The Pittsburgh Steelers traveled out to the Mile High City to lay a vicious 28-10 pounding on the Denver Broncos. Once again, the Steelers rose to the level of their competition by putting together by far their best effort of the season. Even missing three starters on defense while dealing with the inhumane conditions of playing in Denver couldn’t hamper their effort. The Steelers thrive on the big stage and this was their latest award winning performance.

It didn’t start out that way, however. The Steelers offense could have stayed in their hotel until halftime. To say they were ineffective is like saying Skippy Reed occasionally enjoys an alcoholic beverage. Ben Roethlisberger and company ran only 18 plays in the first half. EIGHTEEN! I have to give the Broncos defense some credit, they were much better than I expected, especially against the pass. Ben had only the narrowest of windows to throw into which lead to drive killing incompletions and coverage sacks.

Meanwhile, the Broncos came out firing. Two guesses who their primary target was. Yes, young Will.i.am Gay might as well wear a bullseye on his helmet instead of the hypocycloid. Ron Jaworski said QBs are completing an amazing 69% of the passes thrown in Gay’s direction so now I have statistical proof to back up my hate. To be fair, Will.i.am did make a couple nice plays, one where knocked the ball out of a receiver’s hands to prevent a third down conversion and another where he probably would’ve had an INT if Troy Polamalu didn’t run him over.

Besides the opening drive which netted a FG, the Broncos had trouble moving the ball themselves. They managed to grind out a few first downs and dominated the first half time of possession but had very little to show for it. Their offensive strategy seems to be Death By Paper Cuts as they endeavor to “masturbate the ball down the feel” (as the sorely missed Emmit Smith would say) 2-4 yards at a time. Against a superior defense like the Steelers, that strategy is doomed for failure.

And doom soon struck as Kyle Orton misfired on a pass (actually, the referee blocked the running back from getting to the ball) that was picked by Tyrone Carter and returned for a TD. First person on the field to congratulate Carter? The man whose place he took, Ryan Clark.

After halftime, the roles were completely reversed as the Steeler offense seemed to have a monopoly on the football. Pittsburgh’s time of possession at halftime was a little under 10 minutes but by the end of the game it had ballooned to 33. Of course, the second half didn’t start ideally as Big Ben was strip-sacked on their opening drive and the resulting fumble was scooped up and returned for a Broncos TD. Let the record show Chris Kemoteau was the culprit who got badly beaten to smudge what was an otherwise excellent performance by Max Starks and company.

The Broncos made a grave mistake by returning that fumble for a TD. It seemed to piss off Big Ben because he came right back FIRING. Up until this point, the Steelers had a grand total of 75 yards of offense. On FOUR PLAYS they went 80 yards for the go-ahead TD. It was a thing of beauty. An 18 yard strike to Mike Wallace, a 25 yard rumble by Rashard Mendenhall, a 35 yard dart to Santonio Holmes, capped off with a 3 yard back of the end zone TD grab by Hines Ward. It’s an embarrassment of riches for the offense and much like our President, Ben loves to spread the wealth.

Four plays later, the Steelers got the ball back and continued the systematic destruction. Unfortunately, this drive ended when Hines zigged when Ben thought he’d zag, resulting in a Broncos INT. Turnovers are never good but Roethlisberger has a weird habit of making his count. I don’t know why but it seems like his INTs are always in the end zone or Pick Sixes. Guess it’s a good thing his mistakes are few and far between (Ill-fated Vegas booty calls aside).

Not to worry, however, because the Denver offense couldn’t do anything against the Steelers. Every time Orton was pressured or flushed from the pocket, he’d throw the ball like a scared little girl. When he wasn’t tossing footballs into the dirt, he was dunking two yard passes which were quickly snuffed out by the sure-tackling Steelers. Complicating matters was the fact the Broncos only rushed for 27 yards ALL GAME. Putting the ball in the hands of Captain Neckbeard and asking him to win the game is not a winning strategy.

Sure enough, one of Orton’s lollipops soon ended up in Polamalu’s hands. Three plays later, Ben made them pay by scrambling out of danger and finding Mike Wallace for a 25 yard touchdown. Another 3 and out by Denver concluded with Mitch Berger GOING ALL MITCH BERGER and uncorking a soaring magnificent 25 yard punt. The Steelers happily went to work with an 11 play five minute drive finished off with a second TD pass to the NFL’s Dirtiest Player.

The big play on that final drive was a 36 yard run by Mendenhall. Rashard had an absolutely incredible game, rushing 22 times for 155 yards. That’s a 7 yard/carry average, folks. And this was against a defense ranked in the top 5 against the rush. Rashard is the Real Deal. Bruce Arians may love his Flying Circus but he’d do well to take a cue from G.I. Joe and remember it’s important to strike from the land just as much as the sea or air.

Tyrone Carter picked off another feeble Orton offering to end the game. Last week, the Ravens held the Broncos to one offensive TD. Anything Baltimore can do, we can do better. The Steelers allowed only a FG.

The Black and Gold are now 6-2 and tied with the resurgent Bengals for the division lead. Next week, we host Cincy at the Ketchup Bottle for yet another Biggest Game of the Season. This one will determine first place in the division and will likely have major playoff implications down the road. All I have to say is I hope Bengals aren’t expecting the same Steelers they defeated in week 3. That team is gone. The Champs are here.

Another week, another “Biggest Game of the Season” for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  And another picture of the opposing team’s QB surrounded by hot chicks.  The odd-looking fellow passed out on the bed is current Denver Broncos signal caller Kyle Orton.  Sadly, it appears even a stumbling drunk with a neckbeard has better luck with the ladies than our Super Bowl winning quarterback.

Neckbeard is behind center for the the Broncos due to a tumultuous off-season where the team parted ways with longtime coach Mike Shanahan leading his replacement, Josh McDaniels, to eventually part ways with Jay Cutler.  Despite not making the playoffs last season, the offense wasn’t really the problem as only New Orleans scored more points in 2008.  Thus, even with the switch at QB, the Broncos are still in possession of an excellent O line while being deep and talented at wide receiver.  Knowshon Moreno, the 12th overall pick in the draft, splits rushing duties with Correll Buckholter to bring some balance to the offense.

Offensively, the Steelers go into the game with the usual cast of characters.  LT Max Starks will have his hands full blocking LB Elvis Dumervil, who currently leads the AFC in sacks.  If he and the rest of the O-line can keep Ben Roethlisberger upright, there should be some plays for the making.  The Broncos defense is stout against the run but vulnerable against the pass so expect Bruce Arians’ Flying Circus to come out firing on Monday Night.

How weak is the Denver secondary?  This past week, they signed 95-year-old Ty Law to help shore it up.  Of course, they also have one of the best DBs in the game, Champ Bailey, so staying away from him is a must.  Despite some hiccups in pass coverage, the Broncos have had the overall top ranked defensive unit for much of this season.  Former San Francisco 49ers head man Mike Nolan has worked magic as defensive coordinator, switching to a 3-4 scheme which seems to be getting the most out of castoffs like Andra Davis and former Steeler Ryan McBean.

The Steelers will be fielding a defense missing no less than three starters.  Travis Kirschke sprained his calf toward the end of the Minnesota game and is expected to miss two or three more weeks.  Too bad, because he was doing a surprisingly solid job replacing Aaron Smith against the run.  Lawrence Timmons, who has been fighting a high ankle sprain all year, loses the battle again this week.  Even though LT was starting to come on, I’m not really too worried about missing him.   Keyaron Fox, he of the 77 yard INT-TD against the Vikes, has played extremely well when given the chance.  In fact, if you subtract the fact Timmons was a Steelers 1st round pick while Fox was a 3rd rounder who couldn’t stick with the hapless Chiefs, I’d argue Fox should be starting based on his play alone.

And then we have Ryan Clark.  I’ve already dedicated an entire post to Clark’s unique situation.  Regardless of whether it’s been made official or not, Clark isn’t going to play.  A three headed monster of Tyrone Carter, Keiwan Raliff, and Ryan Mundy will endeavor to fill his shoes.  On the plus side, Clark isn’t Troy Polamalu.  On the minus side, Clark is one of our better tacklers.  This is important because Orton is a weak-armed quarterback who is mostly limited to short and intermediate routes which depend on his talented WRs getting yards after the catch.

The Ravens exposed this flaw last week when they stifled the Broncos running game and their dink and dunk passing game couldn’t generate enough offense.  I’m sure McDaniels will try to change things up but there’s only so much you can do with Kyle Orton.  One thing to keep in mind, the Broncos have a fantastic kick returner by the name of Eddie Royal.  I’d hate for the Steelers to put on another defensive clinic only to be undone by yet another breakdown in the special teams.

The Bengals skunked the Baltimore Ravens yesterday, continuing their dream season.   On the one hand, I’m pleased because failure in Baltimore always brings a smile to my face.  On the other hand, Cincy is now 6-2 with a head-to-head victory over us so we really need to keep pace.  Victories have been hard to come by in the Mile High City so let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself.