So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.  I Corinthians 15:54

 

In the fourth year of the reign of Blessed Handsome Leaning, on the eighth day of the first month, an epic battle was fought.  This battle did not involve tanks and missiles, knives and guns, or even swords and shields.  This battle involved helmets and padding, and a pigskin on a football field.

 

This epic battle ended in a draw, in a tie.  To break this tie, the game went into overtime.  Under the special rules of the National Football League for playoffs, sudden death overtime wins would only occur on the first possession if the team with the ball scored a touchdown.  A field goal on first possession would not win.  After the first possession, any score to go ahead resulted in a win in sudden death overtime.

 

For the fourth time this season, Tim Tebow's team had finished the game with a tie.  And for the fourth time this season, Tim Tebow's team won the coin toss to take first possession of the ball.  But let's review those other three games.

 

October 23, 2011:  Tim Tebow's team was down 0-15 with 2:45 minutes left in the game and came back to tie the game at 15-15.   In Tim Tebow's first start of the season, his team became the first team since the AFL-NFL merger to ever come back from a 15-point or more deficit with less than 3 minutes to play in a game and win.  They won in sudden death overtime, 18-15. 

 

November 27, 2011:  Tim Tebow's team was down 0-10 with less than a minute going into the half.  They were able to score a touchdown before the half.  Then they were down again 10-13 with half a minute left in the game and came back to tie up the game at 13-13.  They won in sudden death overtime, 16-13.

December 11, 2011:  Tim Tebow's team was down 0-10 with 2:09 minutes left in the game and came back to tie up the game at 10-10.  They won in sudden death overtime, 13-10.  With this win, Tim Tebow broke the record since the AFL-NFL merger for the most game winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime in anyone's first 11 starts.

Tim Tebow's team ended the season tied with the same number of wins as losses and tied with two other teams for the division championship.  However, they won the tie-breaker against both teams as they had won more games against common opponents.

Now we come to this fourth game, the first time playoff game for Tim Tebow's team since 2005.

January 8, 2012:  Tim Tebow's team is tied at 23-23 and the game goes into overtime.  In playoff overtime a touchdown is now required to win the game on first possession.  Playoff overtime begins with the kickoff going for a touchback and the ball positioned on the 20 yard line.  Tim Tebow's team stands 3/16th's of the way to the goal line.  The ball is hiked, the pass is thrown, and in 3/16th's of a minute, the game is over.  This pass became the longest scoring play at 80 yards in NFL playoff overtime history.  This also set a new record for the shortest overtime at 11 seconds in NFL history, not only in any playoff game, but in any regular season game as well. 

Moral of the story, you may think the devil has us all tied up, but in the end, we win!