6 things to watch for vs. Denver

Despite missing four games Manning leads the league in interceptions and once again gives way to Broncos backup Brock Osweiler.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the hottest teams in the National Football League, and they face a strong defensive team. Chris Harris Jr., Aqib Talib and Bradley Roby have been great this year.

It was the second TD pass for Brown, who caught 16 passes for 189. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is averaging 332 yards passing, best in National Football League….

The victory lifted the Steelers record to 9-5.

At 10-4, and hoping to maintain position at the top of the AFC, Kubiak’s team has that and other key things to think about in the coming weeks. On the ground, DeAngelo Williams rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns in 23 attempts.

The Steelers scored the only touchdown of the third quarter as they climbed within 27-20 of Denver.

Ed Bouchette: ebouchette@post-gazette.com and Twitter @EdBouchette. Their pregame dust-up was related to lingering bad feelings the Steelers had for Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict, whose tackle ended star running back Le’Veon Bell’s season in their first meeting.

And the Broncos themselves must commit no more than one turnover. It was the first TD that the Denver corner had allowed in over two years.

Osweiler, subbing for injured Peyton Manning for the fifth straight game, threw three touchdowns passes and ran for another as the Broncos built a 27-10 lead in the second quarter.

In the Broncos Week 13 loss to the Oakland Raiders, Denver was trailing by three points with under four minutes remaining and on a 4th and five, Brock Osweiler found Davis wide open for a first down, but he was unable to secure the ball in a very easy situation. Denver failed to score in an answer despite getting the ball into Steelers territory for the first time all half and all Pittsburgh had to do was run out 2:14 of game clock. It came after safety Josh Bush intercepted Ben Roethlisberger. The Broncos are now 8/9 on third down, but that one was a bit impossible to overcome.

The problem is that Osweiler bombed in the second half, as he threw for just 69 yards, and the Broncos were shut out in the second half for the third straight game. That changed in a hurry. The Broncos’ offensive line has been shaky all season, and that could play right into the hands of the Steelers, whose front seven has come alive as of late. They made it to the six before turning it over to Boswell, who hit from 24 yards. In the second half, though, he was 7 of 26 for 82 yards in the second half. Steelers have won nine straight games in December….

The Steelers struck quickly when their defense forced another turnover on Denver’s first drive.

Steelers safety Mike Mitchell: $23,152.