The defense will do its job
Let’s take the injuries out of the equation for a second. Even at full strength, the Pittsburgh Steelers are set to face the best defense in the NFL, and that’s not debatable. You can throw out the points-per-game stats and tell me the Seahawks or Bengals are better, but I can promise you that they wouldn’t be in that position if their offenses had gifted their opponents as many turnovers as the Broncos offense did this season.
Now, as we all remember, the Denver defense did have one bad half of football, and it just so happened to come against these Pittsburgh Steelers, but it’ll be a much different situation on Sunday.
For one, the game is in Denver, where Broncos Country we’ll be as loud and disruptive as ever. One miscommunication, one false start, one delay of game and the Steelers could dig themselves into a hole they can’t get out of.
Two, while the Broncos may have had one of their worst halves of football in Pittsburgh, they had a fantastic half through the first two quarters, holding the Steelers to just 10 points. They’ve already proven they’re capable of slowing the explosive Pittsburgh offense, even when they’re at full health.
And finally, the Steelers’ offensive explosion was spurred by one man, Antonio Brown, and that won’t be the case this week. Even if he does play, Wade Phillips has to have learned a lot from that experience. The first time around, he left Chris Harris Jr. on Brown, man-to-man, all day, and I don’t care how great a cornerback you are, that’s about as close to impossible as you’ll come in the NFL; he won’t do that on Sunday.
