11/23/18-Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos

By: Mike Pelaia

The Steelers will ride their six game win streak into Denver on Sunday evening to face a 4-6 Broncos team who needs a win to save their season. Four of the Broncos six losses have come against some of the top teams in the NFL by a combined margin of 16 points. They have two narrow defeats to the Chiefs, a close loss to the Rams and another close loss to the Texans.

While the Broncos may seem like an easy win, on paper, they really are not.  They are tough, they are fighting for their playoff lives and they are playing at home, which is never an easy place to travel to.

 

Here Are The Keys To Victory:

 

The Steelers Must Stop Denver’s Pass Rush

Von Miller and Bradley Chubb are two very dangerous pass rushers who have 10 and 9 sacks apiece.  The black and gold must find a way to keep them out of their backfield.  In fact, the Broncos have 31 sacks on the season, so it’s not just these two skilled linebackers they have to worry about. Protecting Ben Roethlisberger is of the utmost importance in this game.  I’d recommend using Roosevelt Nix a little more often this game, just to put a body in-between Roethlisberger and the Bronco attack.

 

Adjusting To The Altitude

It’s no secret that the stadium is literally a mile above sea level. The altitude is something that takes getting used to, let alone playing football in.  The Broncos bodies are trained for this. The Steelers bodies are not.  Being able to maintain their oxygen levels and stamina while playing their top level ball is not as easy as it sounds, when playing in those conditions.  They need to find a way to slow the pace of the game down, to allow their bodies the proper adjustment.

 

Continue Their Road Success

The Steelers have only lost one game on the road in the last two seasons. They have put all the road woes behind them. They have debunked the myth that Roethlisberger is bad on the road and Mike Tomlin can’t coach outside of Heinz. They’ll need to build on the success of the come from behind victory in Jacksonville, after being down 16 points and winning late.  They need to take the crowd out of it, control the clock and never feel like they are out of the game, even if their down, as they proved last week. If they continue to play their brand of football, they will win yet another contest away from Heinz Field.

 

Create Turnovers

The Steelers are still not creating the turnovers yet this season, having only produced 12 total.  Nobody on the team has more than one interception and they only have six total.  They need to get after Case Keenum and force some errant throws.  That falls on TJ Watt and Bud Dupree. I anticipate a heavy rush and I believe this team will finally get a couple of interceptions out of the secondary, which will assist in field position and ultimately, a ‘W’.

 

The Steelers escaped Jacksonville with a big win last week and they will continue their road success again this week with a close victory, 23-17 in Denver.  The Broncos are a better football team than they look to be, record wise, so expect a tight, close game all the way through.