Three Keys to Steelers vs Broncos
By Rich Donahue
After meeting at Heinz Field three weeks ago, the Steelers face the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium.
Since their last meeting, the Broncos have ditched Brock Osweiler for the now “healthy” Peyton Manning, who will start his first game since mid-November.
The Steelers survived one of the most chaotic finishes in NFL history in their win over the Bengals. However, with the possible absence of Ben Roethlisberger for Sunday, how will the Steelers fare against the top seeded Broncos? Here are the keys to the Steelers pulling off the upset in Denver:
Next Man Up
Mike Tomlin has said it all season. With the odds going against Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and DeAngelo Williams from being active or at full strength; it may once again fall upon reserve Steelers to make an impact. Neither Williams nor Brown has practiced all week.
Ben hasn’t thrown since Saturday as he tries to rapidly recover from the shoulder injury inflicted by Vontaze Burfict. The smart money is on Ben playing Sunday. He will be limited in throws down field, but the pain in his shoulder will be numbed by the pregame cocktail of pain killers he takes.
Williams will try to play Sunday, but I cannot see the running back suiting up. Even without Williams, the Steelers averaged 5.8 yards on the ground with the combination of Fitzgerald Toussaint and Jordan Todman. Though he remains in high spirits on his Snapchat, the star wide out remains in the concussion protocol and has not practiced since being nearly beheaded by Burfict.
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Like at running back, the Steelers have capable options to replace Brown in the lineup, but you cannot substitute his presence on the field. Brown torched Chris Harris Jr. for two touchdowns in their previous matchup.
Harris had not yielded a touchdown in over two years. It was confirmed Friday that Brown will miss Sunday’s game. Could we see Sammie Coates emerge? Either way without Brown, the Steelers face an uphill battle against one of the best secondaries in football.
Peyton’s Place?
Manning is no doubt one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time. His resume and records speak for themselves. There is one huge blemish on his career though, playoff success.
In his time spent with the Colts and Broncos, Manning has made the playoffs in 14 seasons. Nine of those trips were opening round losses in the wildcard or divisional round.
With the Broncos, Manning has advanced past the divisional round once, which was in 2013. The Broncos were then dismantled by the Legion of Boom in Super Bowl 48.
Unlike previous playoff appearances, Manning is not anywhere close to being the same gunslinger. Frankly, he is merely a game manager at this point.
Yes, he did stabilize the Broncos offense in their AFC clinching win over the Chargers, but he did little to show that if the game is put on his shoulders that he can deliver with his arm. Manning’s ability to audible at the line of scrimmage and keep the defense on edge created opportunities in the run game for the Broncos.
The Steelers must force Manning to go to the air in order to win this game. Though the foot injury is better, the future Hall of Famer led the NFL in interceptions thrown even without playing since November. If the Steelers capitalize on miscues by Manning as they did against the Bengals, Peyton could be heading for an early retirement.
Battle in the Trenches
The main concern for the offensive line when these teams met in Week 15 was the edge rushers of Denver. It became apparent early that the interior of the Broncos D were no slouches either.
Malik Jackson and Derek Wolfe dominated the line of scrimmage for much of the game. The duo combined for two sacks, four quarterback hits and helped limit Williams to only 26 yards on 14 carries.
To beat the Broncos this time around, the Steelers must set the tone with the run game early on. With Ben’s shoulder as it is, he will not be able throw over 50 times like he did in their win in December. It will be up to the offensive line to open up the same holes and cut back lanes that were so crucial in last week’s game.
But we can’t forget about those great pass rushers. The Steelers were tremendous against All-Pros Von Miller and Demarcus Ware in their first meeting, completely shutting out the duo in the stat sheet. Don’t expect that to happen a second time.
The Pro Bowlers combined for 18.5 sacks of Denver’s league leading 52 sacks on the season. Can the Steelers hold these rushers at bay again? Marcus Gilbert has played marvelously this season, yielding only two sacks all season including the playoffs.
Alejandro Villanueva gave up a sack to Shaquil Barrett and nearly gave up a sack to Ware back in December. Look for the Broncos to try and key on the former Army Ranger’s inexperience.