Mile High Clubbing

Going into this game I did not have a good feeling. The Steelers typically do not play well in Denver and they were going into the game without three key starters and a back-up to one of those starters on defense. They were also coming off the bye week which could have resulted in some rust and the Broncos were trying to bounce back from a humiliating loss the week before in Baltimore. It just seemed like everything was stacked against us.

After the offense put up a pitiful performance in the first half yet we were still winning 7-3, I knew we were going to win. There is a pattern with Ben Roethlisberger where if he starts hot, he fades in the second half and we lose. But if he struggles early on, he battles back in the second half and we win. It helped that they stuck to the run in the second half and the defense had their first really dominant 60 minute performance. After the initial drive that netted Denver a field goal, the Steel Curtain came down and the Broncos never came close to scoring, especially in the second half when they only crossed midfield once. The defense is finally back and that is bad news for the rest of the league.

Time to see what did work and what didn't work. Here we...go!:


WHAT DID WORK

The word genius gets thrown around too easily, but it definitely applies to Dick LeBeau. After watching Denver's first drive, he went to his defense, pointed out the tendencies, and the Broncos did nothing offensively the rest of the game. The supposed offensive "genius" Josh McDaniels could do nothing against a Steel Curtain defense that punched his team in the face on every down and intercepted a previously near perfect Kyle Orton three times. The Broncos could do nothing on the ground, gaining just 27 yards total for the game and only 1 in the entire second half. The longest pass play Orton completed was for 20 yards, which occurred on the first drive of the game. They've given up 6 points in the last 6 quarters of football. Do I need to keep going? I didn't think so.

Troy Polamalu is an amazing athlete. I know they say this is a team sport and no one man can make or break a team, but I would argue that Polamalu is that type of player. He was running full tilt all night and looked as good as he did in Week 1. If he hadn't sustained an injury in that game, I have no doubt he would have been having a career year. In this game, he only had three tackles, but two of them were highlight reel plays. He chased down Brandon Marshall from like 20 yards away to stop him for a relatively small gain and destroyed Correll Buckhalter in the backfield for no gain midway through the fourth. The very next play Polamalu intercepted Orton's pass to set up the Steelers in great field position. It was his third interception this year in just his fourth game. It does not surprise me in the least that they have only given up 30 points in the games he has played this year. That's 7.5 points a game people. You win a lot of football games only giving up that many points in a game.

Tyrone Carter had an excellent game filling in for Ryan Clark, who was wisely held out of this contest. He didn't get burned in coverage and was responsible for the lone Steelers touchdown in the first half when he picked off Orton and ran it back 48 yards for the score. His second interception effectively ended the game. So in one game he almost matched his career high of three. Can't ask for much more from your back-up safety.

Rashard Mendenhall ran right over the #1 ranked Denver defense and he made it look easy. He had runs of 24, 28, 36, and 18 yards, all in the second half. In total he carried the ball 22 times and gained 155 yards for a 7.0 average. For the season Mendenhall is averaging 5.7 yards a carry, which is good for second in the entire league, just behind Chris Johnson of Tennessee (who has a 91 run that inflates his average). Denver fell to 8th against the run after Mendenhall ran like he was playing against children all night long.

Ben Roethlisberger had a decent game, although he had a costly fumble and an interception which stopped another scoring drive. It was how he responded to the sack/fumble/touchdown that impressed me as he lead the team 80 yards in just 4 plays to retake the lead that they never relinquished. After a rough first half, he completed a total of 72% of his passes and connected with Mike Wallace and two times with Hines Ward to give him 14 TD passes for the year. He only had 17 all of last year and is looking to beat his career best of 32 back in 2007. He has the weapons at his disposal so it is a possibility.

I don't give enough love to the offensive line, but they have played really well the past month. Max Starks did a tremendous job against Elvis Dumervil who entered the game second in the league in sacks. While Dumervil did get credit for .5 sack, that was more to do with Roethlisberger holding the ball too long and nothing to do with protection. Dumervil only had one tackle the entire game and Big Max was a big reason why he was ineffective. All of the guys played great in allowing Ben to have time in the pocket and clearing lanes for Mendenhall. Probably the best effort they have had all season long.

The receiving core had a strong game after struggling against Minnesota. Santonio Holmes lead the team with 6 catches for 93 yards; Wallace pulled in four including a long touchdown that broke Denver's back, and Ward nabbed 7 balls including two for scores. Not a lot of teams can boast that much fire power at the wide receiver position.

Keyaron Fox quietly had a very strong game. He lead the team in tackles with 9, including 8 which were solo tackles. The biggest plus was he was never mentioned for being out of position or failing in his tackling. I have no doubt he would be starting for any other team, but I'm glad we have him in reserve because it looks like Timmons is going to be dealing with this high ankle sprain all year long.

Although I hate him, Brett Keisel had a really strong game. Both of his tackles in the game were sacks and he deflected a pass in the fourth quarter as well. Probably the best game I've seen him play in a Steelers uniform.




WHAT DIDN'T WORK

Um...Ben had a fumble that was returned for a touchdown and threw an interception in the end zone that ended another potential scoring drive. Brandon Marshall had 112 yards receiving. William Gay got burned repeatedly on the first drive. And that's about it.


Next up the Steelers face off against one of the teams that beat them this year, the Cincinnati Bengals, for sole possession of first place in the AFC North. The Bengals are coming off of a second win against the Ravens and are looking to sweep the season series against Pittsburgh as well. One thing that will be different than the Week 3 loss? Troy Polamalu will be in uniform. Suck on that, Carson.

Go Steelers.