Tomlin’s Fearless Warriors V Shanahan’s Incompetent Fools: A Preview
Last time these two teams meet each other, The Denver Broncos dominated. In fact, they didn’t just dominate; they ripped Ben Roethlisberger to shreds. The problem is the Broncos are more likely to have the kind of performance they had in the 2005 AFC Championship game against the Steelers. And no, the Steelers aren’t much better, the Broncos are just much worse.
First of all, stopping Willie Parker will be big. Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t fair well when he has to throw the football a lot and Willie Parker has been inconsistent so far this season. His performances in Week 2 and 3 were brilliant, 5.5 yards per carry in both games as well as 259 rushing yards combined from the two games. But his performances the past two weeks have been just bad. Just 37 rushing yards against Arizona and a 3.6 avg yard per carry against Seattle. However, Willie Parker will cause a lot of problems as has ankle breaking speed and the Denver Broncos aren’t best known for their tackling, he’ll slip his way out of a few tackles. He is more than capable of making the big run. His elusiveness is exclusive. Willie Parker as well as Marvel Smith and Alan Faneca, causes for trouble stopping the run.
Ben Roethlisberger looked terrible last season when he faced the Broncos, one of the main reasons for that is because he was forced to throw the ball a whopping 54 times. It doesn’t look very likely he will be forced to throw against the ball against the Broncos, but if the Broncos could keep the game close until the end, the Broncos may have a chance. Just like Phillip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger can’t win games. Hines Ward’s injury status for the game will be interesting, he will be key for the Pittsburgh Steelers, he is currently “Questionable”. All Bronco blitz plays should be directed at right tackle Willie Colon. It would be wise to overload that side on the blitz plays, Colon is young and not as good as Marvel Smith and he will have trouble against the likes of Simeon Rice. That will be the Denver Broncos only chance at getting to the Quarterback.
Mike Tomlin is known for playing “smash your mouth” defense, he likes blitzes, and he is a defensive mastermind. Because the Denver Broncos run defense is so bad, the Broncos will need to score a lot of points, but that will be excruciatingly hard against the best defense in the NFL. The Pittsburgh Steelers have only let up 9.4 points per game this season and that is the best in the NFL (as stated before). Ike Taylor and Deshea Townsend are both very solid corners, in fact the Steelers pass defense has only allowed opposing Quarterbacks to complete 51.5% of their passes, the Steelers pass defense has only let up 3 passing touchdowns. The Pittsburgh Steelers defense has made 17 sacks as well. Especially with Nalen out injured, Jay Cutler will be running for his life. The young Quarterback barely stands a chance. Be sure that the Steelers will be throwing all sorts of blitz plays at Jay Cutler, and the Steelers could also get a couple of coverage sacks on Jay Cutler. Jay Cutler better be wearing a super protective helmet.
But we are also forgetting the Steelers secret defensive weapon. His name is Troy Polamalu. Troy Polamalu is known to pop up out of no where and pick off a ball. The Broncos, especially Jay Cutler, will have to keep an eye on Polamalu because he is a defensive playmaker. The Steelers really like to move him around; he is like a chess peice for them.
Obviously establishing the run will be a necessity for the Broncos but that is a lot easier said than done against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Larry Foote and James Farrior are both good linebackers and the way the Broncos offensive line is looking without Nalen is spooky. Although establishing the run will be hard, it will need to be done if the Broncos are to have any chance.
There’s one thing left though. Allen Rossum is a great return man, kick/punt coverage has been a problem for the Broncos and Allen Rossum can exploit that weakness.
It looks like Willie Parker will be breaking ankles, Cutler’s head will be looking like a smashed plum, Henry will be getting whacked in the back field and Allen Rossum will be making the Broncos special teams coverage look like crushed lady bugs, things look doubtful for the Denver Broncos. However there is still a chance for them, especially if Hines Ward is out. Roethlisberger wont beat Champ and Dre’, and he will definitely not beat Champ and Dre’ without Hines Ward.
This game will be big for the Broncos, 2-4 makes playoff chances look slim, but with a 3-3 record the Broncos would have every chance of making the playoffs. The Broncos certainly have their work cut out for them, and everything points to a Steelers win.