Tebowmania = $$$

Amid all the talk of "coincidences" relating Tim Tebow to the Bible verse that he has worn as eyeblack, John 3:16 (he threw for 316 yards vs the Steelers, 31.6 yards/completion was the highest in NFL playoff history, Ben Roethlisberger threw the game's lone interception on 3rd and 16), the one number that stands out is the game's TV rating for the final quarter-hour: 31.6.

It was the most watched NFL Wild Card game in almost a quarter-century, drawing 41.9 million viewers. By way of contrast, the record for a NFL Divisional Game is 43.5 million (Jets/Pats last year) and 111 million people watched last year's thrilling Super Bowl game between the Packers and Steelers.

Given that Tebow's 80-yard TD pass in OT on Sunday was the most Twittered, non-Japanese, event in history and Tebowmania is back in full effect, how many people are going to watch this Saturday night's tussle between the Denver Tebows and the Patriots? 50 million? 60 million?

All I know is that CBS executives did not foresee this happening when they ended up re-entering the NFL market in 1998 (after a 4-year hiatus) with the supposedly inferior AFC after losing the NFC to Fox in 1994. But come Saturday night, they sure will be happy they did.