Head Coach John Fox

On the offense clicking
“I don’t think it’s the first time our offense has clicked in, so I beg to differ with that. I thought the timing was great. We had struggled over the last couple of weeks, and I think a lot of that progress was because of our quarterback. A lot is said. A lot was written. A lot of critique on him, and I thought he stepped up in a huge way tonight. I think he was a big part of us winning the game.”

On the offensive game plan
“With all due respect to [Pittsburgh Defense Coordinator] Dick [LeBeau], him and [Offensive Coordinator] Mike McCoy, the game is still about players. I thought our players did a terrific job. Our coaches did too. Everybody in that locker room did a great job. The players are the ones between those lines, and they made it happen.”

On Tebow this week
“I really never doubted. He’s a really strong young man, and really it wasn’t just about Tim. A lot has been made of Tim, and he’s done an amazing job, but I don’t think they had too much credit for our whole team. I’m not talking about they being the Steelers, they being the people that write stuff.”

On confidence in Tebow and the team
“I think going all the way back, I have confidence in everybody we put out there, and I’ll even go back to at 1-4. I had confidence I think going all the way back, I have confidence in everybody we put out there, and I’ll even go back to at 1-4, I had confidence. I think it’s a process. I think as a staff and as a football team, it’s about relationships. It takes a while to build relationships. In time I think we made that connection. The quarterback change, obviously, gets a lot of news coverage, but like this football team even at the start of the season as far as a group of guys they get along, do the right things, work hard together. I think we’re starting to gain some of that confidence that it takes to be a championship football team. We’ve won our division championship, and now we’re competing for different kinds of championships.”

On WR Demaryius Thomas
“Again, he’s young. He’s a young player that missed a lot of time early this season, and he missed a lot of time a year ago for that fact. He’s just going to get better. I think the more you get in these spots and the more you get these opportunities, the better he gets. He’s a very talented, young player that I think showed some of that tonight.”

On Thomas making the catch at the end
“I attempted to run down the sideline and fortunately I didn’t get injured, so I was just hoping he made it all the way. I didn’t want him to maybe get knocked out of bounds at the eight or nine yard line and then have to make all those decisions my buddy over here just asked about. (laughing).”

Quarterback Tim Tebow

On feeling pressure in his first postseason
“I don’t know if I felt extra pressure from it. I knew it was a big game. We had a great week of practice—we practiced hard—and I felt like we had a great game plan, and we were playing a very good Pittsburgh Steelers team. They came out and they played hard, and we played hard, and it was a great game, and I’m very thankful we were able to get the win.

“First and foremost I just want to thank my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. He’s done so much in my life. And I also want to thank my teammates for the effort that they put out there and just showing so much character—whether it’s good; whether it’s bad—all year, and then our coaches, who every game, whether I’m doing good or bad, stick with me, and I’m very appreciative of that.”

On the winning play
“It’s a great call, first of all. It’s something we had ran earlier in the game. Just off some of our zone-read stuff, [Pittsburgh was] bringing the safeties, playing, like, a Blitz Zero look but not blitzing the [linebackers] inside. It was a great call by Coach [offensive coordinator Mike] McCoy. We wanted to try and get [WR Demaryius Thomas] in there, behind the safeties blitzing, and he did a great job getting off the corner and just waiting for the pass through the second window from the backer, and [I] just tried to fit it in there, and he made a great catch and a great run after the catch, and the offensive line blocked phenomenal. It was also a great call. It’s a pretty good fake, and [RB] Willis [McGahee] really sold it, and the [offensive] line really sold it, so [Pittsburgh] couldn’t really get a lot of pressure, and [Thomas] made a heck of a play.”

On WR Demaryius Thomas’ performance (Four receptions, 204 yards)
“I think a lot of different guys stepped up and made plays, including [Thomas]. He just did a great job. I think the coaches coached him up well this week on how to attack the corners and giving him a lot of different looks, with splits, with timing, with the different play actions, double moves, and he did a great job with it and just made a bunch of big plays.”

On if he was more aggressive in the past game than in the past month
“I think it’s just a mentality, being aggressive. Whether it’s in the pocket, when I was stepping up and I start to scramble, which we got a few first downs on that, [or] whether it’s when I’m stepping up and giving a receiver an opportunity on a deep ball. Like, early, on third down, beginning of the second quarter, when I hit [WR Demaryius Thomas] down the sideline—that’s a play I was being very aggressive, trusting him. I couldn’t see exactly where the [defensive back] was—it was kind of a broken play—[I] just trusted him, and he made a great play.”

Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas

On how the win feels
“It is amazing because I haven’t played explosive like I did in college in a long time. To come out and make plays tonight, and win a playoff game, is just amazing.”

On the game-winning play
“We were on the sideline and talking about it before we even went out there on the field and we were like, ‘We are going to run this play and all you have to do is beat the corner’. They said, ‘All you have to do is cross the safety’s face and I was walking to the line and saw the safety come down and I knew, at that time, the play that we had called, the only person I had to beat was the corner. I crossed his face and I knew the middle of the field was wide open.”

On if the Steelers played aggressively because they didn’t respect the Broncos’ passing game
“I think so. They are the No. 1 defense and we are the No. 1 offense running the ball so I feel like they wanted to make a statement and stop the run. I don’t know if they forgot about the passing game; the last couple of games we have had, we were not passing the ball that great. I feel like they gave us opportunities to make plays and we did.”

On his personal feeling after the game
“It feels good. Like I was saying earlier, I have been through a lot of ups and down – injuries and stuff. I was on the field, off the field and hadn’t felt great until the past four weeks. To be able to go out and do some of the things I did tonight, it feels great because I could be the big-play receiver that they drafted me to be.”

Cornerback Champ Bailey

On what was going through his mind as WR Demaryius Thomas scored the game-winner
“Game over. I was concerned with the rule change where everybody gets a chance (in overtime), but if we score seven, it’s game over. I almost caught him because I ran right behind him (laughing). I got down there and a bunch of cameras were down there with him and I just moved them out of the way because that was the biggest play of the night.”

On where this win ranks for him
It feels good. It’s been a long time coming. We haven’t won a game here in the playoffs in five or six years. It’s a good feeling. We know this is just a step in the right direction. Right now it’s up there because it’s right now. It is a step in the right direction. We know that we have a lot more improving to do. We got better this week. We have to get better again because we have an even better team next week.”

On believing until the end
“I don’t want anyone going on that field with me if they don’t believe. We have a lot of people that do. That’s what it’s all about. If you don’t believe in what you’re doing, there’s no reason to be out there.”

Running back Willis McGahee

On what Tebow proved
“He showed that he’s a quarterback in the NFL. Case closed. They said he can’t throw. They said we weren’t going to be able to move the ball on them. We did that. I wonder what they’re going to say next week.”

On WR Demaryius Thomas
“I knew he could run. The funny thing about it is, last night (laughing) I told him that he was going to have a breakout game. It’s crazy. I don’t know how, but I said, ‘Man, you’re going to have a breakout game.’ He’s a game breaker. Look at his stats, look at what he did. He’s a game breaker. I’m happy for him, happy for Tim. Those boys showed the world basically tonight what the Denver Broncos are made of.”

On beating the NFL’s top-ranked defense
“They play great football, and it was a tough defense to run against. They did a great job, but at the end of the day, as long as we have faith in this locker room, that’s all that counts. People counted us and didn’t think we were going to hang with the Steelers, but we prevailed. We did what we had to do, and we’re on to the next one.”

Defensive end Elvis Dumervil

On the win
“It’s unbelievable. The crowd was great, the atmosphere was there and to come out to my first postseason game and win the first one as a team – it’s an amazing feeling.”

On watching WR Demaryius Thomas catch the winner
“He was huge. The big plays he made – he’s been working all year. He’s been banged up and he persevered through all that. I’m so happy for him. That was big, big, big, big for us.”

On Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger
“He’s dealing with injuries, but everybody is dealing with injuries. The guys in the back end covered pretty well to give us some time to get there. It was a good rush-and-coverage combination.”

On the Broncos offense
“Those guys, the offensive line did a great job. We had a lot of explosive plays on offense, so that was huge for us. They kept us off the field a lot and moved the chains. That was huge.”

Tags: AFC Wild Card Round, Pittsburgh Steelers, Quotables

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