Dec 20, 2015 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – Denver safety T.J. Ward talked the talk last week when he said the Steelers’ offense was hot because it hadn’t faced the Broncos yet.

Then, he didn’t play Sunday against the Steelers.

While some in Denver might point to that as a reason why the Steelers broke up the so-called No Fly Zone more efficiently than Ronald Reagan ended the air traffic controllers’ strike, it’s hard to believe his presence would have mattered.

The Steelers got their pilots licenses in this game.

“I guess you can call it that,” said Steelers wide receiver Markus Wheaton.

That’s certainly what happened and the league has been put on notice.

The Broncos came into the game with the NFL’s top-rated passing defense. Cornerback Chris Harris, who is considered Denver’s No. 2 corner behind Aqib Talib, hadn’t allowed a touchdown pass since November of 2013.

So the Broncos put Harris on Antonio Brown, and Talib, a bigger cornerback who has eight career interception returns for touchdowns, drew Martavis Bryant.

Neither came away looking good.

Brown picked on Harris throughout the game, catching 16 passes for 189 yards. Not only did he score once on Harris, he did it twice.

Bryant, meanwhile, considered by many to be just a deep threat, did a lot of the dirty work in this one, catching a career-high 10 passes for 87 yards.

Wheaton, the Steelers’ No. 3 receiving threat, also came up big, hauling in six receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown.

“They played good,” said Talib. “They made big plays in big situations. Kudos to those boys.”

And for the trigger man, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Brown, Bryant and Wheaton are as good as any trio of receivers in the NFL, but Roethlisberger made everything happen in this game.

Despite facing a ferocious Denver pass rush, especially with the Steelers trailing for much of this game, Roethlisberger stood strong in the pocket and completed pass after pass.

It’s the confidence in Roethlisberger that makes this team go, even on defense. They know with Roethlisberger playing the way he is, they’ve always got a chance, even when down 27-10 as they were late in the first half.

“That’s why we’ve got 7,” said Steelers guard Ramon Foster of Roethlisberger. “Just throwing the ball, which is their strength, what do they call themselves, the ‘No (Fly) Zone.’ It’s a great challenge for us. Moving forward, there’s a lot of great defenses we’re going to have to throw the ball against and we’re going to have to execute that stuff. We just made it happen.”

Most teams take what their opponent gives or attack a weakness. The Steelers seemingly take what they want, regardless of the opponent.

Denver hadn’t allowed a 300-yard passer this season. That string ended in the third quarter. The Broncos hadn’t given up 30 points in a game all season. That’s also history.

“There’s a reason they are the No. 1 defense,” said Roethlisberger. “We had to get lucky and make some plays.”

Luck had nothing to do with this. The Steelers have scored 30 or more points in a team-record six consecutive games.

More important, they’ve done it regardless of the opponent or the venue. That bodes well for what lies ahead.

And what lies down the road is a playoff appearance. The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2010. This team is out to not only change that, it’s out to win a Super Bowl.

When you’ve got the most dangerous offense in the NFL – yes, we can now call it that – anything is possible, even with a defense that has a tendency to blink on occasion.

“We understand that we’re never out of it,” said defensive end Cameron Heyward. “We have an offense that can put up 30-plus points and it doesn’t matter who they play.”

When you have that to fall back on, it’s never a bad thing.

F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.