Week 9 - Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos - An Early Look

by John Bena on Nov 4, 2009 8:06 AM MST in 2009 Game Previews Comment 25 comments

The Denver Broncos (6-1) will make their second Monday Night Football appearance in their last three games

this week when they host the defending Super Bowl-champion Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2). Kickoff at INVESCO Field at Mile High is set for 6:30 p.m. MST.

QUICKLY:

The Broncos, who look to rebound from a 30-7 loss at Baltimore last week, will appear on Monday Night Football for the 61st time in club history. That total is the fifth highest in the history of the program.
Josh McDaniels guided Denver to a 6-0 record to begin the year, a start that tied for the third best by a rookie NFL head coach since 1930.

OFFENSE:

QB Kyle Orton's 18-2 (.900) career record at home as a starter is the best by an NFL player since the 1970 merger. He leads the AFC in TD-to-INT ratio (9-to-1), fourth quarter passer rating (124.2) and INT percentage (0.4).
The Broncos' 16 drives of at least 10 plays (20.8% of their possessions) tie for third in the NFL.

DEFENSE:

Coached by long-time NFL defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, Denver leads the NFL in yards per game allowed (266.7) and yards per play allowed (4.4) while ranking second in the league in scoring defense (13.7 ppg.).
Last week at Baltimore, the Broncos posted an NFL Week 8-best 10 tackles for a loss (31 yds.) with seven run stuffs, two sacks and one on a reception.
OLB/DE Elvis Dumervil's 10 sacks lead the AFC (2nd in NFL). Minnesota DE Jared Allen is the only player in the NFL with more two-sack games than Dumervil (11) since he entered the league in 2006.

SPECIAL TEAMS:

The Broncos have won both AFC Special Teams Player of the Month awards this year with K Matt Prater (September) and WR/KR Eddie Royal (October) earning those accolades.
Royal became only the 11th player in NFL history to score a touchdown on a kickoff (93 yds.) and a punt return (71 yds.) in the same game at San Diego on Oct. 19.
S Darcel McBath, a rookie second round pick from Texas Tech University, leads the Broncos with seven special-teams tackles.

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Comments

I Love these stats, John

Good stuff, and Rec’d.

HUGE game come Monday…I know we, the fans, are up to it…but how about our team?

Of course!! Our Broncos are going to play MAD!! We were manhandled last Sunday, and Pittsburgh is going to pay the tab.

McD WILL have our team ready to play, and win.

BRONCOS: 31
pITTSBURG: 17

Vinny Gambino: "Ms. Vito, Can you tell the court what this is a picture of?"
Ms. Vito: "Ya know what it's of"

by Bronco_Fan_Tom on Nov 4, 2009 8:24 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

I see another loss, but a good game.

McDaniel’s knew Baltimore was going to bring pressure. We didn’t execute, because the interior of our line is shaky. How else do you explain a coach that can absolutely see everything on the field not adjust and get his team to respond to the pressure? We don’t have the personnel to deal with the heavy blitzing. We haven’t established any counter-pressure game other than the screenpass, and Pittsburgh knows this. They will mimic the Baltimore game plan heavily, and our offense will continue to struggle. Our only way to combat this is to establish the run and get an early lead, or come out in shotgun sets with RBs helping pick up interior line pressure.

Our defense will remain stout, especially against the run, but Roethlisberger will evade our pressure and find open men down the field. Steelers 16 Broncos 13. A win is totally reasonable, it’s just that if I were betting this game, I’d bet Steelers to win.

by legendarywalton on Nov 4, 2009 9:18 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Unfortunately, I think you may be right.

I just have a bad gut feeling about this game. I don’t think that the broncos will come out flat, like they did last week, but I believe we will come up short against the physical defense of the steelers.

I don’t like playing against these tough defenses. The steelers are stronger up front than the ravens were and I don’t see our running game moving very much. I think we would be okay if we were still doing a lot of zone blocking, but it seems that we have abandoned that for more trap plays, lately. Unless we get the ground game going, I see this being a long day. I think it will be steelers 17 broncos 13.

I hope I’m wrong, though, and I’ll gladly eat my crow if I am.

If Taylor Swift were to try and tackle me, I'd let her.

by kentuckybronco on Nov 4, 2009 11:09 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I KNOW you are wrong...

…fortunately. In my opinion, the Ravens are a much better team than Pittsburgh…compound that with their hunger and desire last week, voila…a beatdown of our Broncos. I think we match up MUCH better against Pittsburgh offensively, and BMarsh and Gaffney should BOTH have big days. They are weak at safety (due to the damn sickle cell-there is no room for that in the body of a talented football player), and both our big guys should dominate their corners.
I also believe they will not be able to protect Ben from our outside rush, and will force him to make mistakes.

BIG DAY for our wideouts…BIG DAY for our DL and secondary.

Vinny Gambino: "Ms. Vito, Can you tell the court what this is a picture of?"
Ms. Vito: "Ya know what it's of"

by Bronco_Fan_Tom on Nov 4, 2009 12:10 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

How can you call Polamalu weak?

Honestly, I hope you are right. I just have a wierd gut feeling right now. It could change later in the week. Monday is five days away, so we’ll see how it goes. If the game were played, today, though, I don’t think we would win it.

If Taylor Swift were to try and tackle me, I'd let her.

by kentuckybronco on Nov 4, 2009 12:18 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I was gonna say.

Safety is definitely a strong point. Polamalu’s versatility will be a real key to this matchup…

by legendarywalton on Nov 4, 2009 12:33 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Of course not...

Troy is elite at safety. However, he is not 100%…and was NEVER able to cover the entire field. He will have to guess a lot…come up for the run…underneath to Stokely, Royal, Scheffler…or (I know this is a stretch and against our tendencies-but I FEEL it this week) OVER THE TOP to Marshall or Gaffney? Without Clark’s support, Troy can be flustered.

Vinny Gambino: "Ms. Vito, Can you tell the court what this is a picture of?"
Ms. Vito: "Ya know what it's of"

by Bronco_Fan_Tom on Nov 4, 2009 12:34 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Honestly, I don't see how this Clark situation can hurt them.

if he plays, that’s great for them because he is better than the backup. If he doesn’t play, the steelers are going to rally around each other and come out with emotional fire.

I agree with you about us going over the top. I would like to see Gaffney and Marshall and Scheffler go deeper and open up Royal and stokely underneath. I just don’t think that is in the cards. I think it’s going to be tough to get short yards if we can’t stretch the field and go deep every now and then.

If Taylor Swift were to try and tackle me, I'd let her.

by kentuckybronco on Nov 4, 2009 2:06 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Cmon, KB...how about some support?

We CAN stretch the field, and we CAN get the short yards. Guess what? We CAN win as well.

Let me hear you say it…

Vinny Gambino: "Ms. Vito, Can you tell the court what this is a picture of?"
Ms. Vito: "Ya know what it's of"

by Bronco_Fan_Tom on Nov 4, 2009 2:12 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

haha, we CAN, but we HAVEN'T.

We have seen glimpses of what this offense can do, throughout the season (Marshall vs Cowboys comes to mind). However, we haven’t put it all together for a full game. I was really hoping this offense would come alive once the glove came off but it hasn’t happened yet.

Yes, we CAN have a very productive offense, but we haven’t seen all of the pieces put together yet.

If Taylor Swift were to try and tackle me, I'd let her.

by kentuckybronco on Nov 4, 2009 2:17 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Fair enough

I’m gonna skip the “CAN’s”, and replace them with “WILL’s”.

We WILL exploit their secondary Monday.
We WILL run the ball effectively, including short yardage situations.
We WILL pressure Big Ben into mistakes

More importantly:

We WILL win.

Vinny Gambino: "Ms. Vito, Can you tell the court what this is a picture of?"
Ms. Vito: "Ya know what it's of"

by Bronco_Fan_Tom on Nov 4, 2009 2:32 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I love your enthusiasm and I wish I had the same feelings as you.

I just don’t see it right now. Like I said, maybe I’ll be persuaded later in the week.

If Taylor Swift were to try and tackle me, I'd let her.

by kentuckybronco on Nov 4, 2009 3:21 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

No room on the Bandwagon later in the week...

…you are either with us or against us :=)

Vinny Gambino: "Ms. Vito, Can you tell the court what this is a picture of?"
Ms. Vito: "Ya know what it's of"

by Bronco_Fan_Tom on Nov 4, 2009 4:14 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

haha I'm still on board bro.

What happened to 13-3 until we ain’t? This is one of those three.

If Taylor Swift were to try and tackle me, I'd let her.

by kentuckybronco on Nov 4, 2009 5:16 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I've been one of the 14-2 guys...

…and this aint one of ’em. We have to save our other loss for Peyton & Company, or possiblr Donnovan on a good day.

Vinny Gambino: "Ms. Vito, Can you tell the court what this is a picture of?"
Ms. Vito: "Ya know what it's of"

by Bronco_Fan_Tom on Nov 5, 2009 7:23 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I think we have Mr. Manning.

The colts have yet to play anybody. They almost got beat by the niners last week, too. Overrated.

If Taylor Swift were to try and tackle me, I'd let her.

by kentuckybronco on Nov 5, 2009 1:12 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I love McBath!

My favorite thing, and what has him some serious cred in my book, was when Webb made that kickoff return for a TD. He blew through our coverage with amazing speed and was barely touched. At the end of the play, it was him and McBath in a footrace to the endzone.

1. McBath is FAST!
2. Dude never gives up, even when it’s obvious he could.
3. We are insanely blessed to have him on ST.

"I only know as much about myself as my mind can work out under its current conditions. And its current conditions are not good." -- Zaphod Beeblebrox

by Sharpe as a Tack on Nov 4, 2009 9:28 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Umm, Sharpe

That was Bruton. McBath was with him, but Bruton is faster. Look Here.

Character may be manifested in the great moments but it is made in the small ones -- Philip Brooks

by KaptainKirk on Nov 4, 2009 11:24 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

that wasn't Bruton and Phonz?

Could have swore it was 33…

Precision in thought, concision in style, decision in life.

"That's MR.Styg..."

by Jeremy Bolander on Nov 4, 2009 12:21 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

it was.

"Really, I'm a high-motor guy. Tough, hard-nosed, a hard runner, can make you miss at times. And just competitive. I love to play the game and I bring that energy to my team. So, we'll see how that goes." - Knowshon Moreno

Knowshon Moreno=ROY

by stedtfeld on Nov 4, 2009 2:43 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

You're right

I will go to the box for 2 minutes and feel shame.

Character may be manifested in the great moments but it is made in the small ones -- Philip Brooks

by KaptainKirk on Nov 5, 2009 1:29 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

re: week 9

i hope the steelers beat the broncos this week, its a long shoot but we can do it.

www.cappersisland.com – sports handicapping forum

by jamessports on Nov 5, 2009 4:08 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Monday Night

I’m a Steeler fan from Central PA and will be in Denver for a conference. I’ve scored tickets to the game Monday night so will be there cheering on the Steelers!! It will be my first time seeing a game live so I look forward to it. I hope I’m not too big a target in my Steeler garb though. I’m hoping for a good game and of course for the Steelers to win.

by SteelerCountry on Nov 5, 2009 3:08 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

You may get heckled a bit

But it will all be in fun. The Mile high crowd is passionate, but civil. Now if you were a raider fan, that’s a different story. Have fun SC. I just went to my first game three weeks ago, and it was a blast.

Character may be manifested in the great moments but it is made in the small ones -- Philip Brooks

by KaptainKirk on Nov 5, 2009 8:39 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

SteelerCountry...

…I’ll be there as well. A little advice, leave the towel in your car. We Bronco fans don’t mind the competitor garb, but the props (waved in our faces) tend to be tedious.
Otherwise, have fun and enjoy…you will like our stadium and will enjoy meeting our great fans.

Oh, feel too bad walking back to the parking lot with the loss…there is always Cincy next week.

Vinny Gambino: "Ms. Vito, Can you tell the court what this is a picture of?"
Ms. Vito: "Ya know what it's of"

by Bronco_Fan_Tom on Nov 6, 2009 9:59 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs