps and
jumped into the stands at a stadium that has been thirsting for
something special for a while now. Denver's last turn in the
playoffs was the 2006 AFC title game, a 34-17 loss to the Steelers,
five seasons before Tebow arrived.
      And boy has this unorthodox, often divisive but very clutch
quarterback made a difference.
      "Definitely a special memory. One that will always be very
special," Tebow said of his fourth overtime win of the season,
against no losses.
      The Tebow-to-Thomas connection denied fans a good look at the
NFL's new postseason overtime rule. Under the new format, put into
play for the first time in this game, each team was guaranteed a
possession in overtime - unless, that is, the team that gets the
ball first scores a touchdown.
      "They said, `We're going to run this play, all you have to do
is cross the safety's face,"' Thomas said. "I was walking to the
line and saw the safety come down and I knew, at that time, the
play we had called, the only person I had to beat was the corner."
      After Denver's third straight loss last week in which Tebow
threw for 60 yards and logged a quarterback rating of 20.8, Elway -
now the team's executive vice president of football operations -
urged him to be more aggressive with the ball. He wanted his
quarterback to step up and take more chances - run when he saw
daylight, throw during that split second when he saw a receiver
open.
      Message received. Tebow did that all game, softening the
Steelers with gains of 51, 58, 30 and 40 yards, all in the first
half.
      "I think it's just a mentality, being aggressive," Tebow said.
"Whether it's in the pocket, when I was stepping up and I start to
scramble ... or whether it's when I'm stepping up and giving a
receiver an opportunity on a deep ball."
      Though the Steelers rallied from a 14-point deficit in the
second half, Tebow, Thomas and the rest kept their defense
off-balance most of the game. They were clearly caught unaware on
first-and-10 from the 20 when Tebow took the snap and safety Ryan
Mundy bit on the quarterback's play-action fake and charged toward
the line. That left Thomas in the man-to-man coverage against
Taylor he knew he was going to get.
      After catching the ball and shedding Taylor, Thomas had only
Mundy to beat to the goal line.
      "We knew they were capable of big plays," Mundy said. "They
didn't' make the playoffs for no reason."
      They're moving on in the playoffs, as well. Thanks to the first
play of overtime. Which also turned out to be the last.

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