Denver Broncos: Can the explosive Pittsburgh Steelers offense be stopped?

He will have to get the ball off quick before the Broncos pass rushers can get to him.

Denver has a 10-3 record for the 2015 season despite the current absence of franchise quarterback Peyton Manning. Turns out, the Steelers are playing like about 70 percent of them. Most notably, that means Adam Jones (foot), who missed last week’s game against Pittsburgh, should return to the starting lineup at corner.

The Bengals and Steelers did the crimes Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium. The Broncos allowed just 126 total yards, but Osweiler was sacked six times, Denver lost two fumbles and went 4-for-18 on third down conversions.

“I don’t buy he was pushed”, Roethlisberger said during an appearance on Pittsburgh’s 93.7 The Fan.

But that’s just the beginning of what matters Sunday at Heinz Field.

The Broncos were unable to take advantage of the turnover as quarterback Brock Osweiler threw four straight incomplete passes, giving the ball back to the Steelers on downs with 1:40 remaining.

The quickness and change-of-direction ability of C.J.

Dupree suffered a back injury during Sunday’s win at Cincinnati.

The theory on defense is that if you press Brown at the line of scrimmage, you can take knock him off his game somewhat.

“Once we settled down, we played well”, Shazier said. “He came in [Friday] morning and was a little sore, so we just said, “OK, we’ll stop for the weekend and go from there, ‘” Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said after practice Friday”.

“You want to be the best, you’ve got to be the best”, Brown said.

Add in that Denver hasn’t lost in Pittsburgh since 1997, and that the Steelers have won nine straight games in December. The speedy wideout has reeled in 48 receptions for 679 yards and four scores in that stretch and joins Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton in an embarrassment of riches for Roethlisberger.

But Pittsburgh can – and will – run.

The running game has been consistent, even with the loss of Le’Veon Bell. His current average depth of target is over 17 yards per reception on 32 receptions this year.

“They want to be physical”. “It’s something we are going to have to improve upon”.

“It was man coverage”, he said.

The Broncos’ defense has improved against the run, especially with Shane Ray and Shaquil Barrett showing dramatic improvement in their ability to set the edge and not get caught out of position. Those are consecutive victories by the Steelers against two 10-win teams, one of which is nearly certain to be the No. 2 seed in the AFC with a first-round playoff bye. When it comes to points scored, they rank fifth in the league, just behind the Bengals, at 26.5 points scored per game. The race for the two Wild Card sports in the AFC will likely go down to a contest between these three teams, and the Jets need to make sure they win out to give themselves the best chance of making the postseason.

The Big Ben healthy again and the Steelers offense clicking on all cylinders the resurgence of wide out Antonio Brown has been a blessing for the Steelers faithful. “In my opinion, he’s the best punt returner in the league”. You’d lead the league in net [punting yards] every time.

“And those three guys specifically, I thought, led the charge from a secondary standpoint in terms of addressing adversity in that way”.