Broncos fans still believe as Tebow Time continues

ONLY Tim Tebow could resurrect Tebowing and early yesterday morning even Dan Marino joined the growing procession of adoring fans genuflecting to the Denver Broncos quarterback.

Instead of debating whether the Broncos could beat the Patriots in the next round of the playoffs, the CBS crew adopted a praying position to pay homage.

Tebow Time lasted only 11 seconds into overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC wild-card game but that was all he needed. The quarterback’s play-action fake heaved a dramatic 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas for a 29-23 upset over the six-time Super Bowl champs.

“First of all, thank you Lord,” Tebow said when asked his initial thoughts when the game suddenly ended.

“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.”

The Broncos had won one and lost four games before Tebow became the starter in late October. Yesterday, he passed for two touchdowns, ran for another and did not throw an interception as he outshone a limping Ben Roethlisberger.

Indeed they needed Jerricho Cotchery’s touchdown to complete a Steelers comeback in normal time after Tebow led a 20-point second-quarter to give Denver a 14-point lead.

For at least one more week, Tebow silenced the non-believers but they will be out in force again if they slump to Tom Brady and the Patriots like they did in the regular season. That 41-23 defeat saw Tebow at his worst with seven turnovers and a 40% completion rate.

Meanwhile, Eli Manning and the New York Giants are heading to Green Bay with their running game rejuvenated and their defence as stifling as ever. Manning threw three touchdown passes, Brandon Jacobs had 92 of the Giants’ 172 yards rushing and the defence shut down Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons in a 24-2 victory.

“If we can play defence like that,” coach Tom Coughlin said, “we will continue to make ourselves heard in this tournament.”

All four home teams won on the NFL’s first playoff weekend. On Saturday, the high-scoring New Orleans Saints earned a trip to San Francisco against the 49ers with a convincing 45-28 win over the Detroit Lions.

The Houston Texans will be at Baltimore to take on the Ravens after a 31-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals for the first playoff win in its history.