Worst play
The entire second half of the game was poor play for the Broncos and singling out just one play is tough. However, Jordan Norwood made a great play on a punt with the third quarter winding down. As the Steelers punt team nonchalantly tried to down a Jordan Berry punt Norwood snuck up, picked the ball up and took off the other way. He turned up the field to the left and had a convoy of Broncos blockers, returning the punt 71 yards for a touchdown. The return would have put the Broncos up 34-20 with just over a quarter to play but it was called back due to an illegal substitution.
“We had some of our offensive lineman, who thought the play was over, and started to jog. They were about 40 or 50 yards behind the ball. They started to jog on the field, which I think they did. They [Steelers] also had guys running on the field, which is evident. Then I’ve been told that he was out of bounds anyway, so I don’t know. I have to go back and look at the play. It was a very smart play by Jordan. I’ll see,” Kubiak said.
The play came at time when the Broncos needed a spark from anywhere at all and Norwood provided it. As Kubiak said, both teams appeared to come on the field early and the Steelers may have even had a man out of bounds touch the ball before Norwood picked it up. Either way, the penalty negated what was called a touchdown on the field and it would have been tough to overturn on replay. It is just another example of a Broncos penalty that cost them a big play this season. They were flagged 12 times on the day for 127 yards.
