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The 3:16 game was a January 8, 2012, National Football League playoff game between the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game took place in the 2011–12 NFL playoffs and it finished with four statistics that contained the numbers 3–1–6. The game is also notable for having the shortest overtime in NFL history; it took 11 seconds.

When Tim Tebow played college football for the Florida Gators and during the 2008 Florida Gators season he began writing messages on his eye black. At the conclusion of the season, Tebow played in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game and he promoted a Bible verse by inscribing John 3:16 into his eye black. Exactly three years to the day after that championship game, Tebow was an NFL quarterback playing for the Denver Broncos and he wrote 3:16 in his eye black again; in that January 8, 2012, playoff game, he had statistics which coincidentally bore a similarity to the numbers 3:16.

During the game, Tim Tebow accumulated 316 passing yards with an average of 31.6 yards per completion. The Pittsburgh Steelers finished the game with a time of possession of 31:06. The game's ratings peaked between 8:00-–8:15p.m. Eastern Time with a rating of 31.6. Pittsburg Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw a second–quarter interception, on third–and–16. Also going into the playoffs, the Denver Broncos last their last three regular season games by 18, 4 and 26 points which totaled 3 losses by an average of 16 points each.

Background
The use of eye black involves painting black stripes under the eyes. The black is used to absorb light and make it easier for the wearer to see better. Eye black is commonly used in sports such as, football, baseball and lacrosse. One of the first athletes to wear eye black was Babe Ruth in the 1930s.

Between 2003–2005 college football running back Reggie Bush started the trend of writing messages in his eye black. He scrawled the area code of San Diego (619) into his eye black. College football quarterback Tim Tebow began scrawling messages in his eye black. Tebow scrawled the numbers for various bible verses into his eye black. Some of the bible verses he promoted were: Mark 8:36, John 16:33, Ephesians 2:8–10, James 1:2–4 and John 3:16. Tim Tebow considers himself to be a devout Christian and was the quarterback for the Denver Broncos. The Bible verse John 3:16 was meaningful to Tim Tebow because of the message in the verse: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

On January 8, 2009, Tim Tebow was the quarterback of the Florida Gators in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game: during the game, he wore eye black that was inscribed with the numerical entry for the bible verse John 3:16. The reference to John 3:16 was said to have caused 94 million people to look up its meaning on the Google search engine.

Statistical coincidences
On January 8, 2012, during the 2011–12 NFL playoffs in a game between the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers Tim Tebow had game statistics that were similar to the referenced bible verse John 3:16. The playoff game was played exactly three years after Tebow wore the eye black inscribed with the bible verse John 3:16.

Tim Tebow accumulated 316 passing yards with an average of 31.6 yards per completion. The Pittsburgh Steelers finished the game with a similar numerical coincidence: their time of possession in the game was 31:06. CBS aired the game on their television station and they too had a coincidental match to the numbers representing the bible verse: the game's ratings peaked between 8:00-–8:15p.m. Eastern Time with a rating of 31.6. The game finished with what was considered an upset victory: the final score of the game was Denver Broncos 29 and the Pittsburgh Steelers 23. In the game Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburg Steelers threw a second–quarter interception, on third–and–16. Also the Broncos last three regular season games were all losses by 18, 4 and 26 points which totaled 3 losses by an average of 16 points each.

Game summary
The score at the conclusion of the first quarter was Pittsburg Steelers six and Denver Broncos zero. Shaun Suisham kicked field goals of 45 and 38 yards. In the second quarter the Denver Broncos scored 20 points: on an Eddie Royal 30 Yard Pass, a Tim Tebow 8 Yard Run and two Matt Prater extra points and two field goals (20 and 28 yards). In the third quarter the Pittsburg Steelers scored seven points on a Mike Wallace one Yard Run and a Shaun Suisham extra point. In the fourth quarter the Denver Broncos scored once on a Shaun Suisham field 35 yard goal. The Pittsburg Steelers scored three times: a Shaun Suisham 37 Yard Field, a Jerricho Cotchery 31 Yard touchdown Pass and a Shaun Suisham extra point. At the conclusion of the game the score was 23 to 23.

Overtime
In the overtime period there was a coin toss to see who would possesses the football and the the Pittsburg Steelers called tails and lost the coin toss. The Denver Broncos elected to receive the ball. On the first play of the overtime period, Tim Tebow threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas to win the game by a score of 29-23.

Legacy
During the 3:16 game and into the next day John 3:16 was the most searched term on Google Search, as people apparently tried to make sense of the statistical coincidences. The game is also notable for having the shortest overtime in NFL history; it took 11 seconds.

The week after the 3:16 game, during the January 14, 2012, playoff game between the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots a 30–second commercial was aired featuring children reading the bible verse John 3:16. The commercial aired in the second quarter of the game on CBS. The spot was paid for by the Colorado Christian ministry Focus on the Family. A spokesman for the group said Tebow was not mentioned in the ad, but he was the "cultural phenomenon that inspired it".

In 2016 Tebow appeared on the Harry Connick Jr.'s talk show. Tebow told Connick that after he finished the playoff game against the Steelers he was on his way to talk to the media when a person from the Broncos public relations told him: "it's exactly three years later from the day that you wore John 3:16 under your eyes... during the game you threw for 316 yards. Your yards per rush were 3.16. Your yards per completion were 31.6. The ratings for the game were 31.6 and the time of possession was 31.6."

In 2017 one of Tebow's football teammates from college had killed himself with references to John 3:16. Massachusetts State Police stated that convicted murderer and former NFL player Aaron Hernandez hanged himself in his prison cell. They reported that he had written "John 3:16" with red ink on his forehead and in blood on the wall of his prison cell.