We simulated the Denver Broncos at Pittsburgh Steelers Week 2 matchup to find out who won.
The Denver Broncos head into Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers in Week 2. Both teams have some significant injuries, but the show must go on. In our latest Madden 21 simulation (yes, we simulated it this time!), it certainly was not a blowout.
Note before we get started: The game clock is set to 7:00 minutes with some clock runoff following plays that would typically keep the clock going.
On the first drive of the game, the Steelers drove down the field and took out most of the first quarter. Finally, the Broncos stopped Pittsburgh with a deflected pass on the Broncos’ 22-yard line. Steelers kicker Chris Boswell knocks it through for a 3-0 lead.
The Broncos get the ball at the 28-yard line after a nice return by Diontae Spencer. Drew Lock hit tight end Noah Fant early for just a 3-yard gain on the first offensive play. Unfortunately, the next play resulted in an incomplete pass, making it 3rd-and-7.
Thankfully, the Steelers defense neglected to pay any attention to running back Melvin Gordon on the next play. Lock found Gordon wide open for a first down.
Fant made some very nice and meaningful plays in this game, including one where he would have been short of a first down, but decided to reach the ball out past the markers—which is very risky in real life.
On the first play of the second quarter, the Broncos called a quick play to Jerry Jeudy. The play was snuffed out easily, resulting in a loss of one yard. However, the Broncos kept the chains moving on the next play with a solid run by new acquisition Gordon.
Lock decided to throw the ball all the way to the end zone from the 35-yard line. It was picked off in the end zone, giving the ball to Pittsburgh at the 20-yard line. Talk about some bad turnovers.
On second down, Roethlisberger checked down to his running back after making some reads down the field. The result was a gain of just two yards. On 3rd-and-7, Roethlisberger found wide receiver Dionte Johnson for a first down, moving the chains.
Roethlisberger was strip-sacked by Jurrell Casey a few plays later. Broncos football on Pittsburgh’s 30-yard line. Great field position.
At the time of the strip-sack Lock was 5-of-7 for 32 yards and an interception (3:49 left in the half).
Side note: Madden 21 commentator Charles Davis brings up a great point. He mentions how he is excited to see the chemistry build between Lock, Courtland Sutton and Jeudy. That’s something that will be so important going forward.
There were times in this game in which Lock took some very ill-advised sacks. As a young guy, who technically is still a rookie after playing just six games, that’s something Lock will have to figure out how to stop.
Despite Lock’s untimely sacks, he still made some pretty nice reads at times and even threw the ball away when there wasn’t an open receiver. That’s smart football.
On 3rd-and-17, the Broncos called a screen pass to Gordon. It gained seven yards, creating fourth down. Denver brought on their kicker Brandon McManus to knock it through the goalposts. The score was now 3-3.
Late in the first half, the Steelers wanted to run as much clock off as possible but were forced to punt while the Broncos called their first timeout following a third-down play.
Denver’s next drive started on their own 31-yard line with an incomplete pass (throw-away). Pittsburgh then sacked Lock, making it third-and-17. Ouch. At 1:24 left in the half, Denver was stopped on third down.
Sam Martin punted the ball inside the 30, and it was returned to the Steelers’ 40. Roethlisberger found tight end (gulp) Eric Ebron for a 27-yard reception. He was wiiiide open. The Broncos gave up a rough 40 yards on two plays.
Thankfully, it was Casey who was able to sack Roethlisberger again, making it 2nd-and-21 on Denver’s 28. With 10 seconds left in the half, the Steelers decided to kick a field goal. 6-3 at the half.
There were certainly some plays the Broncos would have wanted back in this first half, but I’d say they played decently. There were some big plays but unfortunately, they couldn’t score more than three points.
At the half, here are the game stats:
Total offense: DEN 42, PIT 112
Rushing: DEN 9, PIT 27
Passing: DEN 33, PIT 85
First downs: DEN 4, PIT 7
Return yards: DEN 52, PIT 38
Third Downs: DEN 2/4, PIT 2/4
TOP: PIT: 8:37, DEN: 5:32
Drew Lock: 7/11, 42 yards
Ben Roethlisberger: 8/12, 96 yards
RB Jame Conner: 8 rushes, 19 yards
RB Melvin Gordon: 3 rushes, 10 yards
WR Diontae Johnson: 3 rec, 46 yards
WR Jerry Jeudy: 2 rec, 7 yards
Second Half of Denver Broncos @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Lock went to K.J. Hamler early in the second half, on consecutive passes. The first one was incomplete but then he was found wide open for a first down. Unfortunately, on the next play, there was an illegal man downfield penalty on Denver. First-and-15.
The drive stalled after a few plays as Jeudy caught a pass and couldn’t keep his balance to keep going. 4th-and-12. Punt.
The punt wasn’t too great, as the Steelers got the ball at their own 32.
Roethlisberger found Ebron for a massive 60-yard gain, getting the ball down to the Broncos’ 4-yard line. Roethlisberger was then sacked by Shelby Harris, creating a second-and-goal on the 13. Roethlisberger went to Ebron two plays later for a short touchdown, making it 13-3 Steelers.
Like I had mentioned earlier, Lock threw some untimely incompletions and interceptions. The Broncos were unable to get much of anything done the rest of the way, scoring just one more field goal.
Key individual stats
Drew Lock: 19/31, 142 yards, 0 TD’s, 1 INT
Ben Roethlisberger: 13/18, 196 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Bryce Callahan: INT
Eric Ebron: 6 rec, 127 yards, TD
The final score at Heinz Field:
Steelers 13, Broncos 6.