The Steelers are up 17-3 at the half. The defense has 5 sacks and 2 turnovers so far, among a few other tackles for loss as they keep up the momentum they created in week 1.
If Mike Munchak, who has all the “insider info” on the Steelers you could want can’t stop the Steelers, its going to be tough for anyone.
The opening kickoff return of the half was a 49 yarder by Ray-Ray McCloud. Between him and the Johnson, both return units look to be much improved over last year.
A couple of tackles for loss on Conner and Snell bring up 3rd down and long for the Steelers. They are just outside of field goal range, and will likely have to punt here after 3rd and 16.
Ben Roethlisberger dropped back on 3rd down and had all the time in the world. He attempted to throw the ball to Juju for the 1st down, but the ball was intercepted. There was a penalty on the interception return giving the Broncos the ball around the midfield mark.
KJ Hamler picks up a Broncos first down with Mike Hilton in coverage and the Broncos have entered the redzone. Noah Fant, who has had a quiet game so far gets a nice pickup to bring up a goal-to-go scenario. Minkah Fitzpatrick was called for a horsecollar tackle, but it essentially had to bearing on the game.
Another sack for the Steelers defense as a swarm of Steelers defenders caused Driskel to give himself up without contact being made. On 3rd down, the pass went incomplete with Terrell Edmunds in coverage across the middle. The Broncos were held to just a field goal on a goal-to-go situation. This redzone defense is lethal. 17-6 Broncos.
On 1st down, Ben Roethlisberger to James Washington, but Washington can’t hold onto the ball. Diontae Johnson hauls it in on 2nd down going across the field, but only picks up a couple yards. The Steelers were behind the stick on this drive, but Ben’s cadence caused a neutral zone infraction to make it 3rd and manageable. Jaylen Samuels picked up the first down to keep the drive going fighting through the initial tackler.
A quick screen to Diontae Johnson on the right hash on 1st down, but nothing is there. The screen game has been hit or miss (moatly miss) today.
For 3rd and 2, Ben throws to Juju in the flat, but there is nowhere to run and he is stopped short of the 1st down. The Steelers lined up to try and get a jump offsides, but its unsuccesful. The Steelers lined back up to go for the 4th down conversion. Ben threw the ball deep to Eric Ebron, but it fell incomplete. Ebron seemed to think there was some defensive holding as he immediately threw his hands up looking for the flag.
The Broncos defense is keeping this game from getting completely out of control.
Jeudy was targeted on 1st down, but Minkah interfered with the pass giving the Broncos a fresh set of downs. Jeudy was targeted again, but comes up with another drop. On 2nd down, Steven Nelson breaks up the pass intended for Nick Vannett but theres a flag in the backfield. Mike Hilton called for roughing the passer.
The next play, on a corner route with Devin Bush in coverage, Noah Fant gets the touchdown for Denver. The Broncos will go for two in an attempt to make it a 3 point game. The 2pc is successful as Devin Bush fails to cover Noah Fant on a crosser. 17-14 Steelers.
On the first play of the drive, Ben Roethlisberger has all the time in the world to make the pass and delivers a strike deep in the middle of the field to Eric Ebron for a 21 yard pickup.
In the first play of the fourth quarter, Ben completes a pass to Claypool for a first down. Earlier today, Ben passed Eli Manning for all-time touchdowns, and with the completion to Claypool surpassed Eli Manning for all time passing yards, moving to 7th on the list.
On the 3rd and 9, Ben completes to Ebron in the middle of the field, but not enough yards for the first. They go for it on 4th down with a quick shovel pass to Juju good enough for a fresh set of downs. Ben has completed 9 of his last 10 attempts, and is finding his rhythm from earlier in the game.
After the tv timeout, Ben Roethlisberger rolled out and looked like he was going to tuck and run, but he threw at the last second to Diontae Johnson. A great throw and a great catch by Johnson. 24-14 Steelers.
Chase Claypool with another special teams tackle. That and the long touchdown make this a special day for the rookie.
The Steelers stuffed the Broncos 3 plays in a row for an extremely quick 3-and-out. The punter can’t field the snap, and the ball rolls out of the bag of the endzone. Safety. 26-14 Steelers.
Diontae Johnson received the free kick on the safety and bobbed and weaved his way. He broke several tackles and ran a long way for the short pickup he got.
Benny Snell fumbled the football on 1st down, and gave the ball back to the Broncos. The Steelers essentially got 2 points on the safety and the Broncos picked up where they left off with better field position.
After a holding call on the Broncos, they are starting behind the sticks at 1st and 20. They made up all that ground on first down with a nice pass to KJ Hamler. Devin Bush called for pass interference in coverage against Nick Vannett. The Broncos are suddently flirting with the redzone with 9:00 remaining.
On 3rd and 7, Driskel makes a nice pass into the soft spot of the Steelers’ zone coverage to Tim Patrick for the first down. The next play, Driskel lobbed the ball to the back corner of the end zone where Melvin Gordon hauls it in for the touchdown over Vince Williams. 26-21 Steelers.
Diontae Johnson makes a nice play to secure the 1st down on the first set of downs, but the ball bounced right off his hands on the next 3rd down. The Steelers punt and this game is coming down to the wire.
There is 4:00 remaining in this game as the Broncos are at their own 39 yard line. The Broncos go for the deep shot on 1st, but Mike Hilton has excellent coverage for the breakup.
On 2nd down, Melvin Gordon is swallowed up in the backfield by Vince Williams, bringing up 3rd and 11. The pass falls incomplete, but pass interference is called (about 10 seconds late). A tough break with a fresh set of downs across midfield with 3:14 remaining.
Noah Fant makes a bobble catch along the sideline on 1st down for a large gain. Its ruled complete on the field, but Mike Tomlin challenges the ruling. The ruling on the field stands. The Broncos are on the 20 yard line with 3:09 remaining down 5 points. The pressure is on.
Melvin Gordon picks up about 8 yards off the left tackle on 2nd down. The Broncos will have 3rd and 2 around the 10 yard line at the 2:00 warning. The Steelers burned a timeout on the failed challenge, so they will not be working with a full compliment of timeouts for the possible game winning drive thats coming up.
Incomplete on 3rd and 2. On 4th down, Driskel drops back to pass and Terrell Edmunds gets to play hero this week. He comes in for the big sack to possibly seal the game.
The Steelers rushing attack is now trying to grind down the clock and pick up a 1st down or two to secure the victory. It should be noted that James Conner is getting these important carries at the end of the game, especially after Benny Snell fumbled for the 2nd week in a row.
James Conner breaks a big 59 yard run to get down to a goal-to-go situation with 1:30 left. The Broncos burned their last timeout, and the Steelers should be able to secure the victory and move to 2-0 on the season. This 2nd half was way more stressful than it needed to be, but that is nothing new for Steelers football.
Final Score:
26-21 Steelers
