While the Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard in the first half against the Denver Broncos, their offense was effectively moving the ball. With 10 points through the first two quarters, Pittsburgh looked poised to have a relatively comfortable win over the Denver.
But the offense sputtered and stalled in the second half, allowing the Broncos to hang around and forcing the defense to close out the game. Speaking to reporters Tuesday via the team’s YouTube channel, Mike Tomlin explained why the final 30 minutes weren’t as sharp as the first half.
“A lot,” Tomlin said when asked what went wrong in the second half against Denver. “We gotta perform better. We gotta perform cleaner. They revved up some of their schematics and so they’re to be given some credit as well. I thought [defensive coordinator] Vance Joseph had had an awesome plan. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that.”
Pittsburgh had seven second-half possessions. It punted on six of them. The exception was a 53-yard field goal by K Chris Boswell thanks to a Broncos pass interference that netted 37 yards on the first play of the drive. Beyond that, the Steelers gained 8 yards on the rest of the drive.
The Steelers’ run game wasn’t as effective as the Broncos adjusted and clogged running lanes. And penalties persisted, including a costly holding call on LT Dan Moore Jr. that negated a third-down conversion to WR Calvin Austin III. Overall, a lack of first-down success put Pittsburgh behind the chains and was a key reason why Corliss Waitman got so much second-half airtime.
Joseph is regarded as one of the NFL’s better defensive coordinators with success throughout his career. Once Denver’s head coach in 2017 and 2018, he returned in 2022 to serve as the team’s coordinator.
“There’s multiple reasons why the second half unfolded the way that it did, and what they did had something to do with it,” Tomlin said.
The good news is Denver’s offense was nearly inept throughout the game and did little to take advantage of repeated chances to get back into the contest. CB Cory Trice Jr. picked off a key pass in the end zone while the Broncos settled for two second half field goals, unable to close the gap.
Pittsburgh will have to show more consistent success in its toughest matchup yet Sunday afternoon versus the visiting Los Angeles Chargers. Another of the nine remaining unbeaten teams, the Chargers can match the Steelers’ physical style in the trenches. If the Steelers want to advance to 3-0, they’ll have to put up more than the 18 and 13 points they’re registered through the first two games. That will require doing a lot more in the second half than they did against the Broncos.
