Mile High Sports

Broncos trail Steelers 10-9 at halftime after missed opportunities

MHS Staff
Denver Broncos win

If the Broncos are going to go out of the playoffs kicking and screaming as John Elway wanted them to, they’re going to have to do it in the second half of their Divisional Playoff matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Through one half of football, they played the Steelers close, but tentatively, and trail by one, 10-9, at the half. Denver had all the momentum to start, but the offense couldn’t get into gear and the Steelers eventually made them pay.

After the defense forced a three-and-out to open the game, Omar Bolden took a punt 42 yard on the return to give the Broncos great opening field position. Peyton Manning completed two of his first three passes, but Denver could only garner one first down (on the first play) and were forced to settle for a 28-yard Brandon McManus field goal and a 3-0 lead.

Pittsburgh avoided a three-and-out on the next drive when Sammie Coates got around Chris Harris Jr. and went 37 yards into Denver territory. The Denver defense held fast again and forced a fourth-and-one from the Denver 32 that saw Roethlisberger take another deep shot, this time into the end zone. Aqib Talib was there for breakup and the change of possession back to the Broncos.

Denver went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, failing to convert a trick play direct-snap to Ronnie Hillman on third and two. Manning moved out of the backfield and gestured wildly along the line when Hillman took the snap and was hit behind the line of scrimmage.

Denver took over with great field position after forcing a three-and-out and a poor punt by Pittsburgh gave Denver the ball at the Steelers’ 31. After a nine-yard Ronnie Hillman run to start the drive, the Broncos moved backwards on the next play and couldn’t complete a third down pass, having to settle again for three points.

Pittsburgh responded on their next drive with a huge reverse by Martavis Bryant for 40 yards. In just five plays, the Steelers had gone 80 yards and taken the lead after a 15-yard run and a one-yard touchdown run by Fitzgerald Toussaint.

Manning and head coach Gary Kubiak decided to pick up the pace on Denver’s ensuing possession, going no-huddle and picking up 38 yards on four plays, including a big third-down conversion by Virgil Green, to bring the first quarter to an end. But after the flip, Denver couldn’t generate a positive play and had to punt.

The defense needed a stop to keep Pittsburgh’s momentum in check, but Ben Roethlisberger found Darrius Heyward-Bey wide open on a third-and-five and took the ball 58 yards to the Denver 22. Denver bent but didn’t break, though, and held the Steelers to a 43-yard field goal, but momentum was fully to the black and yellow.

Denver had its second three-and-out as a wide-open C.J. Anderson dropped an easy first down on the very next possession. A team that was expected to go out kicking and screaming appeared to be playing with the huge weight of expectations on their shoulders. The defense responded with a huge stop, however, getting a big sack on Roethlisberger on third down to force a trade of punts.

The Broncos again got good field position after a third poor punt by Jordan Berry, but the Broncos offense again couldn’t start moving the ball. Bennie Fowler had consecutive drops and Anderson was cut short on third down. Feeling the game already slipping away, Gary Kubiak went for it on fourth and three from the fourth and three. Emmanuel Sanders got a hand on the ball, but a massive hit caused an interception and another failed possession for Denver.

Wade Phillips got aggressive on the next series and snuffed out a Pittsburgh drive, but Manning and the offense had to take over at their own five yard line. A tough task for an offense that had struggled to convert a third down. C.J. Anderson finally broke a big run, for 34 yards to get Denver near the two-minute warning. It was Denver’s first offensive play of more than 20 yards on the day. Demaryius Thomas kept things rolling with Denver’s first third-down conversion of the day. Anderson picked up another first down and got the Broncos into field goal range with a run of 11 yards. Denver needed that run, as Manning was crushed on the ensuing second down and then fumbled the next snap.

McManus brought Denver within one on a very tough 51-yard field goal with the wind blowing heavily across the field to end the half and bring Denver within one, 10-9.

As always, the MHS team was there to chime in on the action as it unfolded. Here’s the best analysis, along with observations from other Denver media from the first half…

Ben Roethlisberger makes a downfield statement on the first play…

But that “in-com-plete” statement came at a price…

Denver got into the red zone, but settled for a field goal…

https://twitter.com/AllbrightNFL/status/688840324089655296

Pittsburgh converted a tough third down at the expense of Chris Harris…

On fourth-and-one, Roethlisberger took a shot at the end zone…

Pittsburgh was not fooled by the direct snap to Ronnie Hillman…

Denver had another great opportunity to put points on the board…

But again had to settle for only three…

The cautionary words were flowing as a result…

And in the blink of an eye, Pittsburgh had the lead…

So Denver decided to pick up the pace…

But they couldn’t keep the chains moving and set up a big possession…

A miscommunication gave up a big gain for the Steelers…

Pittsburgh put more points on the board to extend the lead to four…

Denver’s defensive issues were mostly on two plays…

https://twitter.com/AllbrightNFL/status/688852403181858816

But on offense, the offense had their struggles too…

The defense answered the bell on the next possession though…

Denver’s uptight play continued, and another possession was lost…

Denver got the ball back and C.J. Anderson made it interesting…

Denver got into field goal range, but again tensed up and couldn’t get in the end zone…

Brandon McManus hit a big field goal into a stiff wind, though to keep it within one…

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