But frankly, Tebow lovers got more -- including a mighty strong argument that God not only exists, but He has a soft spot in His heart for the Chosen One.
The subject of Divine Intervention first popped into my head following Tebow's initial throw -- a short pass that absolutely, positively should have been transformed by Miami into a pick six. Somehow, though, the toss escaped the grasp of a Dolphins defender and fell harmlessly to the turf. Why? How? Earthly reasoning failed me. Clearly, an Unseen Hand had intervened, momentarily covering the eyes of the nearest man in teal.
Not that Our Heavenly Father made things easy on Timmy -- aside from manipulating circumstances to allow Tebow to make his 2011-2012 season debut against a terrible team with a backup quarterback (Matt Moore) under center, at a stadium where he'd achieved great success, during a week when the home team was hosting a tribute to the 2008 Florida Gators he'd helmed to a national championship. Twice during the first half, the Broncos had a chance to put points on the board. But somehow, field goal kicker Matt Prater -- perhaps being punished for sins committed while visiting Shotgun Willie's strip club -- turned boots well within his range into embarrassing misses. What should have been a 6-6 halftime tie wound up being a 6-0 Dolphins lead.
Miami eventually put another nine points on the board, building the advantage to 15-0 with just over five minutes left -- at which point God (or John Fox, if you atheists prefer) finally Unleashed the Tebow.
Prior to this series, members of the Broncos offensive braintrust had done their best to minimize mistakes by dipping the playbook in vanilla, which makes sense given the astonishing inaccuracy of Tebow's hurls. (One of the funnier moments came courtesy of Demaryius Thomas, who dropped one pass that hit him right in the gut, likely because he was mentally prepared to dive for it.) But with the shackles off -- and a helpful assist from the Dolphins' staff, which installed a prevent defense that spread the field, and set the table -- Tebow suddenly managed to move the squad. Minutes later, TT hit Thomas for a touchdown.
That's when the Big Guy Upstairs really got busy, causing the Dolphins to botch an inside-kick recovery. And suddenly, everyone in the stadium -- most of whom appeared to be present to root for Tebow, not cheer on the Fish -- knew they were about to witness a miracle. Another touchdown, a two-point conversion scored by Tebow even though everyone on the planet knew exactly what he was going to do and an overtime fumble by Moore followed. At which point the Good Lord decided to grant Prater some redemption, by allowing him to make a field goal longer than the two he'd missed previously.
Who says God isn't kind and benevolent?
Can this feat be repeated next week against the Detroit Lions, an infinitely better outfit than Miami? Logic says no. But then again, young phenom Matthew Stafford left yesterday's loss to the Falcons with a gimpy ankle, and running back Jahvid Best was held out of that contest with concussion issues.
Is the Spirit in the Sky fixing another game for Tebow? Only a heathen -- or someone who watched the first three quarters of yesterday's game -- would even think of betting against him. Look below to see a highlights package of the Tebow and God in action.
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More from our Sports archive: "Ten slogans for the pro-Tim Tebow, anti-Kyle Orton billboard."