Mile High Sports

Broncos “No Fly Zone” surrenders first 300-yard game of 2015 in loss to Steelers

MHS Staff

Dec 20, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown (84) catches a nine yard touchdown pass behind Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris (25) during the third quarter at Heinz Field. The Steelers won 34-27. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Broncos secondary, specifically the cornerbacks, has dubbed itself the “No Fly Zone” – or in social media terms, the #NoFlyZone – but the critics were out and in attack formation after they allowed their first game of 300-yard passing yards against and three passing touchdowns in a 34-27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Ben Roethlisberger threw for 380 yards (354 net after sacks) and Antonio Brown had 189 yards and two touchdowns against a pass defense that had averaged only 188.2 yards per game entering the Week 15 tilt. Additionally, they allowed nearly double their previous average of 17.3 points per game.

Pittsburgh did virtually all their damage in the air against Denver, rushing just 17 times in the game (five of which came in the Steelers’ final two drives to milk the clock and three of which were kneeldowns by Roethlisberger).

Chris Harris single-handedly took the blame for the loss.

But much of the defense’s struggles against the pass came in the second half when the offense could not control the clock as they did in the first. Denver’s offense for the third game in a row did not score a second-half point and had eight of nine drives end in five or less plays.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, had six second-half drives that were five plays or less. The difference, though, was field position. The Steelers score touchdowns on two of those drives, including one off a punt and one off an interception.

It was the first time all season the Broncos surrendered more than 30 points. Denver was playing without key starters in the secondary, including three of their top four safeties, T.J. Ward, Darian Stewart and Omar Bolden.

Before taking the cornerbacks to task, the Denver media offered these observations about the absence of such critical playmakers in the secondary…

https://twitter.com/MikeKlis/status/678697620748005377

Still, there was no pass for the defense that up until Sunday had been the hardest in the NFL to pass against. The reviews were mixed by the end of the game.

Here’s what the team from MHS and some of our favorite follows had to say about the high-flying Steelers offense burning the No Fly Zone with an all-out aerial assault.

https://twitter.com/MikeKlis/status/678727303543812096

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