TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, October 22, 2007
The Broncos' Tim Crowder returns a Ben Roethlisberger fumble for a touchdown during the second quarter Sunday, Oct. 21, in Denver.
DENVER -- When the Steelers arrived in Denver late Saturday afternoon, temperatures were in the high 70s. They awoke the Sunday morning to find the streets and sidewalks outside their downtown hotel covered with snow.
Weather apparently isn’t the only thing that can change drastically in Denver.
Looking nothing like the team that had lost three consecutive games and been embarrassed at home just two weeks earlier, Denver held off the mistake-prone Steelers, 31-28, in front of an announced of 72,932 at INVESCO Field at Mike High and a national TV audience.
The Steelers rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit and tied the game at 28 after Ben Roethlisberger threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller with just over a minute to play in the fourth quarter.
The unflappable Jay Cutler, however, drove the Broncos (3-3) down the field, and Jason Elam kicked a 49-yard field goal as time expired to give the Broncos a win they desperately needed.
"We didn't play well enough to win," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "That's the reality of it."
For the second time this season, the Steelers (4-2) traveled across the country and had a much longer plane ride going home then they did coming out.
With a chance to build on its lead in the AFC North –- Baltimore had lost earlier in the day at Buffalo –- the Steelers inexplicably played their worst game, or at least worst half, of the season.
And they did so against a team that had lost 41-3 to San Diego in Denver on Oct. 7 and was playing without its top defensive back (cornerback Champ Bailey) and without its best wide receiver (Javon Walker).
Not that it mattered Denver was short-handed on a cold night in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Clark Haggens, back, chases after Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, right, as he looks to throw a pass in the first quarter.
Starting just his 11th career game, Cutler did not get rattled by a Steelers defense that usually terrorizes young quarterbacks.
He completed 22-of-29 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns.
The vaunted Steelers defense, which lost Aaron Smith (left knee) during the Broncos' first possession of the game, gave up a touchdown in the opening half for the first time this season. It also gave up points in the second quarter for the first time in 2007.
That and Roethlisberger's erratic play through the first two quarters explained why the Steelers trailed the Broncos 21-7 at halftime.
After throwing a pair of interceptions in the first half, Roethlisberger was superb following intermission. He finished the game with 290 passing yards and four touchdowns.
He twice pulled the Steelers to within seven points of the Broncos with touchdown passes to Santonio Holmes and Matt Spaeth.
He couldn’t bring the Steelers all the way back even though he threw three touchdowns in the second half.
"We all fought back. We made some huge plays. It's something that we can build upon. Is it disappointing? Yes, because the first half, it was on us, it really wasn’t what they did."
The game couldn't have started much better for the Steelers.
Elam's kickoff skidded out of bounds, giving the Steelers excellent field position, and Roethlisberger needed just eight plays to march them 60 yards for the touchdown.
Roethlisberger completed 5-of-6 passes on the drive and capped it with a 1-yard scoring toss to Heath Miller.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, that was easily the high point for Roethlisberger in the first half.
He got sacked three times and his three turnovers equaled the number he had in the Steelers' first five games.
Two of them led to 14 Denver points.
Midway through the second quarter with the score tied at seven, Roethlisberger threw a pass off his back foot and it was tipped an intercepted by Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams at the Broncos' 39 yard line.
Cutler broke free for a 31-yard run, setting up his 1-yard touchdown pass to Cecil Sapp.
The Steelers again went on the move but Roethlisberger fumbled after getting sacked near midfield, and Tim Crowder scooped up the loose ball and rumbled 50 yards for the touchdown.
The Steelers had just two rushing first downs in the opening 30 minutes even though the Broncos entered the game yielding an average of almost 188 yards per contest.
Scott Brown can be reached at sbrown@tribweb.com or 412-481-5432.
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