I have already posted my notes from the first half of the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-19 loss Sunday night to the Denver Broncos and below are my second half notes.
Ben Roethlisberger throws behind Jonathan Dwyer on first play of the second half. Had it been caught it would of gone for good yardage.
… and there is our Willie Colon false start. Luckily Roethlisberger converts the 3rd and long to Emmanuel Sanders. Roethlisberger threaded the needle into a tight window with a great throw.
Next play is a great job by Roethlisberger throwing in the direction of where the blitz came from for a nice gainer to Heath Miller. Great job by Roethlisberger on third down avoiding the rush and almost getting the first down. Doug Legursky allowed too easy of a pressure.
… and after the first down, our second Colon false start. Quota met.
On the second and 12 play, I wonder if Sanders missed a hot read as his man blitzed at the snap. Roethlisberger had no chance and was sacked easily. Antonio Brown false started on the play so it wouldn\’t have mattered. A blown dead whistle would have saved a hit on Roethlisberger.
Leave it to Big Ben, who hits Mike Wallace on consecutive plays for the first down. Very next play was almost 6 to Brown, but safety Mike Adams made a great play to knock it away. That would have been a very big touchdown. The long drive ends up resulting in just 3 points.
Keeping Peyton Manning on the sideline for an eternity was not long enough as Demaryius Thomas took a 1 yard screen 70 more yards for a touchdown. I have broken down that play here.
Helmet to helmet hit on Sanders saved the next Steelers drive after two early throws in the drive by Roethlisberger were almost picked off. Legursky gives up easy sack on the second down play that followed.
… and Roethlisberger converts to Miller on third and 18. Incredible the way he gets it done on third downs. Miller schooled the linebacker with an out and up route. Simple, but effective.
Facemask on the next play gets the ball deeper into Broncos territory. Dwyer with the catch and nice effort after it on the very next play. Looking good here.
Roethlisberger sails the next pass over the head of Jerricho Cotchery and it is likely because Legursky has allowed too deep of pressure. Isaac Redman did a good job on right side with pass protection. Huge miss, but Steelers convert to Miller to keep the drive alive. I can\’t say enough about the run by Dwyer where he almost scored. He is the best of the backs right now easily.
Blocking on the 2nd and goal play was bad. Mike Adams easily allowed his man through the gap with a bad reach. Wallace scores and uses his body well in the process. Leonard Pope would have had an easy two point conversion but the pass was tipped at the line.
First play of the Broncos next drive, Brett Keisel is buried and Chris Carter is blocked out of the lane. Both of the middle linebackers are easily rode off. On the very next play, Keisel and Larry Foote are pushed down field as the Broncos line is really starting to take over the game.
Virtually no pressure at this point and the threat of the run makes it easy for Manning to sit in the pocket and eat underneath the zone coverage.
Eric Decker was down after the catch and the call was made correctly.
The touchdown to Jacob Tamme was easy on a well executed pick play that Ryan Mundy had no shot on. Manning rolled to that side to make sure of no pressure. Manning had all day on the two point conversion and hit Willis McGahee after he shook Mundy loose.
The deep ball to Wallace was played perfectly by Tracy Porter, who almost gets a pick on the very next play on an ill-advised throw by Roethlisberger, who missed Wallace running free on a busted coverage. Big sequence of plays right there and the Steelers punt.
The run blitz fails on the next Broncos drive and off they go.
On the next play Lawrence Timmons is held but nothing is called. Then a no call on an illegal pick play as Tamme makes an easy catch after Cortez Allen is picked. After a pass interference call on Keenan Lewis the Steelers manage to hold and Lewis ends up making the third down play to get his revenge.
As bad as things went in this game, the Steelers get the ball back with 3 minutes left and down 6 points. I am not sure what Roethlisberger saw on the pick 6 by Porter, but it was by far his worst and most costly throw of the night.
The final three sacks are not even worth breaking down. Game over.
