Denver Broncos 27, Pittsburgh Steelers 34
The Denver Broncos lost another game after a dominating first half. This week they even scored four touchdowns on their first five drives and were man-handling the powerful Pittsburgh Steelers. Then the wheels came off. With a 27-13 halftime lead, the Broncos entered the locker room but a seemingly a different team took the field in the second half. Then the Steelers were the team with the hot hand, scoring 21 second-half points on their way to a 34-27 victory.
Unlike last week, the Broncos defense was equally as terrible as the offense in the second half. They allowed the first 300-yard passer of the season and Antonio Brown caught an incredible 16 passes for 189 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Ben Roethlisberger finished the day with 380 passing yards, three touchdowns (all in the second half) and two interceptions.
The Broncos offense scored at will and converted 8-of-8 third downs in the first half before going into a tailspin. In the second half Brock Osweiler threw for just 82 of his 296 passing yards and the team completed just one third down on nine attempts. For the second straight week they were held scoreless in the second half, and as a result, lost their second straight game and fourth in their last seven games.
The loss brings their record to 10-4, just one game ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs. A win Sunday would have clinched a playoff berth and kept a two-game lead in the division with two games to play. Now the Broncos are inching closer to an epic collapse and will have to once again figure out what went wrong Sunday.
Here’s a look at what was said after the loss and the not-so-pretty stats.
Worst quotes
Head coach Gary Kubiak on the loss:
“As a team, we probably played as good at times as we could tonight and then not so good at times. This is a great football team we played. We needed to do it all night long, and we didn’t. Offensively in the second half we didn’t make any of the plays we made in the first half. We had some opportunities and didn’t get it done. It’s very disappointing. That’s this business. You better be built for four quarters, not three.”
Brock Osweiler on the second-half woes:
“Nothing really felt different. We just couldn’t get into a rhythm for some reason. I think you have to give credit where credit is due. The Steelers and their coaching staff made some great halftime adjustments. Those guys on the field played a great second half for the Steelers.”
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin on his team’s confidence regardless of the opponent and their success in the passing game:
“Well, it’s our strength also. The nameless gray faces we play are irrelevant if we’re on our game and we’re going to do things that are in our wheel house, and that’s in our wheel house, regardless if that’s in their wheel house.
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.
Worst Statistics
The Broncos loss highlights a terrible two-week trend. Their two second halves in the two recent losses are truly staggering. Sunday they gained only five first downs in quarters three and four after 15 in the first half. They completed only 7-of-26 second-half pass attempts. The running game also disappeared as the two teams got into a shootout of sorts. After gaining 88 yards on 17 carries in the first half, the Broncos only rushed eight times for 16 yards in the second half.
“Obviously, not the right things right now. That’s something that we’re very aware of as an offense. I’m sure we’ll spend a lot of time tomorrow in the meetings discussing how we can get that fixed and how we can get a fast start in the second half and score some points in the second half because that’s something as an offensive unit you have to do. You play 60 minutes not 30 minutes,” Osweiler said after the game in reference to halftime adjustments.
Defensively the Broncos gave up almost equal yardage in both halves but only allowed one touchdown in the first half due to an early Ronnie Hillman fumble. In the second half the Steelers looked like the hottest passing team in the NFL but it was against the top-ranked pass defense in the league. They scored three passing touchdowns and all three of their wide receivers made big plays down the stretch to get the win.
LVPs
Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. hadn’t been scored on in two years. His play had been impeccable each and every week this season but Sunday he came up against arguably the best receiver in the NFL. It was a highly-touted matchup and Brown ultimately changed the game. In the first half it seemed like he was working tremendously hard for every reception, but in the second half he got loose often on Harris and was the biggest part of the Steelers comeback. After the loss Harris placed the blame on his shoulders.
“It was the best versus the best and he won. I have not given up a touchdown in two years. The way I played was very disappointing, and I let my team down. He [Brown] is a good receiver. He’s the best receiver in the game right now. I just did not make any plays today.”
Despite Brown’s talent and numbers, it was extremely surprising to see Harris get beat so badly. After the win Brown said, “There’s no stopping me,” and Sunday he proved it. His 16 catches for 189 yards and two touchdowns solidified his greatness this season. Later in his press conference he had humbler words about his performance.
“If you play this game long enough, you’re going to get your tail kicked at least once. Obviously it was a great matchup today. We got the better of the matchup and won the game. That’s all that’s important,” he said of his match up with Harris.
Runner up: Brock Osweiler also deserves a heavy amount of blame. Last week he played well except in the red zone where he missed on touchdown opportunities multiple times. In the first half Sunday he had no such issues. In the second half he looked much like he did versus the Oakland Raiders. He was off target and simply could not manage the game and keep up with the Steelers. He also forced a late interception to Ryan Shazier that almost immediately led to the Steelers go-ahead touchdown. His postgame comments reminded viewers that he is still learning on the run after just his fifth start in the NFL.
“You think you have some time then before you know it there’s some color in your face. So, that’s one of those things I’ll watch on the tape,” he said “I think it’s a big learning curve for me to decide when to take off, when to throw it down the field, and when it’s time to throw it away. That’s something that I will learn while watching this tape.”
Email Sam at sam@milehighsports.com and follow him on Twitter @SamCowhick.