Denver Broncos Squeak Past Steelers, Win 23-16
Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburg Steelers 2nd Half Recap
The Denver Broncos opened up the second half receiving the kick, but their offense continued to struggle on the opening drive, ending in a punt. After the punt, the Steelers managed to get in field goal position in large-part because of Martavis Bryant. Bryant accumulated 64 yards off of two receptions. After getting to the Denver Broncos’ 10-yard line, the Steelers failed to gain any more yards, resulting in a 28-yard field goal by Chris Boswell.
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The next two drives resulted in punts by both teams, with the Denver Broncos pinning the Steelers deep in their own territory. After the Steelers’ punt, the Denver Broncos had to field position and looked to open up their playbook to get the offense going. However, despite getting inside the Steelers’ 30-yard line, the Denver Broncos failed to convert on third down, bringing Brandon McManus out for his fourth field goal attempt.
With the 41-yard field goal, the Denver Broncos cut the Steelers’ lead to just one point, trailing 13-12 entering the fourth quarter. The Steelers took the ball deep into Denver Broncos’ territory; however, an untimely facemask penalty forced the Steelers out of field goal range, resulting in a punt for a touchback, bringing the ball out to the Denver Broncos’ 20-yard line.
On the first play of the drive, Peyton Manning avoided a sack, but he fell on the ground. Alertly, he got up (knowing he had not been touched) and completed the longest play of the day for the Denver Broncos, connecting with Emmanuel Sanders for 29 yards. Mike Tomlin tried to challenge the play, but the play was not a challengeable play. Despite the quick start to the drive, the Denver Broncos failed to generate much more, ending in a punt.
On the punt, Markus Wheaton muffed the kick, but the Steelers managed to recover the kick in the endzone, resulting in a touchback. The Pittsburg Steelers were marching down the field when, on a halfback draw, Fitzgerald Toussaint fumbled the ball, with the Denver Broncos recovering the ball. The fumble marked the first turnover by either team on the night. With the fumble, the Denver Broncos started their drive on their own 35-yard line.
On the second play of the drive, Denver Broncos’ running back C.J. Anderson broke off a 28-yard rush; however, it was called back due to holding at the line of scrimmage. After the holding penalty, Peyton Manning got away with a terrible throw, hitting Steelers’ cornerback William Gay between the numbers. With the lifeline granted to Peyton Manning, he connected with Bennie Fowler to get the Denver Broncos inside the Steelers’ 40-yard line.
The Denver Broncos managed to find the endzone for the first time all game, with three minutes remaining on the clock. With the touchdown, the Denver Broncos were up 18-13, so Gary Kubiak decided to go for two points to extend the team’s lead to seven points. Peyton Manning connected with Demaryius Thomas on a quick screen, and he found the endzone for a successful two point conversion to make the score 20-13.
With the touchdown, the Denver Broncos were in the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter, but they left three minutes on the clock for Ben Roethlisberger to try and mount a game-tying drive. Big Ben connected with Martavis Bryant on the first play for 17 yards, pushing his receiving total to 125 yards off of seven receptions.
On third-and-five, the Denver Broncos managed to get pressure to Roethlisberger, forcing an incomplete pass and fourth down. The Steelers tried to bring in more protection to stop the Denver Broncos’ blitz; however, they managed to get to him and force the sack and turnover-on-downs. The Denver Broncos took over the ball with under two minutes remaining in the game.
The Steelers forced a three-and-out from the Denver Broncos, but with the Broncos inside the 30-yard line, Brandon McManus came on for a 45-yard attempt. He knocked in his fifth field goal of the game, tying a playoff record, and put the game out of reach, with the Denver Broncos up 23-13 with just under one minute remaining.
In the dying embers, Roethlisberger led the Steelers down the field to score a field goal with just under 20 seconds remaining in the game to make the score 23-16. Following the field goal, the Steelers attempted an onside kick in efforts to tie the game late; however, the Denver Broncos recovered the onside kick to ice the game.
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