IN GAME THREAD Steelers vs. Broncos

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When the Broncos have the ball

Key performers: QB Peyton Manning, QB Brock Osweiler, RB C.J. Anderson, RB Ronnie Hillman WR Emmanuel Sanders, WR Demaryius Thomas, TE Vernon Davis, G Louis Vasquez, G Evan Mathis

Who?s hot or not: The Broncos are 3-1 without Manning, but the offense hasn?t scored more than 17 points in three of the four games. Osweiler has completed 108 of 170 passes for 1,140 yards with five touchdown passes and three interceptions, but the Broncos have gone 23 consecutive possessions without an offensive touchdown. Unlike Manning, he plays more under center and uses rollouts and bootlegs.

What?s been working: It hasn?t been the offensive line, which has struggled since Pro Bowl LT Ryan Clady tore his ACL on the first day of offseason workouts. His replacement, rookie Ty Sambrailo, injured his shoulder in Week 3 and is on IR. Both veteran guards, Mathis and Vasquez, have battled injuries and are rotating with rookie Max Garcia, a fourth-round draft choice.

Game plan: The Broncos need to do something to generate points, and it might have to be to throw the ball against a Steelers defense that ranks 31st against the pass but is tied for the AFC lead with 24 takeaways. Hillman leads the team with 663 yards rushing and six touchdowns. He has started the past seven games but doesn?t have a run longer than 19 yards in that time. Anderson, who sat out last week against Oakland with an ankle injury, is expected to return.

Keep an eye on: Osweiler has been sacked 17 times in 17? quarters after being sacked five times last week by the Raiders, all by pass-rushing star Khalil Mack. The culprit for the most part was RT Michael Schofield, who was bulldozed and beaten by Mack all day. Schofield, a third-round pick in 2014, has been an effective run blocker, but he runs into problems when the Broncos get behind and become one-dimensional.

When the Steelers have the ball

Key performers: DE Derek Wolfe, NT Sylvester Williams, OLB Von Miller, OLB DeMarcus Ware, ILB Brandon Marshall, CB Aqib Talib, CB Chris Harris Jr., CB Bradley Roby, S T.J. Ward

Who?s hot or not: Miller is one of the best outside rushers in the league. He has 10 sacks, the fourth time in five years he has reached double-digits, and leads the team with four forced fumbles and three recoveries. He has at least one sack in each of the past five games, the longest current streak in the league. It is the fifth time since entering the league in 2011 he has had a five-game sack streak.

What?s been working: The Broncos lead the league in pass defense because they have a combination of pass rush and excellent man coverage in the secondary. They have a league-high 44 sacks and have allowed just four passes of 40-plus yards, fewest in the AFC. Talib, who has an NFL-best 30 INTs since 2009, and Harris, who hasn?t allowed a touchdown pass in more than two years, are Pro Bowlers.

Game plan: The Broncos are third in the league against the run. They like to bring Ward close to the line of scrimmage to stop the run and use their corners to play single coverage on wide receivers, but Ward is out today with an ankle injury. The focus will be on RB DeAngelo Williams, who is averaging 82.8 yards in the six games he has started for injured Le?Veon Bell. The Steelers are second in the AFC with 14 runs of 20-plus yards. The Broncos have allowed only four runs of 20-plus yards, tied for fewest in the AFC.

Keep an eye on: Marshall was signed in free agency before the 2014 season and, on a defense loaded with star power, he?s the player who makes everything go. He has the speed to chase down the run and cover the pass, and is one of the main reasons teams have a difficult time running wide on the Broncos. He has 155 solo tackles since the start of the 2014, fourth most in the league.

Special teams

K Brandon McManus has five field goals of 50 yards or longer already this season, including kicks from 56 and 57 yards in the same game. He has converted all 27 extra points and 26 of 30 field-goal attempts and has 108 touchbacks in two seasons with the Broncos. P Britton Colquitt has a career average of 45.2 yards and comes from a family of punters. His dad, Craig, won two Super Bowl rings with the Steelers; his brother, Dustin, punts for the Chiefs. Emmanuel Sanders is the punt returner, a role he rarely handled with the Steelers, but he has more fair catches (18) than returns (17). His longest return is 14 yards. Safety Omar Bolden had an 83-yard punt return for touchdown on his first career attempt Nov. 8 in Indianapolis, but will not play today with a hamstring injury.

To win, the Broncos must ?

1. Ward off big plays. The Steelers, who lead the league with 19 passes of 40-plus yards, will attack deep with the Broncos missing their versatile strong safety T.J. Ward (ankle injury).

2. Have the ?O? come to Emmanuel. The Broncos need more production from Sanders and Thomas, who have combined for just seven TD catches.

3. Not flirt with 30. They are the only NFL team not to allow 30 points this season. The Steelers have scored 30-plus points in a franchise-record five consecutive games.

To win, the Steelers must ?

1. Clock Brock. In the four games Osweiler has started, the Broncos have gone three-and-out 46 percent of the time, worst in the league.

2. Read Aqib. The Broncos have five defensive touchdowns, tied for most in the league, and Talib ? in his eighth NFL season ? has two of them.

3. BeWare DeMarcus. Miller leads the team in sacks, but Ware is an eight-time Pro Bowler who is second among active players with 133.5 sacks.

--post-gazette.com.

 

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Deep ball is the way out of deep hole for Brock Osweiler, offense
Osweiler needs to complete long throws to give Broncos' offense a chance


There was 1:56 remaining in the New England game when quarterback Brock Osweiler spotted, racing up the far sideline, Emmanuel Sanders. The Broncos wide receiver had a step on Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler. Denver trailed 21-17, and faced third-and-10 if the route failed. These are the passes that winning quarterbacks make.

Osweiler planted his feet on the snow-covered turf at Sports Authority Field at Mile High and, like a shortstop making a play from the hole, let it rip. The football traveled 45 yards in the air, a line drive that nestled into Sanders' hands before Patriots safety Duron Harmon could reach him.

Three weeks later, the Broncos are waiting for another throw like that.

It's been a month since Osweiler took over for Peyton Manning. Osweiler has gone 3-1 in that time, but his grip on the starting job loosened over the past two games. The Broncos sputter into Pittsburgh on Sunday with no offensive touchdowns on 23 consecutive possessions, two shy of their season-long streak that was snapped Oct. 18 at Cleveland.

When looking for reasons the Broncos lost to Oakland last week, Osweiler's performance ranks down on the list. Yet a trend exists that suggests Osweiler might only be keeping the seat warm for Manning.



One of Osweiler's greatest strengths is his arm. But, he's only 3-of-16 on passes of more than 20 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Two of those completions came on the same fourth-quarter drive against the Patriots. If he's not going to drive the ball down the field with success more often, it's fair to wonder whether a healthy Manning is a better option.

"Brock could have made the situation a lot more difficult had he played every game like the Patriots game," said former Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe, a Hall of Famer. "But he's going to have opportunities this week. This isn't exactly Murderer's Row you are facing (in the Pittsburgh secondary)."

The Steelers rank 31st in the NFL in pass defense, allowing 279 yards per game. They give up chunks but take gambles, as evidenced by their 14 interceptions.



"Playoff football now"


In Osweiler's best performances ? at Chicago in his first NFL start and against New England ? he was fearless. A 48-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Demaryius Thomas set the tone early in the win over Chicago. After the overtime thriller against New England, defenses adjusted. San Diego crowded the line of scrimmage. Oakland surprised Denver, settling into a cover-2 zone. The Broncos couldn't run the ball well enough to make them change. It didn't help that Thomas and tight end Vernon Davis dropped passes, and that Sanders has had just 36 yards receiving in his past two games.

As the Denver offense disappeared in the third quarter last week, the Oakland safeties had no reason to come upfield. That left Osweiler dinking and dunking. He is averaging 3.4 yards past the line of scrimmage per pass attempt, shy of Manning's 3.8. Deep passes represented a potential strength to separate Osweiler. They did briefly and, Osweiler acknowledged, they need to resurface.

"They're very important. Anytime you can hit a 70- or 80-yard touchdown ? we like to call them one-play drives ? it's huge for your football team," Osweiler said. "It softens up secondaries. It allows you to throw more things underneath. We had an opportunity last week against the Raiders. I overthrew Emmanuel. I believe that I need to put more air under that throw to let him run underneath it. That's just one of those areas that I just keep telling you guys that I'm learning and I'm growing.




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Denver's offense hasn't scored a touchdown on 23 consecutive possessions, two shy of a season-long slump that was snapped Oct. 18 at Cleveland. Incorporating the long ball in the passing game remains the key to sparking the Broncos' attack:

Quarterback passes 20 yards or more this season
Brock Osweiler: 3-of-16, zero TDs, two interceptions
Peyton Manning: 10-of-40, three TDs, three picks