Denver Broncos: How they shocked the Pittsburgh Steelers

The Denver Broncos just shocked the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 24-17 victory behind some very timely turnovers and a great performance by Phillip Lindsay.

The Denver Broncos have now won two straight games against two of the best teams in the NFL, both riding six-game winning streaks heading into their respective matchups.

It’s hard watching Ben Roethlisberger throw for nearly 500 yards but the Broncos’ defense came up with timely turnovers and the offense made the necessary plays to get this team its second consecutive win, and that winning culture has a real potential to stick around as the Broncos have games upcoming against the Bengals, Browns, 49ers, Raiders, and Chargers.

Apparently, we can’t count the Broncos out of playoff contention yet.

Two weeks ago, the Broncos were 3-6 and headed for another top 10 draft selection. They have effectively flipped that script, and have now won two games against two of the best teams in the AFC.

The wins against the Chargers and now the Steelers validate the thought that Denver’s record has not been accurately indicative of their season. The Broncos took the Chiefs, Rams, and Texans to very close games and should have won two of them.

Up until the past couple of weeks, the Broncos had looked like a team that was not the sum of its parts, and the coaching staff was on the hot seat once again with Vance Joseph’s firing an apparent foregone conclusion.

Now, it appears the Broncos have what it takes to compete with the best of the best in the NFL. The only team to really blow the Broncos out this season was the New York Jets, in a game where anything that could go wrong did go wrong.

So how did the Broncos win this one against the Steelers? Let’s look at a few key components.

Timely turnovers

The Broncos forced some very timely turnovers in this game. Obviously, there’s never a bad time for your defense to create a takeaway, but the Broncos’ forced turnovers happened at the exact right time.

The first turnover of the game was a forced fumble inches from the goal line on what would have been a touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to his tight end. The ball took a fortuitous bounce out of the side of the end zone when the fumble was forced in the field of play.

The Broncos got another key turnover on an interception from Chris Harris, but a fumble on a wild tackle of James Connor really turned the tide of the game. Connor had a huge run completely negated by poor ball security, and Darian Stewart recovered a fumble setting the Broncos up with the ball.

The game fittingly ended on an interception in the end zone by Shelby Harris, of all players. Harris alertly dropped into coverage to take away the middle of the field from Ben Roethlisberger and ended the game.

The Broncos’ defense bent, nearly broke, and then ripped the carpet out from underneath the Steelers.

Phillip Lindsay

Phillip Lindsay is simply phenomenal. He’s the first running back to rush for over 100 yards against the Steelers this season.

Lindsay had 110 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown, leading Denver’s offense and providing big plays exactly when the team needed them.

His explosiveness has caught everyone’s attention. Jim Nantz and Tony Romo couldn’t stop gushing over Lindsay’s incredible abilities and the way he accelerates with such ease.

The Broncos’ offense has now become the Phillip Lindsay show, and we love it.

Case Keenum

Case Keenum has consistently been good the past month-and-a-half. He hasn’t always been great, but he’s been very good and he’s setting up the Broncos to win.

He has no interceptions over the last three weeks, and is putting his receivers in position to succeed. The Broncos are basically unbeatable when they don’t turn the ball over, and Keenum had been a turnover machine early in the season.

He’s settling in, and making some really great pre-snap adjustments to put his offense in position for success.