The Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0) traveled to Denver to face the Broncos (0-1) in what turned out to be a sloppy, penalty-riddled defensive struggle. Neither team is a stranger to that style of game being that they have both been stuck in quarterback purgatory for the last several years.
In 2022, Russell Wilson was traded to Denver from the Seattle Seahawks and awarded a 5-year, 242 million-dollar deal to be the QB of the future. After an abysmal 2022, Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett was fired, and in came former Super Bowl Champion Head Coach Sean Payton. After a single season together in 2023, Payton released Wilson who signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers to be their starter for the 2024 season.
A calf strain held Wilson out of what should have been his “revenge game” in Denver but instead, it was Justin Fields starting at QB, facing the Broncos and Sean Payton’s handpicked QB, the #12 overall pick Bo Nix.
Playing Not to Lose
The Broncos and Steelers scored just 20 and 18 points respectively in week 1. Along with the projected total of 36.5 points (Yahoo Sports), it clearly indicated that not many points would be needed to secure victory in this one. From early on it appeared each QB was playing not to lose.
With the conservative approach from both sides, Fields and Nix only combined for 5 completed passes beyond 10+ yards with 0 TDs and 2 interceptions. Pittsburgh converted 4/14 third downs while Denver only converted on 2/12, which resulted in 14 total punts, 4 converted field goals, and a failed 4th down attempt from the Broncos offense. During the messy first quarter, the Steelers managed an impressive 12-play drive that resulted in a 6-yard back shoulder touchdown pass to tight end Darnell Washington – the first of his career. The Steelers ended the first half taking a 10-0 lead with a Chris Boswell field goal as time expired.
Broncos Show Life
For the first 6 quarters of football this season, the Steelers defense appeared dominant. They allowed just 10 points led by bookend rushers Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt who have lived in the backfield thus far in 2024. In the second half at the high altitude of Denver, the defense appeared to get gassed. After forcing a 3 and out on the Broncos first possession of the second half, Denvers defense then forced a 3 and out of their own.
The Broncos took control on offense with completions of 26 and 49 yards until Bo Nix threw an interception on a 2nd and Goal from the Pittsburgh 6-yard line. When asked about the interception, Bo Nix said “Um. I dropped back and threw it to the other team”. I guess that’s the accountability you want from your franchise QB…?
On the following drive, Justin Fields took a deep shot to George Pickens who drew a pass interference from Patrick Surtain, the 37-yard penalty placed the Steelers stagnant offense in field goal position. Chris Boswell converted his 2nd of the day making the score 13-0.
A Plethora of Penalties
While the game lacked excitement and points, there was no shortage of yellow flags. The game’s total points were matched only by its accepted penalties at 19. The story may not have been the number of penalties so much as the impact of them.
Steelers 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones committed 3 penalties in the second quarter alone, one of which negated a beautiful 51-yard completion from Fields to George Pickens. This earned Jones a benching and was just the beginning of the foul-filled battle between Pickens and Broncos top corner Patrick Surtain, who were each flagged for pass interference during the game.
With 14 seconds left in the first half Fields hit Pickens for a 6-yard touchdown pass, which was wiped out by an offensive pass interference penalty that CBS Rules Analyst Gene Steratore even disagreed with.
In all, Pittsburgh had 10 accepted penalties for 78 yards while the Broncos finished with 9 for 124 yards, which further bogged down an already slow game.
A Merciful Finale
Finally, in the 4th quarter, Denver got on the board with a 35-yard field goal which followed a 12-play drive leaving the Broncos down 13-3 with 10:45 remaining in the game. Each team exchanged punts until Wil Lutz finished off a 9-play drive by converting the Broncos 2nd field goal. With 1:54 left in the 4th quarter, it was a one-score game at 13-6. After the ensuing kickoff, Pittsburgh managed to run the clock down to 0:09 before Denver got possession, and two plays later, the game was over after Steelers safety Damontae Kazee intercepted Bo Nix on a failed Hail Mary attempt.
What’s Next
Pittsburgh comes away 2-0 but is in no way comfortable. The sloppy play won’t translate to wins against more formidable opponents starting with the visiting 2-0 Los Angeles Chargers in week 3. The Broncos face an uphill battle as well – they head to Tampa Bay to face another surprising 2-0 team in the Buccaneers. There are no training wheels on Justin Herbert or Baker Mayfield, so the Broncos and Steelers need to clean their games up quickly if they mean to score enough points to remain competitive in week 3.
Sloppy offense and penalties aren’t unusual this early in the season. The difference is between the teams who can clean it up and who cannot. These well-coached teams will be ready to compete at a high level once they get out of their own way.
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