John Elway riding a Tebow Centaur ... what? (Image via kissingsuzykolber.com)

While the entire world seems to be gripped by Tebowmania (as evidenced by ESPN’s Tebow Hour and the latest, now-ubiquitous “Tebowie” skit by Jimmy Fallon), there are a few other quarterbacks with super bowl rings who will also be competing in the NFL’s divisional playoffs. Brady, Brees, Rodgers and Manning - you may have heard of them – will each take the field this weekend to try and lead their teams to the conference championships, despite being overshadowed in the media by their Jesus-loving Denver counterpart. And all of them are much better QBs than Tebow, by the way.

After jumping out to an early 3-1 lead with his Wild Card picks, The DarkHorse will try to keep it going for the Divisional round.  Here are this weekend’s picks from R&R HQ (CLICK TO EMBIGGEN):

So, it seems our “experts” are split down the middle on the 49ers-Saints and Packers-Giants, while Artie is the only brave soul to ride the Tebow Centaurs to the promised land over New England, and steverodgers is the only one who likes the Texans over Baltimore.

Surprisingly, all of our super bowl picks are still alive, but that’s going to change on Sunday, when either the Packers or Giants will be sent packing. As always, these picks are purely for entertainment purposes … we are mediocre at this on our good days, so feel free to share your picks and mock us in the comments.

(Photo: Hyoung Chang, DenverPost.com)

When Tim Tebow and the Broncos upset the Pittsburgh Steelers in their wild card playoff match-up last Sunday, most people theorized that divine intervention had a something to do with it. But true football fans understood that it was actually the arrogance of coordinator Dick LeBeau and the Steelers defense – who stacked the box all day and challenged Denver to throw the ball downfield – that allowed Tebow to pass for 316 yards and 2 TDs (including 204 yards to Demaryius Thomas), and knock the defending AFC champs off their throne.

As usual, the NFL Films crew was on hand in Denver to capturing all the sights and sounds from the game for their super-awesome SoundFX program. For this contest, they had Ben Roethlisberger and Elvis Dumervil mic’d up, along with countless parabolic mics roaming the sideline to pick up all the extra-curriculars. So enjoy as we get to watch the action unfold through the eyes of the players and coaches on the field, in what will already go down as a game for the ages:

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in what will already go down as game for the ages,

So, without further adieu, here are the best Tebow GIFs from the Broncos playoff victory over the Steelers … enjoy!

• Timmy is FIRED UP!

(Image via mocksession.com)

• TIMMY SMASH!

(Image via SBNation.com)

• John Elway has seen the light!

(Image via mocksession.com)

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• Tebow Tebows after Tebowing the Tebows to Tebowry

(Image via jullie-anne.tumblr.com)

• Elway Passes the Torch

(Image via jullie-anne.tumblr.com)

• And finally, the CBS’s NFL Today crew take the Tebow post after being converted into believers:

(Image via reddit.com/r/nfl)

Who's got two thumbs and is more popular than Jesus? THIS GUY! (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images via Yahoo.com)

Pretty much every “expert” in the media had written off Tim Tebow and the Broncos heading into this weekend’s Wild Card match-up against the the heavily favored Steelers. And for good reason. The magic seemed to have run out for Tebow and Denver, having lost their last three games in ugly fashion and backed their way into the playoffs, with Tebow’s fabled mystique noticeably deteriorating toward the end of the season.

Today, in an ironic role reversal, Tebow and the Broncos found themselves ahead early and having to fight off a furious comeback attempt by Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers. Tebow threw for one 2nd quarter score on a 30 yard bullet to Eddie Royal and ran for another to give Denver a 20-6 halftime lead. But Roethlisberger rallied Pittsburgh in the second half, tying the game on a 31-yard strike to Jericho Cotchery with just under 4 minutes remaining and sending things to overtime.

Then came “Tebow Time”: with the Broncos’ season on the line, Timmy did what he does best and came up with a huge play when it mattered most. On the very first play of overtime, Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas in stride at the 40 yard line for an 80-yard walk-off touchdown, giving Denver a stunning 29-23 victory:

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Tebow finished with over 300 yards passing on the day including an astounding 204 yards on four completions to Demaryius Thomas. Check out more of Tebow’s highlights HERE.

According to the NFL’s new playoff overtime rules, the team who wins the coin toss and gets the ball first needs a touchdown to win the game outright … otherwise, the other team gets a possession to try and tie or win the game. But Thomas made sure the new rules didn’t come into play today. In looking at the replay, Steelers S Ryan Mundy got caught out of position before the snap, so when Thomas caught the pass at the 40-yard line and stiff-armed his defender, there was nothing between him and the endzone but green grass.

And of course, immediately following the score, Tebow fell to the grass to give thanks to the man upstairs, taking his classic pose:

(Image via instntrply.com)

It’s a great win for Tebow and the Broncos, who will travel to New England to take on Belichick, Brady and the Patriots next weekend … so Tebow will continue to need all the help he can get.

(Photo: WashingtonPost.com)

As the Tim Tebow phenomenon continues to grow to the point of nearly taking over all league-wide discussion, it should come as no surprise that the NFL Films crew had the Broncos QB mic’d up for his Week 14 match-up against the Chicago Bears, as part of their Sound FX series. In it, we get a little more insight into the way Denver’s savior plays the game, what he says to his teammates to motivate them on the field, as well as Tebow’s most personal conversations with the man upstairs.

Particularly interesting is hearing Tebow try to keep WR Demaryius Thomas’s head in the game after dropping a sure third quarter touchdown, presciently telling him, “You’re good. Hey, no big deal, it just makes it closer for a little bit longer. You’re about to catch the game-winner, and then you’ll be the hero of the game.” (well, technically it wasn’t the game-winner, but still).

Then, following his own 4th quarter fumble (which seemingly sealed their fate with just 5:41 remaining), Tebow comforts Broncos’ QB coach Andrew Case, who asks, “Why do we always gotta do this?”. Cool as a cucumber, Tebow just smiles, put his hand around Gase’s shoulder and says: “It’s all right. We’ll figure it out, man.” 

And figure it out he did, rallying to tie the game and take it to overtime, with a little help from Marion Barber along the way. But to no surprise, Tebow appears to be most relaxed when the game around him is at its most tense. Following Barber’s OT fumble, Tebow silently rises off the bench, points toward the sky as he takes the field, and launches into song with a quiet hymnal before calmly leading Denver to the game-winning score.

Regardless of your feelings about his faith or throwing abilities, you can’t deny that we are witnessing something special in Tebow right now. And as long as he keeps winning, he’s going to continue to make believers out of his teammates, opponents and even his harshest critics.

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UPDATE: According to PFT, one of the moments left on the cutting room floor of this Sound FX episode may have been the most interesting of the game. While they show Tebow being overly-friendly to his Bears opponents like Julius Peppers, Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher in this clip, apparently he wasn’t as congenial with CB Charles Tillman after his acrobatic interception:

… the audio from Tebow that aired this week included Tebow approaching Tillman and telling him, “You’re lucky. You’re lucky to get one.”

Tillman turned toward Tebow and asked, “What did you say?”

“I said you’re lucky, man,” Tebow said. “Lucky, lucky. You know that, too, man.”

This is certainly a far cry from Tebow’s post-game comments, where he praised Tillman for making a great play. and would be wildly out of character coming from someone whose worst trash talk has consisted of saying, “Bless you” to his opponents. But if Tebow did get caught up in the heat of the moment after throwing a pick, at least it would show a slightly more human side to the guy.

(Image via mocksession.com)

Yep, it happened again. After 3-3/4 quarter of some of the worst football you’ll ever see, Tim Tebow and his Broncos somehow pulled out another improbable victory with their 13-10 OT win over the Bears.  

And now, after leading the Denver Broncos to their their sixth straight victory (seventh in eight starts), Tebow has officially made believers out of me, his teammates, the city of Denver, John Fox, John Elway, Marion Barber and Bears fans everywhere. While some credit certainly needs to be given to the Broncos defense and Matt Prater for the win, all anyone can talk about today is Tebow.

The naysayers will continue to claim that Tebow didn’t do anything particularly special himself yesterday (despite throwing for 236 yards and a TD), and Brian Urlacher went so far as to call Tebow “a good running back”.  But there is just something remarkable about the attitude that he brings to the field, where his teammates all fight until the final whistle, and never stop believing. And after witnessing it in person, I can tell you that it’s a feeling that permeates throughout the entire stadium, with fans understanding that with Tebow on their side, they’re never completely out of any game until it’s truly over.

Plus, the very idea that Marion Barber would inexplicably run out of bounds to stop the clock in the 4th quarter, and then fumble the ball in OT – allowing the Broncos a chance at the win – smacks of divine intervention. Believers will tell you that Jesus himself pushed Barber out of bounds on that play. But regardless of whether you believe God actually has a hand in wins and losses on a football field (we don’t), it’s becoming obvious that someone upstairs has Timmy’s back right now. And the faith he’s instilled in this Broncos team since taking over is nothing short of amazing to watch.

There will undoubtedly be tons of over-analysis this week as to the religious implications of Tebow’s success, and what it means for the NFL in general, but the bottom line for us is that all the guy does is win … as the following clip succinctly demonstrates:

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Fortunately for us, the guys over at comedy troupe Landlocked Pioneers put together this spoof video of Orton bidding a fond farewell to Denver, with a dead ringer playing the role of a surly, beer-swilling Kyle … who is also clearly hurting inside:

“My rockin Neckbeard!!!

And living in Colorado, I can tell you that they nailed the local references to IKEA and the DIA “demon horse”. Awesome.

(Image via mocksession.com)

Following this broach in etiquette, Novak went on to miss a 53-yard field goal attempt in overtime that would have won the game for his team. On the ensuing drive, Tim Tebow led the Broncos downfield for the game winning score … as we’ll be hearing about forever, as part of the ever-growing Tebow lore.

But nice effort holding up the towel there, equipment guy. You’re parents must be so proud.

(Image via instntrply.com)

Oh boy … get ready, folks. If you thought Tim Tebow-mania had already reached its pinnacle in this country, you ain’t seen nothing’ yet.

Last night, after turning in his usual sub-par performance for 3-1/2 quarters, Tebow once again stepped up as the hero, leading the Broncos on game-winning 95-yard drive to defeat the Jets 17-13.  Tebow capped the impressive drive himself with a 20-yard touchdown run (video below), and now, after leading his team to a 4-1 record as starter, even his biggest doubters are genuinely starting to believe that there’s something special about this kid.

Critics will continue to argue that Tebow doesn’t have an NFL caliber arm, and going 9-for-20 for 104 yards passing won’t exactly change anyone’s mind about that, but the bottom line in this game is winning, and you just can’t argue with his results. Tebow rushed for 58 yards on the final drive alone, but his greatest skill might be his ability to avoid the big mistake … something Mark Sanchez knows all about after throwing a crucial pick-six that may have cost the Jets the game. By not making costly turnovers, Tebow has been able to keep the Broncos in every game he’s played until the end, and that’s all you can really ask for from a quarterback in this league.

And as he proved once again against a talented Jets defense, Tebow’s ability to make the big play when its most needed is simply uncanny.

“I like winning,” Tebow said after his third comeback in a month, “but I wish it wasn’t this stressful.”

Well, if he keeps winning games like this – and evoking the comeback prowess of one John Elway for Denver fans – I think everyone will learn how to manage the stress level just fine.

PS – Lost in all this Tebow talk, it’s really the Broncos defense that won this game for Denver. Oh, and Von Miller is quietly running away with the defensive ROY award. Just sayin’ …

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(Photo via GQ-magazine.co.uk)

The NFL made one of its savviest marketing moves ever recently when it announced that Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Marissa Miller was hired as the newest spokesperson for the league.

Upon being named as the NFL’s “Official Superfan”, the fan response was one of joy but general confusion as to how and what, exactly, Miss Miller would be promoting. But given Miller’s status as one of the world’s hottest women, we naturally assumed that whatever she’d be doing, it would involve minimal attire and maximum skin, and that was good enough for us!

Well, the NFL has now released its first video featuring Miller – a devoted 49ers fan – behind-the-scenes at a photo shoot for this year’s London game between the Niners and the Broncos. And let’s just say we’ve never wanted to be a Frank Gore jersey more in our lives.

So sit back and enjoy over three minutes of pure NFL fandamonium … or what Marissa appropriately calls, “the new fantasy football”:

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