DENVER -- Winning streaks are nice. And they're integral if you want to reach the playoffs. But when they end, it's often unexpected.
That's what happened to the Steelers here Sunday in their 24-17 loss to the Broncos.
Funny thing is, this loss seems to now have fans questioning this team again. No sooner had this game ended than I began getting and seeing the doubts creeping in on social media.
"Can this team make the playoffs at 8-7-1?" one asked.
"This was a big loss because now the tough games are coming," said another.
Seriously?
A seven-point loss on the road -- their first road loss of the season and only second in the past two seasons -- in a game in which they lost the turnover battle 4-0 and now the Steelers are going to win just one more game?
Now the Chargers, who just lost star running back Melvin Gordon and are 3-15 in Pittsburgh all-time, are an unbeatable force? Or the Patriots, who are 3-3 on the road this season?
You can trust that those teams are just as concerned about having to play the Steelers.
The Steelers are 7-3-1 after Sunday's loss. That moves them back to the No. 3 spot in the AFC playoff race behind Kansas City (9-2) and New England (8-3), with Houston (7-3) having a shot to move ahead if it can win its eighth straight game Monday night against the Titans.
This is not to downplay what's remaining on the Steelers' schedule. Those teams are a combined 33-22. But Denver's opponents the past two weeks were a combined 14-4-1, and yet the Broncos won. That's just the way of things in the NFL. If you have a subpar game, you're probably not going to win. But if the Steelers play their "A" game, they can beat anyone, especially at home, where they have remaining games against the Chargers, Patriots and Bengals. Those games won't be easy, but few games are in the NFL. Just know that the last time we saw the Steelers at home, they were beating the pants off the Panthers.
One thing about this team, by the way, is that it has shown it can win on the road. Even with Sunday's loss, the Steelers are 15-2-1 in their past 18 road games.
This is a team that took this loss hard. It's gotten accustomed to winning these types of games. After all, they went 8-2 in one-score games last season. This season, they're 4-2 in games decided by a touchdown or less.
"Heck yeah," center Maurkice Pouncey said when I asked if he thought this team was capable of another winning streak. "We turned the ball over. I’m (ticked) off right now."
Yes, the Steelers lost to the Broncos. They largely did it to themselves. They're not happy about that, which is a good thing moving forward.
• Denver's not a bad football team. In fact, at the beginning of the season, I had them pegged as a playoff team in the AFC. After Sunday's win, they are back in that conversation.
Don't overlook a team's season being on the line as a big motivating factor for NFL teams.
That was why the Steelers got the Jaguars' best shot a couple of weeks ago in Jacksonville -- they certainly didn't play with that same fire on Sunday in a loss at Buffalo -- and again by the Broncos Sunday.
The Broncos (5-6) are now back in the thick of things in the AFC playoff race. They travel to Cincinnati (5-6) next week in what will essentially be an elimination game.
• So why did the Steelers come out throwing the ball in this game? As Ben Roethlisberger said a couple of weeks ago, they like to throw to set up the run.
It's something they've actually done a lot over the years. Throw early to get a lead and run late to protect it.
Think about it this way, if Chris Boswell's field goal attempt on the Steelers opening possession isn't blocked, and if Xavier Grimble doesn't fumble at the goal line, the Steelers take a 20-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.
They then scored on the 97-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to JuJu Smith-Schuster early in the third quarter. That would have made it 27-10. Think the Broncos can stick with their running game after that?
Instead, that touchdown put the Steelers ahead just 17-10. And then they ran the ball four consecutive times on their next possession, with James Conner gaining 19 yards. But Roethlisberger threw an interception on third-and-3 right after that.
And Denver cashed in with Case Keenum throwing a 38-yard completion to Emmanuel Sanders against Joe Haden and then finding him again on the next play for a 5-yard score to tie it at 17.
Conner's next touch after that was this fumble at the end of a 23-yard catch-and-run.
The Broncos clearly had the momentum at that point and drove the length of the field to take a 24-17 lead. After that, Conner didn't touch the ball again until getting it on second-and-goal at the 3 with 1:53 remaining.
He spent the rest of the fourth quarter helping in protection of Roethlisberger.
Was that the best usage of Conner? Perhaps not. But considering the Broncos have two good edge pass rushers and the Steelers were starting rookie Chuks Okorafor at right tackle against Von Miller, it was needed.
• Smith-Schuster is good. And he went over 1,000 yards receiving for the season in this game with his 13-catch, 189-yard game with a touchdown.
But Antonio Brown is still the player opposing teams work extremely hard to stop. He draws double coverage or safety help over the top consistently.
It will be interesting to see if that starts to change. Smith-Schuster has, after all, caught touchdown passes of 75 and 97 yards now in the past three games, including this one Sunday.
That's a heck of a block thrown by Brown on Chris Harris, by the way, at midfield. There's a good chance Smith-Schuster doesn't score there if Brown doesn't lay Harris out.
• While those two are working at a high level, the same cannot be said of rookie James Washington.
Washington was targeted three times in this game and failed to come up with a single catch. Washington did get behind the Denver defense late in the third quarter for what could have been a 30-plus-yard completion -- if he hadn't left his feet to try to make the catch.
Washington initially caught the ball, but it popped out when he hit the ground. But Roethlisberger needs to keep going to him.
It says here that at some point in these final five regular season games, he's going to come up with a big play.
• Speaking of confidence, Roethlisberger is gaining of lot of it in Ryan Switzer.
Switzer was targeted eight times Sunday, catching six for 67 yards. Those eight targets were third on the team behind Smith-Schuster and Brown.
And Roethlisberger seems to look Switzer's way a lot on third downs. Maybe that's because he's working out of the slot and can get open quickly, but it's definitely a developing trend.
Switzer now has 27 receptions this season. Eight have come on third down.
• Stephon Tuitt can't come back soon enough. Javon Hargrave is playing at a really high level. So is Cam Heyward.
But this defense works the best -- especially against the run -- when those three are working in tandem, especially when teams run as much outside zone stretch plays as the Broncos did.
The Chargers will be without Gordon next week. He suffered a sprained knee Sunday in a win over the Cardinals. And that's a big loss.
Gordon has rushed for more than 800 yards and is averaging 5.2 yards per carry. That shouldn't make anyone too comfortable. Gordon's backup, Austin Eckler, is averaging 5.8 yards per rushing attempt this season.
• Look for an outside linebacker to be activated this week at the expense of a defensive back, probably Marcus Allen.
T.J. Watt suffered a wrist injury in this game and then Bud Dupree suffered an injury to his left pectoral muscle.
I didn't see Watt in the locker room, but I did talk to Dupree, and while he went back into the game -- as did a heavily taped Watt -- Dupree was struggling to put his shirt on as I spoke to him after the game.
Add to that the fact backup Anthony Chickillo was playing after suffering a sprained ankle in the win at Jacksonville and the Steelers have been playing with fire at that position all season, carrying just three players on their active roster.
That outside linebacker could be Ola Adeniyi, who started practicing last week after spending the season on injured reserve, or it could be Keion Adams or Farrington Huguenin, who are both on the practice squad.
• After converting on 22-of-28 red zone trips in their first nine games, the Steelers are now three-for-five in their past two games. That's still pretty good, but when you consider Grimble's fumble at the goal line in the first quarter Sunday didn't count as a red zone trip because the play started outside the 20, it's not quite as good.
• After going without an interception again Sunday, the Steelers now have just one in their past eight games. That's not a good trend.
The Steelers entered the game against the Broncos with an NFL-best 37 sacks and added two more, along with five quarterback hits, on Keenum's 28 throws.
That kind of pressure should lead to more interceptions.
The Steelers have 28 sacks in their past eight games and one interception. That just doesn't add up. In fact, they have forced just five turnovers in those eight games, despite getting to the quarterback on a pretty regular basis.
That just shouldn't happen.
• The Steelers had 11 possessions against the Broncos. Eight of them advanced into Denver territory. They didn't have a three-and-out the entire game. But they scored on just three possessions.
Denver had 11 possessions, as well. Just four of them ended on the Steelers' side of the field. That's the same number of three-and-outs the Broncos had. But Denver scored points on all four of its trips inside Steelers territory.
The Steelers gained 527 yards compared to 308 for the Broncos. They held a time of possession advantage of 35:00-25:00.
To me, those empty possessions are just as important as the red zone trips. In many ways, they were more important.
Nothing fires up a team quite like getting a stop when the opponent is in your territory, whether that be forcing a punt or getting a turnover.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers at Broncos, Denver, Nov. 25, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS