Denver Broncos Must Take Advantage of Banged-Up Steelers

The Denver Broncos enter this weekend’s Divisional round playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers well rested after a 1-week bye by nature of being the top seeded team in the AFC.

Their AFC Divisional round opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers, are not as fortunate, and will go into Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos at much less than full strength. The Steelers won a hard fought and ugly game on Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals, where two of their most important players may not even play.

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Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger left last Saturday’s game in Cincinnati with a shoulder injury after a hit from Vontaze Burfict sent him to the locker room. Compounding the injury problem for Pittsburgh is the status of star wide receiver Antonio Brown.

Brown, the second leading wide receiver in the NFL during the regular season, suffered a vicious hit from Vontaze Burfict in the fourth quarter against the Bengals, and is now in concussion protocol. Bufirct will miss the first three games of next season from that hit, as the ensuing penalty(ies) gave Pittsburgh the winning field goal.

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Multiple media outlets report that it is not looking like Antonio Brown will take the field on Sunday against the Denver Broncos after suffering a concussion. However, Ben Roethlisberger will most likely start. Roethlisberger stated on Tuesday that he has yet to throw following Saturday’s game. Steelers’ doctors diagnosed Roethlisberger with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder.

Even if Big Ben suits up for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, the Denver Broncos have to feel going into this game that they hold a huge advantage — especially playing within the friendly confines of Sports Authority Field. His arm is not at full strength, meaning that Roethlisberger is limited on the depth of his throws. This makes the Steelers offense predictable and more reliant on the run game, which already diminished with the loss of DeAngelo Williams, who is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game.

Without the threat of Antonio Brown on the field, the Steelers’ are limited on the offensive end even more, meaning that the Denver Broncos’ defense has the chance to a have a banner day. Though the Denver Broncos themselves are dealing with injuries, namely DeMarcus Ware (who returned to practice this week) on the defensive end of the field, and the question of whether Peyton Manning can effectively play under center, the litany of injuries accumulated by the Pittsburgh Steelers over the last week make this contest look very winnable.