It was weird, like stepping into a time machine and wandering out into January 2004.

Like much of sports-crazed America, I watched Denver's 29-23 overtime NFL playoff win over Pittsburgh on Sunday. But I kept thinking back to a game that occurred eight years before, almost to the day, when I sat not on a couch at home but in a press box in St. Louis.

The quarterback's name then was Jake Delhomme and not Tim Tebow. The receiver was Steve Smith, not Demaryius Thomas. But the winning head coach in both cases was John Fox.

And not only that ...

The score was the same - 29-23. That was also the margin when Carolina edged the Rams on the road in what remains the most exciting game in the Panthers' history.

The play was the same - a deep slant on the first play of an overtime period (the first OT in Denver's case, the second OT in Carolina's case).

The result was the same - a gorgeous pass of about 20 yards and a receiver who did all the rest. Smith used his speed and was never touched on his 69-yarder. Thomas used a stiff-arm to free himself from the only Steelers defender with a real shot at the tackle.

Strange, isn't it? Fox did it again. One year removed from his divorce from the Panthers, the gum-chomping champion of "It is what it is" is back in the NFL's elite eight with a Denver team that went 4-12 only a year ago.

No matter what you think of Tebow, give Fox this - the man knows how to coach in January. We all know that around here, although sometimes it's easy to forget (and that Arizona playoff atrocity was the exception to the rule).

Fox is now 6-3 in the playoffs. He has never won a Super Bowl, but he's done just about everything else. And he has a bizarre affinity for the number 29.

Fox's teams have ended up with that number of points in five of those nine playoff games. He's 4-1 in those 29-pointers, with the only loss that Super Bowl to New England.

Now the Patriots are about to beat him again. The Broncos aren't going to upset New England. No way. But for Fox to even get the Broncos to this point is amazing.

Yes, there were some cringe-worthy Fox moments Sunday. The draw play on third-and-long. The repeated three-man Denver pass rush that allowed Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to limp around on one leg, survey the field and get the Steelers back into the game.

But it wasn't all conservatism. There were many moments of brilliance. Tebow only completed 10 passes, but they included darts of 51, 30, 58, 40 and finally 80 yards.

Fox and his staff were slow to locate Tebow's potential when the 2011 season began. But once the shotgun marriage occurred, they have worked hard to maximize Tebow's effectiveness. The quarterback's 10 completions Sunday went for a staggering 316 yards (a number that some were quick to note could parallel the famous Bible verse John 3:16).

It was Tebow's best game as a pro, and it was also one of the best games Fox has coached.

Denver reminds me somewhat of Carolina in the 2003 season, with a quarterback who plays his best in the final minutes (remember that "Cardiac Cats" nickname?), a decent defense and a reliable kicker.

Fox, Delhomme (Houston) and kicker John Kasay (New Orleans) remain in these NFL playoffs, reminders of that Panthers' signature season eight years ago. Denver and fans everywhere are still exulting over what happened in overtime Sunday, but everyone in the Carolinas can smile a little at the Broncos' youthful exuberance.

Because we saw it first.