Control, Calmness Keys To Much Improved Second Half Defense

Hasselbeck was 17-of-30 with 147 yards and one interception and briefly gave way to Charlie Whitehurst in the fourth.

“He’s something special”, Denver coach Gary Kubiak said.

Did the players let the anxiousness associated with a playoff-type atmosphere get to them? You give that quarterback that many opportunities, sooner or later he is going to make you pay.

Oh yeah definitely. It was the best versus the best and he won. “I haven’t given up a touchdown in two years”.

Much like the issues with pass coverage, the poor play of the return coverage units for the Steelers special teams group are a serious weakness. He’s a great player. Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler had not been able to hook up with any receiver or set up a rusher for an offensive touchdown in eight former quarters.

Rashad Jennings, Giants, had 107 yards rushing – the first 100-yard rusher for the team this season – and a TD on 16 carries.

Antonio Brown won’t come out and say it, but I will: The Pittsburgh Steelers’ receiver is unstoppable.

Even if Cincinnati wins its final game – home against Baltimore – the Broncos would have head-to-head tiebreakers against both the Patriots and Bengals. Roethlisberger threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns against the NFL’s No. 1 defense. Three other players had at least five receptions, including Martavis Bryant, who had 10 for 87 yards.

“You want to be the best and you’ve got to be the best”, Brown said. You name it, we did it. This is an execution league and when you’re doing it, it’s a lot of fun. The Steelers Ben Roethlisberger used all the time given during the second half as he picked apart Denver’s powerful defense. The previous record was set in 1997, when the team scored in 20 consecutive quarters. The biggest thing about that 1997 season was how the Broncos would respond. The first? The legendary No. 80, Jerry Rice (1993-1995).

“I think everybody was pissed off”, he said.

While the Broncos were 11-3 at this point in 1997, just the Week 15 loss to the Steelers just smells of deja vu.

As Andy Dalton watched from the sideline with a large cast over his broken right thumb, McCarron threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Kroft just before halftime as the Bengals (11-3) forced three second-quarter turnovers by San Francisco (4-10) to take command. The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t need to be reminded how badly they looked while falling behind Denver by two touchdowns at halftime Sunday, even though linebackers coach Joey Porter chose to provide one anyway.

The penalty negated a play that would have given the Broncos a two-touchdown lead.

Mike Tomlin said there was one fundamental adjustment that his Pittsburgh Steelers made between halves Sunday. We have to down that football and hand it to the official.

“I’ve been told he was out of bounds anyway”, Kubiak said.

The homecoming for Broncos receiver Emmanuel Sanders had a bit of a Charles Dickens plot. And you can see that in their play.

With just over three minutes to play, Brown managed to get inside position on Harris and created just enough space for Roethlisberger to hit him for a 23-yard touchdown. But they failed to score on nine possessions in the second half when they converted just 1 of 9 third-down opportunities.

“That first half was fun”, Sanders said. Will they stick with the young gun, or will Manning, who wildly under-performed this season, get his job back? “We’re a work in progress and we’re going to continuously work”.

The Steelers must’ve brought a new team out of the locker room in the second half to beat the Broncos, 34-27.