DENVER -- The Steelers escaped Jacksonville with an improbable win, their sixth in a row, and will put that streak on the line Sunday against the Broncos.
It will be their first and only back-to-back road games this season -- if they play their cards right. The victory last week kept them in the No. 2 spot in the AFC playoff standings with six games remaining.
Not that they're necessarily thinking quite that far down the road just yet.
"None of that really matters unless we handle our business,” Ramon Foster said. “But that’s one of our things, win our division, position ourselves No. 1 or No. 2 and see what happens after that.”
Not that going on the road has been a big problem for the Steelers. They have gone 15-1-1 in their past 17 road games and are the only unbeaten team in the AFC on the road this season at 4-0-1.
But they needed to pull out all of the stops to do that last week in Jacksonville, rallying from a 16-0 second-half deficit to win on a one-yard Ben Roethlisberger touchdown run with five seconds remaining.
They'd just as soon not put themselves into that kind of situation, but winning on the road in the NFL is never easy.
"It’s almost one of those ... you are going into the lion’s den, everyone against however you want to say it," Roethlisberger said. "You just have to be uber-focused, and I guess we’ve been doing that recently."
Denver knows a little something about being behind. According to Rotowire, the Broncos have had the lead for only 15.3 percent of their second half snaps and 14.4 percent of their 4th quarter snaps, the lowest rates in the league.
But they have won some close games, including 27-24 over Seattle, 20-19 over Oakland and 23-22 against the Chargers last week.
The Steelers will be the fourth division leader the Broncos will have faced this season. And they're the third consecutive team Denver will have played that enters the game with at least a five-game winning streak, joining Houston and the Chargers.
“We’re kind of battle-tested,” Denver head coach Vance Joseph said. “We’ve played the best teams in the league. So for our team, we won’t flinch. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
It was supposed to be easier than this, however, especially after Denver acquired quarterback Case Keenum in the offseason after starting three different quarterbacks last season en route to a 5-11 record.
Keenum has been better, cutting way down on the 22 interceptions Denver quarterbacks threw a season ago, but he hasn't been particularly dynamic, either, throwing just 10 touchdown passes.
He'll face a Steelers defense that has allowed an average of just 158.8 yards passing per game in its past five outings while leading the NFL with 37 sacks.
"Early in the season, we were giving up a lot of big, explosive plays," Steelers corner Mike Hilton said. "We cut those down tremendously. That’s cut down our yards per game tremendously."
If the Steelers can continue that solid play, who knows, perhaps this actually will be their final two-game road trip of the season.
“Just stay focused,” Foster said. “We acknowledge it’s our ultimate goal, to get (home field advantage) and go deep in the playoffs, Super Bowl, that’s forever the situation here.
“Overall records and AFC positioning is huge right now.”
THE ESSENTIALS
• When: 4:25 p.m.
• Where: Broncos Stadium at Mile High
• Radio: 102.5 WDVE, ESPN Pittsburgh
• Satellite: SiriusXM 227, Internet 826
• Forecast: 44 degrees, sunny
• Gates open: 2:25 p.m.
• Will call open: 2:25 p.m.
• Lots open: 11 a.m.
• Boxscore: NFL Game Center
• Odds: MyBookie.AG
THE INJURY REPORT
Steelers: RT Marcus Gilbert (knee, out) DE Stephon Tuitt (elbow, out), OT Matt Feiler (pectoral, questionable)
Broncos: LB Brandon Marshall (knee, out), S Dymonte Thomas (ankle, out), CB Bradley Roby (concussion, questionable)
THE KEY VARIABLE
Emmanuel Sanders was once a member of the “Young Money Crew” with the Steelers that also included Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown. It was a group with all kinds of potential when it began in 2010 with the selection of Sanders in the third round, and Brown in the sixth by the Steelers.
But Wallace and Sanders both left the Steelers for greener pastures, while Brown has cashed in with the Steelers and become arguably the best receiver in the NFL.
Wallace? Since leaving the Steelers after the 2012 season, he’s bounced around from Miami to Minnesota to Baltimore to Philadelphia, becoming the definition of a journeyman.
As for Sanders, he left the Steelers as a free agent following the 2013 season, signing with the Broncos. Now 31, Sanders is no longer young, but he’s been a money player for the Broncos, posting three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons before injuries and quarterback ineffectiveness limited him to 47 catches for 555 yards and two touchdowns in 2017.
But Sanders has bounced back this season, posting a team-best 60 receptions for 763 yards and three touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 53 yards and even threw a touchdown pass earlier this season.
If the Steelers are going to beat the Broncos, they’ll need to keep Sanders from having a big day.
While the Steelers have used Joe Haden to shadow the team’s best receiver during their current six-game winning streak, that probably won’t be the case against Sanders. The Broncos line Sanders up all over the formation, including in the backfield, though he does a lot of his work in the slot.
“He’s their leading receiver, so it’s going to be a good matchup,” said Hilton, the team's nickel corner. “Whether he wins or I win, he’s a guy they want to get the ball to, so I’ve got to contain him.
“I’ve seen on film they like to get him the ball inside a lot. He’s one of their best guys at that position. It’s going to be a battle.”
Hilton has become one of the best nickel cornerbacks in the NFL the past two seasons after making the team’s roster as an unheralded late season-signing to the team’s practice squad as a rookie in 2016.
He’s got six passes defended and an interception in nine games this season after recording two interceptions and four sacks in his first season a year ago.
He won’t back down, even against a top-notch receiver such as Sanders.
“A lot of teams’ third corner is not as good as the other two,” Hilton acknowledged. “That’s part of some offensive game plays. You know me, I’m a confident guy. It’s going to be an exciting matchup.”
THE HISTORY LESSON
Chuck Noll coached the Steelers in 24 playoff games, including four Super Bowl victories. But it was his final playoff game that we'll take a look back at this week.
The year was 1989, and Noll was nearly at the end of his 23-year coaching career — that would end with him being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Steelers opened that season by losing to Cleveland, 51-0, in their regular season opener and then 41-10 the following week at Cincinnati.
That caused Noll to tell then team director of pro personnel Tom Donahoe, "We either just played the two best teams in the AFC, or we’re in for a long season.”
It actually was a long season, but not in the way Noll thought. Turns out, the Steelers were better than anyone thought.
They rallied to win their final three games that season to sneak into the playoffs at 9-7, then shocked the Oilers in Houston, 26-23, in overtime for Noll's final playoff victory.
Then it was on to Denver in the Divisional Round of the playoffs for a rematch with a team that had beaten the Steelers, 34-7, at Mile High Stadium earlier that season.
Gary Anderson gave the underdog Steelers a 3-0 lead on a 32-yard field goal in the first quarter and then Merril Hoge scored on a 7-yard run early in the second quarter to put the visitors up, 10-0.
The Broncos cut the lead to 10-7 on a 1-yard Melvin Bratton run midway through the second quarter, but the Steelers increased their advantage back to 10 points on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Bubby Brister to Louis Lipps with just 26 seconds remaining in the first half.
But John Elway got the Broncos into field goal position quickly to set up a 43-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to cut the Steelers' lead to 17-10 going into the third quarter.
Early in the third quarter, Karl Mecklenburg and Greg Kragen hit rookie running back Tim Worley and forced a fumble the Broncos recovered at the Pittsburgh 37. That led to a 37-yard TD pass from Elway to Vance Johnson to tie the game at 17.
But the Steelers continued to control the game with their rushing attack and regained the lead with a 35-yard Anderson field goal midway through the third quarter.
They added another field goal early in the fourth quarter following a Thomas Everett interception to take a 23-17 lead.
With the Steelers in Denver territory following a Broncos punt, Tyrone Braxton stopped Hoge at the 41 on third down to force a fourth-and-1 punt. That would prove to be a critical stop as the Broncos took over at their own 29 with seven minutes to play and Elway directed a game-winning touchdown drive capped off by a 1-yard Bratton TD run to give Denver a 24-23 lead with 2:23 remaining.
On first down of the ensuring possession, Brister fired a pass to a wide open Mark Stock, but the ball was dropped. After another incompletion, Brister fumbled a low snap from backup center Chuck Lanza, who was filling in for an injured Dermontti Dawson. Denver safety Randy Robbins recovered the loose ball and the Broncos went on to the AFC Championship against Cleveland.
Hoge had perhaps the best game of his career, rushing for 120 yards 16 carries while also catching eight passes for 60 yards to account for nearly half of the Steelers' 404 yards, 175 of which came on the ground.
Elway, who would lead the Broncos past the Browns and to the Super Bowl the following week, was 12 of 20 for 239 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Noll would finish his career with a 16-8 record in postseason games, coaching two more seasons after that and leading the Steelers to a 16-16 record before retiring and turning things over to Bill Cowher.
THE MAIN MATCHUP
It wasn’t that long ago Roethlisberger had a stretch where his home/road splits were among the worst in the NFL after being pretty close earlier in his career.
In 2015 and 2016, for example, he threw 36 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions at home, while throwing just 14 touchdowns and 17 interceptions on the road.
But that started to shift back to the norm last season. And since the start of the 2017 season, Roethlisberger has thrown 30 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions at home versus 21 touchdowns and 13 interceptions on the road. He’s still been better at home, but that ratio is much closer than it once was. Add in the fact Roethlisberger is averaging more passing yards on the road (328.2 per game) than he is at home (312.2), and the home vs. road woes seem to be something of the past.
“We have to first contain Ben," said Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller. Most of the plays they’ve made down the field are busted plays, so I think your first duty is to contain him with the pass-rush plan. The second, how you tackle Ben, is tackle the arms. If you don’t tackle the arms, he’s getting the ball off. I’ve seen guys on his legs and he’s throwing the ball 50 yards in the air. The key is to have a great rush plan, and once we get there, to tackle his arms where he can’t throw the football.”
The Broncos offer a tough matchup for Roethlisberger. And they have guys who can get him on the ground and make life difficult in Miller and rookie outside-linebacker Bradley Chubb.
Miller has 10 sacks this season and has recorded double digits in sacks in every one since entering the NFL in 2011, except one injury-plagued season in 2013. In an upset win over the Chargers last week, he became the fifth-fastest player in league history to record 100 career sacks and also had an interception that set up a touchdown, earning him AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Chubb, meanwhile, has recorded nine sacks, leading all rookies in that statistic. They are a formidable duo. But the Steelers’ task will be keeping Miller, in particular, from wrecking the day.
That task could fall on Matt Feiler, who will make his fifth consecutive start in place of injured right tackle Marcus Gilbert if he tests out OK in pre-game warmups. To make matters more difficult, Feiler missed practice time this week with a pectoral injury suffered in last week’s win over the Jaguars. If he can't go, rookie Chuks Okorafor would make his first career start.
“Listen, nobody can really block Von Miller to tell you the truth, so we’ll have to put a couple guys over there,” Roethlisberger said. “We are not going to be crazy and make one guy do it. We’ll have to put a couple guys over there because he and [Bradley] Chubb are pretty special.”
Alejandro Villanueva will be tasked with handling the rookie, and if he’s able to do so one-on-one, it will make life much easier on Roethlisberger, who has been sacked just 14 times all season.
The Broncos have a lot of respect for the Steelers' offensive line.
"They have a great offensive line," Miller said. "Beat up at the right tackle a little bit, but still. Those other four guys are All-Pro guys. It’s going to be another tough challenge."
But Chubb, the fifth-overall pick in this year’s draft, has been on a roll of late. He’s recorded 7.5 sacks in Denver’s past five games.
It seems Chubb is learning his lessons well from Miller.
“I’m sure his mentorship is evident in the growth and development of Bradley Chubb," said Mike Tomlin. "This guy is on an unbelievable pace. They are a talented bunch.”
THE QUOTES
• “I follow JuJu on Instagram. He is everything and more. He is as advertised. They have a certified one-two punch with him and AB.” -- Miller
• You get on this list of fourth-quarter comebacks, but I always joke that usually means you stunk it up the first three quarters. So I need to play better early.” -- Roethlisberger, who led his 45th game-winning drive last week against Jacksonville
• “Sometimes we’re capable of walking into a stadium and being a run-dominant team. Sometimes we’re capable of stepping into a stadium and throwing it every down. Sometimes we step into a stadium and we’re capable of no-huddle, sometimes we huddle often. You better be versatile in the National Football League in all three phases, and we work continually to be.” -- Tomlin
THE TEN DATA POINTS
• Brown has caught a touchdown pass in eight straight games, the first time that has happened in the NFL since Wes Welker in 2012 and 2013.
• Brown ranks third among all wide receivers in yards after the catch with 376 yards, while JuJu Smith-Schuster is fourth at 364 yards.
• Brown and Roethlisberger have hooked up for 70 touchdowns and need two more to match Drew Brees and Marques Colston for the sixth most by a duo in NFL history.
• The Broncos are the only team in the league with more rushing touchdowns (13) than passing touchdowns (12).
• Denver's Phillip Lindsay leads all running backs with over 100 rushing attempts in rate of runs to gain at least five yards at 44.4 percent. An undrafted rookie from Colorado, Lindsay averages 5.5 yards per carry.
• The Steelers have allowed opposing passers to complete just 24-of-73 of their deep passing attempts -- 15-plus yards -- this season. That 32.9 percent completion percentage is the lowest in the league.
• The Steelers haven’t allowed more than 85 yards to a wide receiver since Week 4 and have allowed just four touchdowns to the position over their past six games.
• The game will be officiated by Tony Corrente's crew. That same crew worked the Steelers' game Sept. 30 against the Ravens. The Steelers were called for five penalties, while the Ravens drew seven. Corrente's crew has called just 11.7 penalties per game this season, 1.3 fewer than the league average. The Steelers rank second in the NFL with 78 penalties -- Kansas City is first with 98 -- while the Broncos are tied for ninth with 71.
• T.J. Watt is the first Steelers outside linebacker to reach double digits in sacks since James Harrison (10.5) and LaMarr Woodley (10) did it in 2010.
• Since the 1970 NFL merger, the Steelers have won a league-high 464 games. The Broncos are tied for third with Miami with 435. Dallas is second with 440.
THE FANTASY FREE PLAY
Here are projections for the top 10 fantasy players in this game.
- Roethlisberger, 284 passing yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, eight rushing yards
- James Conner, 21 carries, 94 yards, one touchdown, four receptions, 41 yards
- Brown, seven receptions, 88 yards, one touchdown
- Keenum, 244 yards passing, one touchdown, one interception, four rushing yards
- Lindsay, 15 carries, 65 yards, three receptions, 29 yards
- Smith-Schuster, five receptions, 72 yards, one touchdown
- Sanders, six receptions, 69 yards
- Jeff Heurman, three receptions, 36 yards, one touchdown
- Courtland Sutton, three receptions, 56 yards
- Vance McDonald, four receptions, 45 yards
THE STAFF PICKS
Our football coverage team offers predictions:
Dale Lolley: The Broncos have come close to beating some top teams at home, losing to the Chiefs, Rams and Texans by a combined nine points. But they have lost those games. Keenum is better than what the Broncos were running out there last season, but not by much. If the Steelers can establish their passing game early, that could open up the running game. Usually it's the other way around, but Denver has allowed just 2.9 yards per carry in its past three games after some issues stopping the run early in the season. The Steelers have to play the run better this week than they did last. Denver is the only team in the league with more rushing touchdowns than passing, and Lindsay averages more than five yards per carry. Shut him down and you shut down Denver's offense. Steelers, 24-17
Chris Carter: The Steelers need to pick at the Broncos' pass defense early and stay ahead of the chains. The Steelers might catch a break not needing to start Chukwuma Okorafor over Feiler, because Miller poses a serious edge threat. The Steelers didn't need to worry about Miller in the previous two meetings because Gilbert was available, and he allowed one tackle and no sacks over two games back in the 2015-2016 season. If Roethlisberger can have a hot start against the 18th ranked pass defense, that will allow for a balanced attack between Conner and play-action to pick at the 27th-ranked rush defense. But I see the defense setting a strong tone against Keenum and the Broncos' young running backs, even if the offense has another slow start. Steelers, 27-13
Matt Sunday: When a team is hot, especially when they find a way to win when it looks like they shouldn't, you can start to look at the close wins as a "loss." The Steelers probably had no business coming back against Jacksonville because they didn't do enough things right to even deserve the chance. So, chalk that win up as a loss, and expect the Steelers to rebound with a more complete game, against a different struggling opponent, as if they needed to prove something. This team does have things to prove before the postseason, and it can start by taking care of teams they should take care of in the way that Drew Brees casually throws touchdowns to undrafted players. The Steelers lost to Kansas City and are yet to play the Chargers, Patriots and Saints. If they want to remain in the conversation for who will play in February, they can help themselves by beating up these Broncos before taking on the rest of that schedule. Steelers, 27-19
Dejan Kovacevic: Adversity can bring many blessings, among them awareness. The Steelers learned a lot about themselves in Jacksonville, and not all of it was upbeat. Dan McCullers isn't an NFL nose tackle, for example. Coty Sensabaugh isn't the best choice to shut down the run. And even at the very top of the structure, Ben won't always be at his best. But there are ways to bring him out of that faster than what happened. It's a team that's improving, Sunday after Sunday. The opponent doesn't matter nearly as much once a roll like that starts. I've covered some crushing, against-all-odds losses up here. This won't be one. Steelers, 26-18