Broncos buck trend to shock Steelers

It has been six years since a trip to Colorado – and a chance encounter with the Broncos squad at Denver airport – first encouraged me to watch the NFL and root for the AFC West side.

Unfortunately, those six years have been pretty barren. In 2006, a Week 17 home defeat to San Francisco in overtime cost the Broncos a postseason berth, and in 2008 and 2009 – when Denver achieved the dubious honour of being just the third team since the AFL-NFL merger to miss out on the playoffs after a 6-0 start – late season collapses again shrouded Mile High in gloom.

The 8-5 Broncos suffered consecutive defeats to finish the season tied with San Diego and Oakland at .500, all but capitulating and narrowly avoiding the ignominy of missing the playoffs yet again, but merely spluttering into a postseason match-up with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Despite this being Denver’s first invitation to the playoff party for six seasons, the prevailing emotion at Sports Authority Field was a mixture of misplaced hope-for-the-best optimism and downright fear of the Heinz Field outfit, who boasted the league’s top defence.

After the Broncos had fallen to an abject 7-3 loss to the rival Kansas City Chiefs in the regular season finale – and with Tim Tebow’s stats reading a miserable 6/22, 60 yards, one interception for a QB rating of 20.6 – the wild-card fixture with the Steelers united pundits in their giving the hosts no chance of victory.

They could hardly be blamed. Denver had shown nothing of the fighting spirit that transformed a 1-4 start into what proved to be an unassailable lead – just – at the top of the AFC West. With Tebow under centre, the Broncos had gone on a remarkable run of seven wins in eight games, with a number of incredible victories being eked out during what was quickly dubbed ‘Tebow Time’.

But those mid-season triumphs pale in comparison with the incredible encounter at Mile High yesterday evening.

Unusually, the Broncos raced into a 20-6 halftime lead – only just the third time all season Denver have led at the end of the second quarter – thanks to some uncharacteristic big passing numbers from Tebow, including a 30-yard snare for a score by Eddie Royal, and a more customary 8-yard rush from the QB for another six-pointer.

The defence, missing Brian Dawkins, played its part, holding the Steelers to 38 yards in the quarter. The Broncos’ offence managed 225.

The second half was a nightmare to watch from an orange-and-blue perspective, particularly for those of a nervous disposition. Pittsburgh finally started to move the ball, and an 88-yard march for a Mike Wallace 1-yard end-around touchdown run at the end of the third quarter was an ominous sign.

Indeed, it threatened to be a cruel and complete reversal of fortunes for Denver. The team that had engineered so many fourth-quarter turnarounds was now under threat from being a victim of such a comeback itself.

Matt Prater, who has been one of the heroes of Denver’s season, relieved some of the tension as he slotted a 35-yard field goal. But the 23-13 lead that kick gave his side masked the Broncos missing out on a glorious chance to go up two touchdowns. Tebow had connected with Royal to earn a first and goal from inside the five at the start of the fourth quarter, but the play had been called back for offensive pass interference against Matt Willis.

So when, following a Shaun Suisham field goal on their next possession to cut Denver’s lead to seven, the Steelers recovered a Willis McGahee fumble at midfield – the Broncos only giveaway of the match – Pittsburgh were suddenly in the driving seat.

McGahee watched, increasingly frustrated, as Ben Roethlisberger found Jericho Cotchery in the end zone to tie the contest up with four minutes on the clock. The very play before the Cotchery touchdown, Denver’s 11-time Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey had failed to snag a Roethlisberger-to-Wallace throw in the end zone.

Nails were being chewed to the bone throughout Mile High. The Broncos’ next drive stalled at their own 35. This was Steeler time, surely. It was made for Roethlisberger, still struggling with a high ankle sprain, to drive his team to victory and put the young pretender, Tebow, back in his box.

But, whether it was the inspiration of Tebow, the stench of three successive painful losses, or simply an insatiable appetite for more knockout football, the defence, on the field for most of the second half, produced.

Yes, Pittsburgh moved into Denver territory; pessimistic home supporters suddenly rued the thin, mile-high air at the possibility Suisham could convert a career-long field goal from a mile out. But the Steelers’ final possession saw three sacks, including one each for Bailey’s fellow Pro Bowlers Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil.

And so overtime beckoned, extending a spectacle that had more drama than the other three weekend wild card games combined. But it did not extend it long.

As far as drama was concerned, that didn’t matter. The very first play in overtime saw Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas (4 receptions, 204 yards, touchdown) in stride. Thomas stiff-armed Ike Taylor and scampered down the sideline to seal the win. The 11-second overtime was the shortest in NFL history.

As Thomas, like Tebow drafted by Josh McDaniels, outpaced the desperate cover, he ran not only towards the end zone, not just to the Mile High Jump Zone; he sprinted into Broncos folklore. He marked the coming of age for Tim Tebow. He signalled the end of one of the biggest upsets in recent playoff history (with the possible exception of Seattle’s defeat of New Orleans last year).

And he was the cue for wild celebration, from Colorado to Cardiff. For Broncos Country, the prospect of playing number one seeds New England in Foxboro was a problem that could wait until the morning.