Let the Tebow talk begin
Share with others:
CLEVELAND -- In the whirling snow of the wind-battered Ohio lakeshore, Steelers-Browns came down to the final play on the NFL's climactic weekend, which meant nothing in the moment and just about everything to the politics of the AFC playoffs.
Its essential meaning was that not a lot has changed since that Thursday night little more than three weeks ago at Heinz Field, when the Steelers led these same dogged Dawg Pounders by only four points with three minutes left.
Sure Mike Tomlin's team won both games on its way to another 12-4 season, but what does it say when you roll that bus homeward on the Ohio Turnpike along with the haunting sense that it's a good thing you don't have to play Cleveland in the playoffs?
"We've got our marching orders," said a demonstrably upbeat Tomlin after a brutal Russian novel of a football game. "We're on our way to Denver."
Well that's certainly good news for those of us who just can't get enough Tim Tebow analysis.
I try to restrict my Tebow intake to the dialogue Saturday Night Live's writers create to lampoon the Bronco quarterback's presumptive link to a higher power, but maybe you noticed the way Denver powered down Sunday on Tebow's 8-for-22 in a 7-3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Tebow has lorded over three consecutive losses that somehow got his team a fourth seed in the tournament that starts Saturday, mostly because somebody has to be the AFC West champion, even if they're 8-8.
"He's great at getting out of the pocket," said Brett Keisel, "and we'll have to adjust to the option. It's gonna be wild. Denver is gonna be pumped to be back in the playoffs.
"It's the playoffs and [I'm] very proud of what we've done to get there. We just need a couple more turnovers."
After two more takeaway-free weeks against San Francisco and St. Louis, Troy Polamalu finally came up with one Sunday and all it meant was the difference in a 13-9 victory that was delivered principally by the Steelers defense.
When Troy swiped a short Seneca Wallace pass intended for Browns tight end Evan Moore at the Cleveland 44, the offense punched in the only touchdown of a long afternoon.
Isaac Redman got home from 7 yards out, then fumbled to end two of the next three Steelers possessions, but Redman also wound up gaining 92 yards on 19 carries in a game when he joined Ryan Clark as a kind of dual story line at the doorway to the postseason.
First Published January 2, 2012 12:00 am
