Wild card playoff: Denver 29, Pittsburgh 23

FIRST QUARTER
Spooky! Matt Prater opens the game with a deep blast that bounces off the crossbar, rebounds onto the field and stops at... the 20.


Steelers get into FG range on the strength of two big completions to Heath Miller, including a 40-yarder, but the Broncos are all over a favorite Steeler play, the quick screen to Mike Wallace, to bring in Shaun Suisham, the former Ram, who's perfect from 45.

Steelers 3-0

WOW are the Broncos ever not sharp for the start of this game. Tebow stuffed for 1. McGahee stuffed for two and fumbles. 3rd-and-7, Tebow has Eddie Royal open for a comebacker to the sideline but throws a terrible pass about 10 feet in front of him. What Phil Simms idiotically calls a good throwaway is a pass that QBs who actually know how to throw a football complete for a first down.

This better not be just three hours of Tebrutality.

Roethlisberger to Wallace for an apropos 17 at midfield. The Steelers have been unable to run so far, and a DROP by Jerricho Cotchery sends the ball back Denver's way with a punt.

Another 3-and-out for Denver, but with a near-TD when Tebow barely misses connections with Dante Rosario down the sideline behind Troy Polamalu. The problem for Tebow's receivers is they're just not sure when he's going to throw or run.

Steelers finally get Redman going a little bit, including a blast up the middle for 13 on 3rd-and-1. Pancake block by the backup center Ligursky springs him. On 3rd-and-9 from the 20, Phil Simms calls a play by Rafael Bush "incidental tripping" when the guy was manhandling Antonio Brown well downfield. Is Simms even watching this game? Pittsburgh has to settle for another Suisham FG.

Steelers 6-0

Denver ends the first quarter with EIGHT TOTAL YARDS after Timmons and Polamalu stuff Willis McGahee for a 2-yard loss. This EXACTLY how to play against Tebow, btw. Nine in the box and dare him to do ANYTHING with his arm.

SECOND QUARTER
Tebow opens the 2nd quarter by hitting Eric Decker for 20, but Decker gets killed after James Harrison takes his feet out from under him. Mike Tomlin challenges the catch and gets the call reversed to an incomplete pass.

Well, for God's sake. Tebow gets FOREVER in the pocket and eventually flies one deep for Demaryius Thomas, who beats Ike Taylor for 51. Super throw and OUTSTANDING blocking by the Bronco line, which has done this more than a time or two for Tebow.

And, WHAT?!?! Tebow drops a 30-yard TD pass in a bucket to Eddie Royal, who is practically wearing William Gay and makes the catch to put Denver ahead 7-6. Despite more idiotic bleating by Simms, that was fantastic coverage by Gay. "Overplaying the situation?" What the hell else is he supposed to do?

Broncos 7-6

On slo-mo, the key moment of that TD is Royal getting away with a little push to give himself just enough separation from Gay to grab the ball. Gay did appear to react a split second late picking Royal up, maybe that's what Simms was talking about.

Roethlisberger says, hey, I'm the one who's supposed to be bombing away here, and appears to connect with Wallace over the middle for 52. Wallace may or may not have caught that cleanly, though, and this play also goes to the review booth. CBS doesn't give us at home a very good look, so I'll have to trust Ron Winter's right that the ball hit the ground. That goes down as Pittsburgh's third dropped pass. Are the Steelers in the process of getting Tebowed? Ben barely misses Emmanuel Sanders on a sluggo route and the Steelers punt it back.

CBS now explains where Pittsburgh's pass rush has gone: Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel's beard are out of the game with injuries.

WHAT THE HELL has happened to Pittsburgh's secondary?!?! Demaryius Thomas burns the CRAP out of Ike Taylor with a double move for 58 yards. Broncos are at the Steelers' 13. Where were these plays last week when the Broncos could barely muster 3 points against the Chiefs? Entirely predictable draw by Tebow scores a 9-yard TD, and I don't know what the FUCK has happened to the black and gold. Maybe it's the injuries. It's not like Denver's doing anything that's remotely new.

Broncos 14-6

Pittsburgh won the first quarter 119 yards to 8.

Denver is winning the second quarter 156 yards to 0. They've also already scored 14 points more than I thought they were going to.

The Steelers desperately need an answer here, but Elvis Dumervil runs right over the woeful Max Starks, and the sack may have worsened Ben's injured ankle. Ben follows that with a TERRIBLE interception thrown directly to Quentin Carter.

Denver takes over inside the 20. James Harrison gets called for a late hit on Tebow that really was unnecessary, so now they're inside the 10. Royal takes a quick hitch down to the 2. Gee, think Tebow will be running here? NO, they try a rollout pass but William Gay knocks it away. Prater hits the chippie to extend Denver's lead.

Broncos 17-6

If I were betting before the game which team would have to change QBs before the game was over, I would have lost a lot of money, that's for sure. Ben's not out yet, but Tebow's sure outplaying him.

Ben starts the next drive throwing an INT right to Andre Goodman, but Dumervil had jumped offside. They jump offside again on 2nd down to hand Pittsburgh a 1st. Dumervil is just dominating the Steeler tackles right now, Redman can't get anywhere on the ground again, and Ben has missed seven passes in a row. On 3rd-and-long, Wallace catches a short pass over the middle and has acres of space to cut back for a first down, but he runs right into Carter instead. Denver has all the momentum right now.

And two plays into the next drive, Tebow rolls right and bombs away to DANIEL FELLS for 40. Polamalu pretty much ignored him. Another Denver TD and I'm prepared to declare this game over.

McGahee squirts up the middle on an option handoff for 12. Steelers really missing Casey Hampton right now. 2:00 warning for the half and Pittsburgh's season, as far as I'm concerned. Thomas kills Denver's TD chance with a drop inside the 5, though, and Prater comes in and hits another pitching wedge.

Broncos 20-6

26 points before halftime of a game with a 34.5 line. The Steelers' d-line injuries are killing them and their bettors. (Luckily, I had Denver to cover.)

So of course, the Broncos go into prevent mode, and the Steelers are across midfield in a wink. A terrible snap by Ligursky, though, drives the Steelers a mile out of FG position. Pittsburgh's just lucky that wasn't returned for a pick-six.

Denver kneels out the half, which they dominated. They had something like a 220-3 total yards advantage in the 2nd quarter up to the 2:00 warning.

HALFTIME

I can't imagine a half that could have been any worse for the Steelers. They can't run and they can't stop the Broncos from running. Hell, they can't even prevent Tebow from burning them deep. Pretty pathetic. Denver may never have to throw in the 2nd half as a result. The Steeler o-line has to nut up. Bruce Arians needs to max-protect Ben if necessary. They can still stretch the field with Wallace and Brown if they keep Ben upright. As they get that done, maybe they loosen Denver up to run a little better and work the multi-receiver sets back in. Do they have enough time for that? I doubt it.

THIRD QUARTER
And here comes the option. McGahee around left end for a first down. Ike Taylor holds on a throw of Tebow's that wasn't remotely catchable, except by a gopher. First-down comebacker to Royal at midfield. But a weird direct-snap to McGahee on 3rd-and-6 only gets 3, and the punt team comes in.

The Steelers start inside their 15 and become THE FOURTH TEAM THIS WEEKEND penalized for 12 in the huddle. The other three to do it all lost.

Ben hits Brown on the stick route for 3 on 3rd-and-3. Champ Bailey then breaks up a screen to Wallace that clearly looked like a backwards pass. If John Fox wins the challenge here, Pittsburgh can start the bus. No, the whistle blew before Denver could gain clear possession of the loose ball. Jim Nantz isn't real satisfied with how that went, but the replay call was by the book.

The Broncos have blown up that favorite Steeler screen big-time twice today. Did the Rams ever come close to that when they played Pittsburgh? Hell, when San Francisco ran those plays against the Rams, Justin King reacted like a cat trying to catch up with a laser pointer.

Steelers capitalize on the non-fumble call when Ben hits Sanders out to the 40. Brown gashes them for 18 on an end-around. Good block out front by Miller. I'll say for the hundredth time the Rams desperately need a TE like that guy.

Chaos at about the 5:00 mark. Denver blitzes big on 3rd-and-2, and when Redman cracks through the line, he breaks into almost wide-open ground and drives 30 yards down to the goal line. Terrible tackle attempt by Joe Mays at the LOS. Andre Goodman drags him down just short of the goal line, where the ball pops loose and bounces directly to another Bronco. And the head linesman signals TD. Like the CBS crew, I believe this will be spotted as Pittsburgh's ball about 6 inches out.

Yes, we're right. Pittsburgh scores the next play, though. Wallace went into motion left to right, took the handoff and scored behind TE David Johnson's block.

We have a ball game again because Bruce Arians has found some creative ways to get the Steeler running game going again.

Broncos 20-13

Ike Taylor's miserable night continues with a pretty dumb 32-yard DPI on Thomas. Then the Denver line gets Tebow FOREVER again and he scrambles for another 1st. And Tebow gets another first on an option run to the left. Just never dreamed I'd see the Pittsburgh Steelers getting gashed by this high school garbage. Tebow beats a blitz on 3rd-and-5 with a pass to LANCE BALL at the 13.


FOURTH QUARTER
An offensive pass interference penalty stymies the Bronco drive. Prater puts them back up two scores with an eight-iron.


Broncos 23-13

4-man rush gives Roethlisberger time to hit Brown over the middle for 20. 9-yard dumpoff to Redman, then he busts through the middle for 27 like he did earlier. What's gone wrong with Denver here in the 2nd half? Their pass rush finally picks it up with Pittsburgh near the red zone, and forces a scramble and two incompletions. Suisham brings the Steelers back within a score.

Broncos 23-16

Ten minutes to play. 11-yard option run by Tebow. He dances out of a Timmons sack and overthrows Ball, which isn't actually that hard. But on 3rd down, Thomas is open in front of the weak Taylor at the 47 for another 1st. Ike Taylor seems to save some of his worst performances for postseason. There's no excuse for him to be getting pwned by the likes of Demaryius Thomas.

The PLOT THICKENS, though, as Ryan Mundy forces a fumble by Willis McGahee, which Pittsburgh recovers! Sensible of Denver to challenge this, but the call should hold up, and the Steelers will have a chance to tie the game.

Dumervil and BRODRICK BUNKLEY answer the call with a sack. Broncos give most of it back to Sanders with bad tackling. 3rd-1, Redman behind the impressive Heath Miller for 5. The Rams and Falcons would have called QB sneaks there that would have lost yardage. Ben scrambles for 5 to the 37. 5:00 left. Redman runs across the face of the Bronco defense for the 1st. Champ Bailey DROPS an end zone pass for Wallace. Steelers call timeout with 3:56 left.

3-man rush gives Ben FOREVER to throw, and he hits COTCHERY for a bobbling 31-yard TD catch to tie the game.

3:48 left. Is it Tebow Time?

23-23

Denver stupidly doesn't kneel with the kickoff and returns it only to the 15. Wow, a HANDOFF to McGahee gets squat. But on 2nd down, play-action rollout pass to FELLS for 17. McGahee off RT for a couple as we reach the 2:00 warning.

Tebow avoids 2 sack attempts on 2nd-and-8 and throws the ball away. Steelers bring the heat on 3rd down and Tebow one-hops it to an open Thomas. Steelers have the ball at their own 24 with 1:37 left after the punt.

Von Miller's heard from for about the first time today, coming back to sack Ben for a 4-yard loss. Nearly sacked again, Ben hits Brown in a crowd over the middle for 17. Excellent catch. Clock keeps running down to 0:25 as Ben hits Sanders up the sideline with a jumping catch. Steelers are at the DEN 45 with 0:25 left. What looked like a Bronco blowout at halftime has turned into the best game of the weekend.

While Ben struggles to find an open receiver, Dumervil, fittingly having a superb game on the birthday of Elvis Presley, strips him of the ball. Pittsburgh recovers but loses 11 in the bargain. Ben avoids another sack and finds Hines Ward (first target of the day?) open for about 20 but Champ Bailey bats it away. 12 seconds left. In regulation. Dumpoff to Redman gets out of bounds at the Bronco 49, which would leave Suisham about a 67-yard FG attempt. We are in the thinner air, but I don't think Shaun has even kicked any of his kickoffs that far today. Robert Ayers sacks Ben on the Hail Mary attempt, and we're on to our first postseason overtime since the recent rules change.

Touchdown wins the game; FG and the opponent still has a chance. Or something like that.

Poor Ron Winter struggles as much to explain the overtime rules as I do here at home. The Broncos win the coin toss.

Hmm, Suisham just booted a kickoff that makes me think he should have tried the 67-yarder after all.

AND HOLY TEBOW, THIS GAME IS OVER. Demaryius Thomas burns the SHIT out of Ike Taylor yet AGAIN, Taylor blows the tackle miserably, Polamalu took a nap, the other safety was blocked out by Taylor and couldn't chase Thomas down. Denver wins in overtime on an 80-yard TD.

Broncos 29-23.

I'm going to be floored by this game for a while. 52 total points? I thought it would be more like 22. Ike Taylor, one of the league's better CBs, getting turned into Demaryius Thomas' BITCH? Taylor looked WORSE than Justin King trying to cover Torrey Smith!

TebowMania runs wild! All the way to Foxborough, where I'd expect the Patriots to whip Denver's ass again... but weird things happen to the Patriots in the playoffs these days, don't they? Let's face it, Denver could win. Tom Brady is about as mobile as Big Ben with a bad wheel. Their running game is about as good as Pittsburgh's without Mendenhall. Their secondary's one of the worst around. They could be covering Demaryius Thomas next week with backup WRs. They are stronger up the middle than the banged-up Steelers were today, though, which could make a huge difference. And teams playing against Tebow the second time around seem to have a big advantage on him. And this is Bill Belichick we're talking about. New England to win, but Denver to cover. I'll do another prediction post on Friday. I was 2-2 this weekend outright, 2-2 vs. the spread, 2-2 vs. the over/under. Mediocrity!

Ike Taylor is the brutal freaking goat of the 2011 offseason. Tim Tebow wins Star of the Game.

Looking ahead to next season, the Steelers really need to improve their offensive line. I know Pouncey was hurt today, but they're really not as strong at tackle as I'd like if I were one of their fans. Bad depth at DT really hurt them today, too, and sorry I forgot about Ryan Clark, who couldn't go because illness makes it life-threatening for him to play at high-altitude. Steelers get stronger on the o-line, get a lot healthier than they were today (QB, RB, C, DT, CB), and they'll be more than fine. 2011 was an unlucky year for them as much as anything, and they ran into the all-time luck box in Tebow.

And now back to the Jeff Fisher watch.