3:16 Game

2011 AFC Wild Card playoff

The game was played at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
Pittsburgh Steelers Denver Broncos (12–4) (8–8) 23 29 Head coach:  Mike Tomlin Head coach:  John Fox
1 2 3 4 OT Total PIT 6 0 7 10 0 23 DEN 0 20 0 3 6 29
Date	January 8, 2012
Stadium	Sports Authority Field at Mile High
Location	Denver, Colorado
Referee	Ron Winter

The 3:16 Game was a National Football League AFC Division wildcard game on Sunday, January 8, 2012, between the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers, held at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado. It was the first NFL playoff game played under new overtime scoring rules that were enacted prior to the 2010 season. Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime to give Denver the 29–23 victory.

The game is notable for its statistical correlations to John 3:16, the quintessential Bible verse of Christianity: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Background

Tim Tebow had previously said on multiple occasions that John 3:16 is his favorite Scripture verse. In fact, Tebow wore the verse on his eyeblack often during his collegiate career at the University of Florida, most notably during the National Championship Game three years earlier, in January 2009, where Tebow led his team to victory against the University of Oklahoma, spawning 90 million Google searches on the verse the following day.

Tebow's public Christianity caused him to be one of the most discussed quarterbacks in the NFL, making him both a subject of praise and criticism, as well as an instant pop culture phenomenon. Many in the media mocked Tebow, including HBO talk-show host and noted atheist Bill Maher, as well as Saturday Night Live which, earlier in the season, broadcast a sketch in which Jesus visits Tebow and asks him to tone down his fervor, a sketch that aired Saturday, December 17, 2011, the night preceding Denver's loss to the New England Patriots that ended Denver's 7-game winning streak under Tebow.

In the days leading up to the game, sports writers predicted that Tebow, following a 3-game losing streak and facing the NFL’s top-rated defense (the Steelers), would not only lose the game but would likely even be replaced mid-game by Denver’s backup quarterback. Tebow's last game prior to this one, against the Kansas City Chiefs, had been deemed a 'dreadful' performance. The Steelers, returning AFC champions, were favored to win. Many renowned sports writers noted this was a make-or-break game for Tebow. Yahoo Sports' Michael Silver opined pre-game: "However, if he bombs – and keep in mind that this is a man coming off two of the worst games played by a quarterback in the NFL this season, or any season – no amount of Tebow mania will ward off the doubts which fill the heads of the men who’ll decide his immediate professional fate." Others continued to note the death of Tebow-mania, with the Chicago Sun Times writing that Tebow's fans had been silenced.

Game recap

Tim Tebow has a reputation for devout Christianity, and kneels down in prayer before and after every game.

Prior to the start of the game, Denver won the coin toss and elected to defer to the Steelers to open the game.

The game started when Denver K Matt Prater booted the ball to a waiting Antonio Brown, but the kickoff nailed the crossbar of the goalposts cleanly before bouncing back and improbably resting exactly at the 20-yard line.

Pittsburgh marched down the field on the opening drive of the game highlighted by a 33-yard pass and catch from Ben Roethlisberger to Mike Wallace. The drive stalled however, and the Steelers scored the first points of the game with a Shaun Suisham 45 Yard field goal to take a 3–0 lead.

The Broncos punted on their first two possessions without getting a first down. Pittsburgh again put a good drive together on their third possession of the day, but again the drive stalled and had to settle for another Suisham field goal, this time from 38 yards out, to make the score 6–0 Steelers.

Denver faced a 3rd and 12 on the second play of the 2nd quarter when Tebow connected with Demaryius Thomas for a 51-yard gain which was the first first-down of the game for the Broncos. Two plays latter, Tebow connected with Eddie Royal on a 30-yard pass for a touchdown. This was the first touchdown the Broncos scored since the 3rd quarter two weeks earlier in a loss to the Buffalo Bills. After a Prater extra-point, the Broncos took a 7–6 lead.

Pittsburgh was unable to respond punting after 3 plays on their next drive. After the punt, Tebow again connected with Thomas, this time for a 58-yard gain to get to the Pittsburgh 12-yard-line. Two plays later Tebow ran for an 8-yard touchdown and following the extra-point the Broncos led 14–6.

Roethisberger re-aggravated a severe ankle injury on the next drive after a sack forcing the Steelers to take a time-out. The following play Roethisberger was intercepted on 3rd and 16 by Quinton Carter who returned the ball to the 18-yard-line. After a huge momentum swing in the span of only 5 minutes, the Broncos were unable to get a touchdown, but still got a Prater field goal to give them a 17–6 lead.

The Steelers again struggled to move the ball in the second quarter on their next drive and had to punt after gaining one first-down. Following the punt, Tebow again was able to burn the Steelers secondary with a 40-yard pass to Daniel Fells getting the Broncos to the Pittsburgh 25-yard-line. Denver was able to get the ball to the Pittsburgh 10 before the drive stalled resulting in another Prater field goal and a 20–6 lead.

Pittsburgh was finally able to move the ball on their next drive getting the ball to the Denver 32-yard-line. Looking to add points going into Halftime the Steelers again missfired when a shotgun snap went over Roethlisberger's head which resulted in a 23-yard loss ending the threat. Denver went into Halftime with 20 second-quarter points. A vast improvement from the regular season being the worst second-quarter team in the NFL.

The Steelers forced Denver to punt on their first drive of the third-quarter. The Steelers were able to march down the field to score a touchdown on a 1-yard end around to Mike Wallace to cut the lead in half and make the score 20–13. Pittsburgh caught a lucky break early on this drive when a lateral was mistakenly called an incomplete pass by Roethlisberger to Mike Wallace. Denver did fall on the ball after the play, however NFL rules state that when challenging a lateral to an incomplete pass, the ball can not change possession. Instead the ball will be placed at the spot that the play was blown dead. Upon realizing this rule Denver head coach John Fox decided not to use a challenge on this play.

The third-quarter ended on the following Denver drive when Tebow connected with Lance Ball on third and five from the Pittsburgh 19 to give the Broncos a first down at the Pittsburgh 13. The Broncos stalled on that drive to start the fourth-quarter and Prater hit another field goal to give the Broncos a 23–13 lead.

Pittsburgh responded right away and Suisham connected on a 37-yard field goal make the score 23–16 Broncos. Denver turned the ball over for the first time in the game after Willis McGahee fumbled at the Denver 48-yard-line. Roethlisberger then started to look like his old self and connected with Jerricho Cotchery after scrambling to his right for a 31-yard touchdown pass. Following Suisham's extra point, the score was tied at 23 with only 3:38 left in the fourth-quarter.

Both teams had two chances to take break the tie, but the Broncos sacked Roethisberger to end regulation and force overtime. Due to overtime rules, Pittsburgh was allowed to call the coin toss, but guessed incorrectly, leading to Denver calling for the first possession of overtime.

The game ended during the very first play of overtime, only 11 seconds into the overtime period. When Tebow connected with Thomas, who ran it into the endzone for an 80-yard touchdown, the Steelers overreacted to a play-action-fake by Tebow which allowed Thomas to get behind the defense. Thomas caught the ball at the Denver 37-yard-line and had to stiff arm Ike Taylor before he was able to break into the clear. The final score was Denver 29 – Steelers 23. (In this game, the NFL debuted its new overtime rules for playoff games, consisting of a modified version of sudden death. Under the new rules, both teams would have a chance to possess the ball in overtime—unless the team that received the initial kickoff scored a touchdown or the defense scored on an interception, safety or fumble recovery. Denver won the cointoss and received the ball first, thereby ending the game via scoring a touchdown on its possession.) The 11 second overtime was the quickest overtime in the history of the NFL, regular season or post season. Tebow finished completing 10 of 21 passes for 316 yards, he threw for two touchdowns and ran for another. Thomas finished with 4 catches and 204 yards receiving. Roethisberger finished completing 22 of 40 passes for 289 yards with a touchdown pass and an interception.

Reaction

Within minutes of the game's conclusion, the Associated Press NFL Twitter account sent out a Tweet reading: "Twitterites, having fun with this. Tebow a fan of John 3:16 from the Bible. He threw for 316 yds vs Steelers; 31.6 avg per completion, too." The afternoon of January 9, Twitter reported that the event spawned 9,420 Tweets per second, setting a new Twitter record for a sporting event. It is also the second most-Tweets-per second event of all time. John 3:16 became the most searched term on Google that evening and the following day. In addition to the yards statistics, further connotations to John 3:16 were revealed the following day, including the game's ratings and the Steelers' time of possession. Millions marveled at the occurrence, including CBS Sports' Eye on Football newsletter summing it up as: "Weird stuff man, weird stuff." Following the game, the Drudge Report headline simply read: "WOWOWOWOWOWO."

The John 3:16 correlations of the game

1. Tebow passed for 316 yards.
2. Tebow averaged 31.6 yards per completed pass.
3. The ratings for the game, peaking at the overtime period, was 31.6% of U.S. households.
4. The Pittsburgh Steelers' time of possession was 31:06.
5. The game's sole interception (thrown by Steelers' quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger—Tebow threw none) was thrown on 3rd and 16.
6. The game took place on January 8, 2012—exactly 3 years to the date Tebow famously wore the John 3:16 eyeblack during his BCS Championship win, which took place on January 8, 2009.
7. Johns: Broncos head coach (John Fox) and executive vice president (John Elway, who told Tebow to "pull the trigger" in the week leading up to the game).

Many Christians took to Twitter and Facebook noting that, while they do not believe God intercedes in athletic games’ outcomes, the 3:16 connotations of this game are far more than coincidence and deem it a sign of Christianity’s truth or a Christian message, manifested through Tim Tebow, the most discussed public Christian at the time. For instance, Joe Price, professor in the religious studies department at Whittier College, asked whether God really does care about football, answered "Not one whit. But does God care about people who play football? You betcha.”

Some also noted the significance in Demaryius Thomas being the game winning wide-receiver, as Thomas was born on Christmas Day (and, incidentally, the same year as Tebow: 1987). Also in a "mile high halo" made by smoke from pyrotechnics set off after the Broncos' first field goal, the picture of the "halo" taken by game attendee Mark Newman-Lee.

External links

• NFL Game Center