Steelers showcase offense, rally past Denver
Pittsburgh wide receiver Antonio Brown catches the first of his two touchdown passes from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as Denver cornerback Chris Harris defends during the second half Sunday at Heinz Field.
Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown, left, celebrates with teammate Darrius Heyward-Bey Sunday at Heinz Field. Brown finished with 16 receptions for 189 yards and two touchdowns.
PITTSBURGH – A record crowd of 67,234 showed up at Heinz Field to watch the Steelers host the Denver Broncos Sunday.
And if most of them would have left at halftime, no one would have blamed them.
Denver had its way with the Steelers in the first half, going 8-for-8 on third-down conversions and scoring touchdowns on four consecutive possessions to build a 27-10 lead late in the first half.
While the Steelers’ playoff hopes wouldn’t have been dashed with a loss, they certainly would have been more uncertain.
It was as if the teams traded uniforms at halftime and the Steelers scored 24 unanswered points to come away with an improbable 34-27 victory over Denver – its biggest comeback since a 21-point effort in 1997 at Baltimore – and inch closer to securing a spot in the playoffs.
“We didn’t do a lot great in the first half, particularly defensively,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “You give them credit. They went up and down the field, but we did a lot to aid that. We were kicking our own butt in terms of blowing calls and things of that nature. To the guys’ credit, they came together; they settled down.”
As a result, if the playoffs began today, the Steelers (9-5) would be in based on tiebreakers over the New York Jets (9-5).
With two games remaining, Pittsburgh’s path is simple. Win and get in.
For most of Sunday, that appeared to be in jeopardy.
Denver quarterback Brock Osweiler completed 14 of 18 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score in the first half, mostly because the Steelers kept blowing coverages.
“Everybody needed to just calm down,” said Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier. “We were all trying to do too much. We all just needed to focus on our jobs. We just needed to understand if we got some stops and got the offense back the ball, we were going to be OK.”
It all started with a couple of three-and-outs to start the second half.
The Broncos (10-4) failed to get a first down on either of their first two possessions of the second half and the Steelers finally got things going against Denver’s top-rated defense.
Ben Roethlisberger, who completed 40 of 55 passes for 380 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, got the Steelers rolling with his trio of receivers, Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton, hitting each on a big pass that marked a quick-strike touchdown drive.
Roethlisberger threaded a pass to Brown, who was covered all day by Pro Bowl cornerback Chris Harris, for a 9-yard touchdown and the momentum clearly shifted.
It was the first touchdown pass allowed by Harris since the 2013 season. Brown would repeatedly victimize Harris, catching another score in the fourth quarter and finishing with 16 receptions for 189 yards.
The Steelers forced another quick Denver possession, but dodged trouble when they punted and Jordan Berry’s kick was touched by Shamarko Thomas but not downed. Denver’s Jordan Norwood scooped up the live ball along the sideline and returned it for what appeared to be a 71-yard score.
But the Broncos’ offense started coming off the sideline when they saw Thomas touch the ball and the score was nullified by an illegal substitution penalty. That play was pivotal as the Steelers forced another three-and-out and Pittsburgh got the ball back on its own 40.
Five plays later, Roethlisberger threw a 9-yard TD pass to Markus Wheaton that tied the game, 27-27.
“Coming into the game we saw a lot of one-high (safety),” Wheaton said of what the Steelers expected from Denver’s top-rated defense. “We expected it coming in. They gave us two high (safeties) the whole game. Everything that we planned coming in kind of went out the window. We had to find what would work. Obviously, we did and we went with it.”
The two teams traded punts after that, as both defenses kept finding ways to quickly get off the field. But Shazier stepped in front of a pass intended for former Steeler Emmanuel Sanders with 4:28 remaining in the game, giving Pittsburgh’s offense the ball back at the Denver 37.
Sanders finished with 10 catches for 181 yards and a touchdown, but eight of his receptions came in the first half.
Roethlisberger took just three plays to get the go-ahead score, hitting Brown on a post pattern for a 23-yard TD and a 34-27 lead.
The Broncos drove to the Pittsburgh 36 but turned the ball over on downs. Roethlisberger gave it right back with 2:01 remaining, throwing an ill-advised interception to linebacker Brandon Marshall.
Four Osweiler incompletions later, the Steelers had the victory that seemed out of reach just two quarters earlier. After his hot start, Osweiler finished 21 of 44 for 296 yards.
“It didn’t matter, we were on a roll,” said safety Will Allen of Marshall’s interception. “We were feeling hot. And when we go out there and play with that confidence, it’s hard to stop us. We just kept making big stops and big plays. That’s what it takes to beat a good team.”