(Matthew Wood is a freelance sports writer. You can follow him on Twitter @balanced_sports)

There are certain existential questions that teams ask themselves when their season ends. After a 45-10 defeat to the New England Patriots, the Denver Broncos now face those questions.

Coach John Fox must decide whether to keep his Option offense. He must also decide whether to retain the players that got the Broncos to the playoffs are decide if they are actually good enough to challenge for a title.

Perhaps more importantly, following Denver's playoff exit, 43 per cent of America now asks its own existential question: Has God forsaken the Broncos?

Why would God favour - and then forsake - the Broncos? Because their quarterback is Tim Tebow.

On Friday, USA Today published a poll that said 43% of Americans believed Divine Intervention was the primary factor behind the Denver Broncos' first-round playoff victory over the heavily favoured Pittsburgh Steelers. In effect, God had suddenly become a football fan.

Tebow was described last week by TIME Magazine as, "perhaps the most significant evangelical Christian in the USA".

He is the most divisive athlete in the country: Christians and romantics love his underdog status, while he's disdained by those who think he, his religion, and his God is phony.

Tebow is a fascinating study. His back story is incredible, starting with a long-shot birth that led him to appear in anti-abortion ads. When he prays visibly before and after matches, presumably asking the Lord for help and guidance, he does so ostentatiously, on one knee. When at the University of Florida he began writing bible verses on his eyeblack; the NCAA instituted a law that prohibited messages to be conveyed in this manner. He won a Heisman Trophy as College Football's best player, and was drafted to the NFL late in the first round.

The thing is, Tim Tebow isn't that good - at least, not fundamentally. Although he throws a good long ball, his short passing is inaccurate: he completed only 46.5% of his passes this year, the lowest of all the NFL's starting QBs. This impacts his versatility, as his team's offence must be built around his strengths. No-one questions his leadership; but his game skills are far below most other playoff quarterbacks.

Yet when the Broncos stood at 1-5 and named him their starter, he led them to seven wins in eight. He played ugly quarterback football, but his team won. Often, they overturned significant fourth-quarter deficits in the process, leading commentators to rename the fourth quarter "Tebow time". Three straight losses to end the regular season dented fans' hopes of a similar battling postseason run, but their upset overtime win against the Steelers brought Tebow-mania yet again to the forefront of the nation's sporting conscience.

Never has such a flawed quarterback inspired so much national debate; very few figures, especially athletes, engender the same national polarisation. Tim Tebow is appreciated - and disliked - because his story is steeped in Christianity. It's easy to divide the admirers and haters along religious lines. However, to suggest that God cared about Tim Tebow winning or losing a football game, for whatever ends, is perhaps too simplistic.

Crucially, for his team and his narrative, Tim Tebow passed for exactly 316 yards against Pittsburgh, the TV ratings peaked at 31.6 (in the most-watched first-round game in ages) further fanning the flames of fundamentalist fervour. Not coincidentally, John 3:16 was Google's most-searched term the day after the match.

Tebow himself has shrugged off any notions that he's his sport's Chosen One, as well he should. Distancing himself from angel-with-a-flaming-sword, Old-Testament-style Divine Intervention means he doesn't minimise the skills of his teammates and coaches, while also reining in arguments claiming that he's God's no.1 guy.

More simply, does it take Divine Intervention for a burly, inaccurate QB to win football games? Occam's Razor suggests Steeler injuries, the Broncos' home-field advantage or even Tebow (and receiver/favourite target Demaryius Thomas) playing out of their respective skins, are more likely reasons for the Broncos' win. Also, what would it do for his religion were the Broncos to lose while receiving help from On High?

Those questions were answered on Saturday night in Foxborough, Massachusetts. If Tebow is aided by God, Pats coach, Bill Belichick, may very well be God. His squad was merciless as Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady threw for six touchdowns almost unmolested by Bronco defenders. Tebow didn't play badly but was constantly rushed, taking five sacks, as his offensive line collapsed like the Walls of Jericho.

When the game ended, Brady walked around the field alone. He congratulated teammates, greeted friends and gave a post-game interview, all followed at distance by a solitary camera. Tebow stood in the eye of a media cyclone, unable to move - let alone speak - despite a middling personal performance and his team's capitulation.

As the NFL season careers toward a Bronco-less Superbowl, we will hear (mercifully?) little of Tim Tebow. However, his narrative is not nearly ending. He faces a fight to retain his position next season, especially should Coach Fox decide to trash the Option offense. To make Denver his team for the long term, Tebow needs to completely restructure his throwing action to gain speed and accuracy. Intervention will be provided (probably) not by God, but by the Quarterback deity, John Elway, who serves as Denver's GM. America will watch - and take sides - as he fights his next underdog battle.