WEBVTT - Special Teams: Tim Tebow’s Playoff Win 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.520 Welcome to Special Teams, a production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:23.440 Greetings and welcome inside another episode of Special Teams with 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:26.160 Jason Smith and Mike Harmon, as we look back at 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:29.639 some special teams, specific years in the world of sports 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:32.000 in the middle of our run right now, as we 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:35.519 look back at big games in NFL history and the 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.800 special teams that played in them. It's nearly been a decade, 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:42.240 so it's time to look back at Tim Tebow's loan 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:47.360 playoff win, the shining achievement of his National Football League 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:51.600 career January eighth, two thousand and twelve, Broncos beating the 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:56.959 Steelers three in overtime on a very shocking play. Oh look, 0:00:57.040 --> 0:00:59.200 last week we talked about Steve Smith in his shocking 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:02.160 touchdown at the end of double overtime. Well, this play 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:04.440 we're gonna tell you about coming up made that play 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:06.960 look like a one yard touchdown plunge. At the end 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:08.559 of Week eight, at the end of the first half 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:11.919 of the game, because it was just that surprising Steelers 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:16.400 and the Broncos. When Tim Tebow was on everybody's lips, 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:18.240 I don't know that we talked about anything else in 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:20.319 the entire world of sports in two thousand eleven. No, 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:24.959 the curiosity of Tebow coming off the highly decorated collegiate 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:29.080 career and into the National Football League. And you know, 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:34.000 anybody that talked to him or about him with gush right, 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:36.959 all the broadcasters that had met him during his time 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:39.720 at Florida would tell you what a great person he 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:44.040 was in addition to just one of our best collegiate 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:49.720 quarterbacks ever. And so you have this moment where everything converges, 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:52.760 and we'll talk about some of the numbers, and even 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.960 to this day just leave me astounded that this worked 0:01:56.320 --> 0:02:00.240 in any way, shape or form to become what it did. 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:04.680 But just an amazing year. And what's funny is it's 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:08.400 just such an outlier because of where the organization went 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:12.760 after this season concluded, the Broncos path to this game 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:16.200 is as improbable as Tim Tebow's run. They wind up 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:18.639 going eight and eight and they win the a f 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:22.679 C West on tiebreakers with the Chargers and the Raiders. 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:26.480 This was Von Miller's rookie season and coming in Kyle 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:30.320 Lorton versus Tim Tebow, who would be the quarterback dominated 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:32.640 the first five weeks of the season. Kyle Lorton, Buddy 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:36.920 Kyle Orton back when he was relevant. Kyle Orton, Buddy, look, 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.320 I love the neck beard. He's been relevant uh during 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:42.480 the pandemic time because a lot of guys are just 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:46.959 doing interviews. Uh. Brian Urlacker now with hair. When asked 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:49.600 who his favorite quarterback was that he played with, he 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:52.560 mentioned the neck beard. Also just kind of funny, is 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:56.480 that you know Jay Cutler uh, well started his career 0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:59.399 in Denver, became a bear. Uh, and then Kyle Orton 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:03.400 uh becomes a bear. Uh. And then you've got you know, 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:07.240 John Fox would eventually um become a bear. So you know, 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:09.680 you just got all this madness. He was a pipeline. 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:14.000 So John Fox, who's the head coach of the Denver Broncos, 0:03:14.200 --> 0:03:18.600 has inherited Tim Tebow from Josh McDaniels, who drafted Tebow 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:20.560 in the first round. It was a big deal when 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:23.320 the Broncos traded him. Oh my goodness, look at Tebow 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:26.400 coming off the star uh studied college career that he 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:31.000 had that included Heisman trophies, National championships. What was the Broncos? 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:33.680 What were they going to do? Well? John Fox, who 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:36.600 was hired to bring stability to this team, had a 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:40.280 quarterback decision to make. The fans wanted to see Tim Tebow, right, 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:42.440 he looked what he did in Florida. I get that 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:44.360 no one thinks he can be a great quarterback and 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:47.960 was he overdrafted? Sure he was, but the fans wanted 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:51.280 to see him now. Kyle Orton wasn't awful, but Denver 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:53.440 started one and four, so they had to make the 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:56.680 change to Tebow. What hurt Kyle Orton was the first 0:03:56.680 --> 0:03:59.080 six weeks of the season to Marius Thomas didn't play 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:02.680 because he had a broken finger. So if Damarius Thomas plays, 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:05.200 maybe things are a little bit different for the Broncos 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:09.480 because he was that good. But instead they go to Tebow. Okay, 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:12.960 let's see what Tim Tebow can do. So Tebow starts 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:17.159 first game against the Miami Dolphins down fifteen nothing in 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:21.080 the fourth quarter, Tebow throws for two touchdowns two point 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:24.680 conversion run to tie the game. They win in overtime. 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:28.359 Eighteen fifteen, The Birth of Tim Tebow. Hey, look what 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:31.479 he's able to do, all right? Then he throws a 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:34.080 fifty six yard touchdown past late in the fourth quarter 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:37.200 to be Kansas City seventeen ten. He has a big 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:40.039 fourth quarter comeback against the Jets, a game in which 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:42.240 the Broncos should have lost. The Jet should have won 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:45.919 this game ten ways except Mark Sanchez throws a pick six, 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:49.200 but the Jets still have the lead. Late Tebow takes 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:51.839 over at his own five yard line, but leaves the 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:54.719 Broncos down. The Jets can't stop him. He runs for 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.840 a twenty yard touchdown to win the game. This is 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:00.840 a play I still see where nobody wanted to come 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:02.599 out of the end zone and try to tackle Tebow. 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:04.800 He's getting close to the goal line because he just 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:06.479 had a head of team. He was a freight train. 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:09.120 So here's another big comeback. When this is on a 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:12.320 Thursday night, so it's on national television, and at this 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:16.520 point everything is Tim Tebow, Tebow, Tebow, Tebow Tebow. And 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:20.240 if the win against my Jets wasn't so bad, the 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:24.320 ten point fourth quarter comeback against your Bears is even worse. 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:26.640 But of course, I know you blame Marian Barber for 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:29.880 all of this. I blame Maryan Barber for everything, no 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:34.040 question about it. Right, yeah, yeah, they finally score, right, 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:35.920 Tebow's got him in the end of fine, but they've 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:40.279 got two minutes left. This is easy, Barber with a run, 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:43.200 Barber with a run, Barber with a run. They take 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:46.360 the pen on the delay of game. But the key 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:49.480 was he had a five yard run that he's getting 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:53.000 towards the sideline, and instead of turning it back in 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:57.320 or sliding or just engaging someone and forcing him to 0:05:57.360 --> 0:06:00.160 tackle him in bounce, he goes out of balance of 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:03.760 his own volition. So you stopped the clock. You stop 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:07.440 the clock, and eventually you end up punting to give 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:10.960 the ball back to Tebow and company. Yeah, you still 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:13.720 gotta go make a step, but the game's over. They don't. 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:17.039 We use their third time out. That's it, it's done. 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:21.680 Tebow Magic is dead. Tebow Magic is dead. This would 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:24.839 have ended the winning streak, ended the legend of Tebow. 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:27.520 But Mary and the Barbarians, the guy who I watched 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:29.840 in the Big ten and with the Cowboys with the 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:33.599 Bears run through walls, decides to go out of bounds. 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:37.840 Jason Smith, I watched it in preparation. There was a 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:41.000 shot of Tebow praying, just give me the strength to honor. 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:45.480 You give me that opportunity. So Barbara doesn't run out 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:48.320 of bounds, and that turns into the game tying score, 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:51.280 they win in overtime. And at this point in the NFL, 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.760 he is the only NFL story. He's the only culture 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:58.320 is Tim Tebow driven. There are songs written about Remember 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:01.440 John parted, Tim Tebo was fire. I mean, it's all 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:04.320 you can talk about. There's no other stories in the NFL. 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:08.960 Tebow was on everybody's lips Saturday. This good? How is 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:11.360 the guy this good? Is he really this good? Many 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:13.280 people didn't think he was very good at all, and 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:16.040 just kept getting lucky every week, and certainly with teams 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:18.200 like the Jets and the Bears helping, it helped the 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:21.680 legend of Tim Tebow. But he was polarizing. He had 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:25.080 huge fans, but it didn't matter. He was the entire 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.120 news cycle of the National Football League. And here are 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:31.360 the Broncos at eight and five and things are looking great. 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:35.320 Eventually they waived Kyle Orton because they didn't need him anymore. 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:37.040 He was like, yeah, we don't need it, We don't 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:39.480 need this guy. Okay, he's your backup. No, no, no, 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:42.720 we don't need anymore. We're getting we need that's all. 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:45.400 He could play all different positions for us. One big 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:48.440 thing that that happened to the Broncos at this point 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:51.720 during the season, was no Sean Marino, who was going 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:53.679 to get the Lions share of that carries a running 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:56.080 back towards a c l and missed the back half 0:07:56.120 --> 0:07:58.280 of the season. So this is a huge weapon that 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:00.840 the Broncos had to navigate the rest of the year without. 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:03.600 But it didn't matter. They had Tebow. Tebow. Tibow Tebow Tebow. 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.440 Broncos are right and five, everything is awesome. Well what 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:10.720 happens They lose three straight to close the season, including 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:14.400 seven three to the Chiefs in the final game of 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:16.480 the year. And guess it was the quarterback of the 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:19.800 Chiefs in that game, Kyle Orton's He was who the 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:22.120 Chiefs had picked up because they were having trouble. So 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.280 here's Kyle Orton wins the big revenge game against Tim 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:29.120 Tebow and at this point, going into the playoffs, it 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:33.320 was Tebow magic has gone. He went six in that game. 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:36.040 It was great for a few weeks, but now everybody's 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:38.959 figured him out. He's a limited quarterback anyway coming in 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:41.720 and that's what people forget is coming out of Florida, 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:44.559 he was a great college football quarterback. But how many 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:46.480 times are you gonna run the football into the middle 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:48.600 of the line and and gain a lot of yards 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:51.120 and then come out and throw the football. Tebow had 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:53.000 a lot of issues. He had a long wind up. 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:57.000 He wasn't very accurate. That's why everybody was on one 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:58.480 side of the fence or the other as far as 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:00.760 how good he could become. Now, the thing for Tebow 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:02.440 is that he's still young and this is his first 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.719 real starting experience, so maybe he can grow. But it 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:08.760 didn't matter because he was so polarizing. There were many 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:11.800 people that wanted to say, this is it on Tim Tebow. 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:15.160 Many NFL players didn't like him, and that was the 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:18.120 insane part of it is that you never heard and 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.839 you never hear NFL players bagging another quarterbacks. You never hear, 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:24.000 but you heard it. You heard it from other players. 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:26.600 Heard it from Joe Flacco, you heard it from Steve Smith, 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:31.200 you heard it from Terrell Suggs. Many played Tebow's overrated, overrated, overrated. 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.559 This is what you got because Tebow was just polarizing 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:37.160 that way. And now at this point it's okay, it 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:39.800 was great, but hey, they're gonna squeak into the playoffs 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:41.800 and they're gonna play one game and that's gonna be it, 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:44.720 and then the Broncos will be looking for a new quarterback. Yeah. 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:48.000 You just remember how inefficient it all was, Jason. I mean, 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:50.960 he had one game where he completed better than fifty 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.960 two and a half percent of his passes, six games 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:57.520 where he completed ten or fewer passes, only two games 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:00.800 where he threw for more than two hundred yards. He 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:03.680 should I keep going. I mean, it's just like all 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.960 of it just uh. They scored more than twenty points 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:12.640 three times between week seven and seventeen. But when in 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:14.800 the big plays, which is what he did. He made 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:17.319 big plays and he came through in the clutch. He 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:19.920 would have a crappy ass game, but then suddenly the 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:22.679 fourth quarter he would have fifty yards rushing in a 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:25.280 hundred and twenty yards passing. It was, what did he 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:29.480 just wear us down? And also sudden, why can he 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:31.640 throw the football? And like he couldn't do the first 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:34.079 three quarters of the game. But that was the magic 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:36.439 of Tebow. There was no reason for it. And why 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:38.800 is he suddenly playing well in the fourth quarter, rising 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:41.559 to the occasion and and being that guy when the 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.480 chips were down? That's what tim Tebow was made of 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:47.400 and it was stunning to watch. But in the end, 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:49.880 you know, look, we thought it was over. They lost 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:52.319 three in a row. Suddenly it was they couldn't put 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:54.680 points on the board. And here comes Pittsburgh into town. 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:57.000 And oh, by the way, this is a Pittsburgh Steelers 0:10:57.040 --> 0:11:00.319 team that gets to this game with one of the 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:03.880 best defensive years this franchise has had. They allowed the 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:07.240 fewest points, fewest passing yards in total yards overall in 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:11.240 the NFL. Alright, typical strong defense like they've always had, 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:14.400 but this one was extremely strong. Alright, So this is 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:16.480 they're gonna come in and they're gonna just lay waste 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:19.000 to the Broncos Tebows. They're not gonna move the football 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:22.199 at all. Offenses where things got a little wacky. This 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:24.880 is back when Mike Wallace was the star wide receiver. 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:27.320 But you know, before he was just a deep threat. 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:29.640 You know, Mike Wallace was the guy and when his 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:32.800 genius was taking advantage of broken plays. He would only 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:34.959 catch like maybe four passes a game, but he was 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:36.679 still went up with a hundred yards because it was 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:39.959 a broken play where Roethlisberger would buy time and Mike 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:41.920 Wallace would cut all the way across the field and 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:44.559 suddenly a broken play is a forty five yard game 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:47.599 to Mike Wallace, I mean it was his team. Emmanuel 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:50.160 Sanders was up and coming, Hines Ward was near the 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:52.440 end of his career, but he was still contributing. And oh, 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:55.959 by the way, this was a second year for Antonio 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:58.880 Brown with the Pittsburgh Steelers, so their offense was in 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:02.839 a bit of a transition phase. But here's Antonio Brown 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:06.199 back when he was a guy that won the competition 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:08.960 to be the third wide receiver out of camp after 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:12.000 Antoine Randall l left the team. He was returning kicks 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:13.760 and punts and he did it for a long time. 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:15.880 Think about that, How crazy that was. Here's the best 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:17.720 wide receiver in the NFL. We're putting him out there 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:20.240 to get hurt returning kicks and punts. But this was 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:22.920 just his second year in the league where he was 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:25.480 the third wide receiver. Other guys were starting. It was 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:28.120 other players out there the Steeler trying to figure out 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:30.560 what their offense looked like. And he had a really 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:34.040 good year. He caught sixty nine passes yards, just a 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:37.559 couple of touchdowns. And once you see that This is 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:39.600 a big jumping off point for him. He wound up 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:44.600 making the Pro Bowl this year along with Wallace and Roethlisberger. Okay, hey, 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:47.959 Steeler's offense is now loaded up again. We're ready to go. 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:50.319 You know it was. It was off the Antoine Randall L. 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:54.400 Hines Ward situation, Super Bowl forty Jerome Bettis Now this 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:57.280 turned into air Pittsburgh and and for the better part 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:00.880 of a decade, this Dealer's team was absolutely low wide receiver. 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:02.840 And this was kind of the beginning of that time, 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:05.599 cycling guys in and out. I just remember going to 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.080 training camp, out a visit, a meeting up with Ton 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:11.360 Chilkin and and and Craig Wolfley, two guys who played 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:14.200 for the team broadcast for the team, and they always 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:16.640 had me out. We talked some football and go down 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.400 on the practice field and we're standing there watching the 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:21.760 wide receivers warm up. And this is would have been 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:26.280 so watching Brown as a rookie. And now like come here. 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.000 It's like I gotta talked to Wallace in a minute, 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:32.319 like Michael Waite for you come here, come he goes 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:35.280 what because watch this guy's footwork and and he was 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:37.959 going through some basic drills and it's Antonio Brown just 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:41.680 working hard like this is practice is done. Like we'd 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.439 already done all arounds and watched the fights and and 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:47.440 all of that fun stuff that you'd get in Latrobe. Uh, 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:50.000 and guys were getting to their individual work after the 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:53.559 long workout in the in the blazing sun. As like 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:57.160 this kid is gonna be a star. He and and 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:02.080 he knows it. That's like, okay, that's good. Just wait 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:04.520 and that's all they said about it. It's like, this 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:06.439 is the guy you want to tell people who the 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:09.559 breakout guy is gonna be. Mike's gonna have a big year, 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:13.040 but watch watch Antonio. So I go back, I interviewed 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:16.000 Mike Wallace and you know, say hi to Antonio and 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:18.040 the other guy hasn't gone. But I just remember them 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:21.360 just so very lately, just going he knows he's good, 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.200 but look at the work and watch the footwork out 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:26.920 of every break and I mean they were right. He 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:30.240 goes on to become just an absolute monster on the field. 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.480 This is the journey of both teams to this game. 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:37.280 Before Antonio Brown would become the best wide receiver in 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:39.600 the National Football League and then one of the biggest 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:41.760 head cases and pains in the National Football League. He 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:45.680 was the second year player who was rapidly ascending everything. 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:48.240 Even though the game was gonna be in Denver because 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:50.240 of the when you win a division, you play the 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:52.680 wild card team, it still looked like it was gonna 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:56.040 be a Pittsburgh runaway and it was anything but we'll 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:58.440 get into that coming up next Special Teams with Jason 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:18.720 Smith and Mike Carmen tim Tebow's playoff win. It is 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:22.000 that time time for the playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers, 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.560 who had the best defense in the National Football League 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:27.200 in an offense that was starting to find itself, versus 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:30.520 the Denver Broncos, who were just hoping to find something 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:33.760 after a really bad three week losing streak. Now, all 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:36.920 week long, the Broncos players talked about how they felt lost. 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:40.960 They were desperate. Tebow was still the same guy. He 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:44.600 would sprint two drills all week long. Criticism of him 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:47.040 was at all time high. It doesn't matter. His throwing 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:50.480 motion was too long, he wasn't accurate enough, criticized by 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:54.280 NFL players, didn't matter. Tebow led by example that week 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:57.920 in practice and a big conversation he had with John Elway, 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:01.080 who told him, listen, just pulled the trigger. Just throw, 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:04.120 all right, just you do you, but pull the trigger 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:07.200 and throw. Don't think too much, react and let's see 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:10.840 what happens. And that's clearly the attitude the Broncos went 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:12.800 into this game with because they had nothing to lose. 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:14.600 You look there, eight and eight. They had a great 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:16.960 roller coaster season, but no one expected them to win 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:19.840 this game. No, it was a season they were already 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:22.160 playing with house money quite a while. The fact that 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:24.440 they win the tiebreaker in a three way tie for 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:27.080 the a f C West to get into the playoffs. 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:30.640 I mean, that's another one of the divine inspiration moments, right, 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:36.240 A streaky team playing terribly and he was awful down 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:39.880 the stretch. Yet you find yourself in this moment. So 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:43.200 what do you you figure the Steelers, Dick le Beau. 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:45.640 They're gonna be aggressive, that's the way they operate, and 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:48.840 especially against the guy like tebow a don't let that 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:51.880 body get in motion like your Jets did, or nobody 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:54.320 wanted to come up and challenge him. Sorry, the Bears 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:57.960 did the same thing. So I can't push away from that. 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:03.320 But you know, so take that away. But also you know, 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:06.719 you're you're figuring your corners and and your safeties are 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:08.600 going to be able to work because you have that 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:11.920 big wind up and the ball that oftentimes just kind 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:14.600 of floated out there, right, he had a strong arm, 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:18.760 just a matter of accuracy and and putting a little 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:21.320 bit too much air at times and giving guys a 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:23.760 chance to make a break and make a play. And 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:28.280 so it seemed like the logical, logical game plans. So 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:30.560 you go and you you punch them in the mouth, 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:32.400 hoping that you're gonna hit on a couple of big ones. 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:36.760 And again, this is another game where the opponent of 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:40.000 Tim Tebow helped him to have a great day because 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:44.160 the Steelers loaded up on the run. They they they decided, 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:47.159 you are not going to run the football on us 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:49.640 and beat us. We're gonna make Tebow throw the football. 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:51.680 And we're still gonna run up and load up and 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:54.320 put eight guys in the box all day. Well, take 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:57.600 out mcgahey, and then also, don't let Tebow do a 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:00.639 bunch of you know, quarterback draws. Right, Let's let's not 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:02.800 let him gain momentum. Here he goes off tackle for 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:05.320 eight yards nine yards. Don't let him feel it. We're 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:07.679 gonna put everybody in the box, and Tebow's not accurate 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:10.720 enough to stop anybody. We're Willis mcgahey, who now they 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:12.320 were relying on to be the running back with no 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:15.440 Seawan Marino out. This was where the Steelers said, this 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.720 is how we're gonna win this game. Tebow completes just 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:21.879 ten out of one passes on the day, but he 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:25.679 still winds up throwing for three hundred and sixteen yards 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:29.960 and two touchdowns, averaging thirty yards per completion. Yeah, that 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:32.959 was the kind of day Tebow had. The big plays 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:36.200 he made were in the passing game, right, when when 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.040 you try to stop the run and you load up, 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:41.840 you just have to hit on one play and what's 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:44.639 the odject on one play repeatedly? Well, the odds were 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:47.240 in Tim Tebow's favor that day because he kept hitting 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:50.119 those big pass plays. He also ran enough, ran for 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:53.200 enough yards to keep Pittsburgh's defense honest. He ran for 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:55.560 fifty yards in the touchdown in this game. And this 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:58.600 is a game in which Tebow and the Broncos lost 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:02.280 Eric Decker early to an injury, because, hey, you know 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:06.080 the weapons they had in Denver at wide receiver they 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:08.320 were in slouchy. Decker was one of the better wide 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:10.760 receivers in the NFL. And to Marius Thomas, he's in 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:12.520 the middle of a run where he might be the 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:15.040 best wide receiver in the NFL at this point. I mean, 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:17.920 people forget that. You know, he had a run where 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:20.359 he was as good as it got for anybody in 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:23.200 the National Football League. And so you have Thomas and 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:25.520 you have Eric Decker. Hey, you should be able to 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:28.520 make plays in the passing game. But losing Eric Decker, 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:30.760 all right, maybe this is gonna be it for the Broncos. 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:32.760 How difficult is it gonna be for them to throw 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:35.560 the football? Will? Still they were able to throw the 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:39.240 football well. To Marius Thomas only caught four passes, but 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:41.879 the four passes he had in this game two hundred 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:44.959 and four yards and a touchdown four for a hundreds 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:47.280 of pretty good game. This is four for two hundred 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:50.080 for to Maririus Thomas. That's not a bad look, right, 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:53.760 I mean, you got chunked plays throughout the game. Uh. 0:19:53.840 --> 0:19:56.600 And obviously we'll build up to the crescendo here, but 0:19:57.160 --> 0:19:59.320 you know, Eddie Royal step it up and make it 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:01.119 a big playing had another guy that ended up as 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:03.960 a bear. Yeah, they all do. They all do that, big. 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:07.879 How did Tim Tebow never wear a bear? You never know, 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:10.359 you never know. He could still wind up, You never know, 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:12.720 you could still leave the Mets and and come back. 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:16.120 I mean, that is the curiosity. Though Daniel Fells also 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:19.960 had a forty yard catch, so that's selling out. Left 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:23.840 a lot of space over the middle. If Tebow had 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:26.080 been even that much more accurate, this might not have 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:29.119 been a game at all. Uh, this is how it 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:32.240 would go. Tebow would be bottled up and then he 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:34.240 hit for a big play. Right. He had a fifty 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:37.280 one and fifty eight yard completions to Marius Thomas to 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:39.800 set up two touchdowns in the second quarter. So that's 0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:42.480 how it went for Tebow in the first half. Bottle up, 0:20:42.480 --> 0:20:44.840 bottle up, bottle up, big play, bottle up, bottle up, 0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:48.359 bottle up, big play. But then Tebow and Denver's offense 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:51.760 was completely shut down in the second half for the Steelers, 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:56.160