Steelers at Broncos Preview (Week #6)

The talent on the field says it�s a Pittsburgh win. The circumstances leave me a bit uneasy, though. Denver is 14-4 coming off their bye week, and 9-3 under Mike Shanahan. The Steelers record is currently hovering around .500 with a 10-8 record. Denver was just thrashed by San Diego at home. They�re a desperate football team. Desperate football teams do crazy things. Last year, the Steelers ran into a lot of teams at bad times. Atlanta and San Diego are two good examples of games that looked easier on paper. Both teams decided to unleash their QB�s, and Atlanta had a few other tricks up their sleeves.

Denver invested a lot in their top two corners, and they are putting them to full use. They have taken to leaving them out on islands for large chunks of the game and cheating up Ferguson. It�s not the safest route. I put Dre Bly as being above Deshea above, but he can be exploited. Bly will bite hard on fakes and he doesn�t have the top end recovery speed that Baily has. Washington and Holmes getting on Bly is a good match-up. The Steelers should test him deep at some point. Both corners are going to concede a lot of inside stuff and comeback routes because they aren�t getting much help over top.

Dominique Foxworth is a guy the Steelers need to target on third downs. He was the Steelers bitch in the 05 AFCC game, and there�s no reason not to go back to the well. He continues to suck. The Steelers like to put Ward in the slot. Washington and him should both have field days working against him.

Lynch plays smart, disciplined football. He�s still a reliable player. Ferguson is a different story. He will bite on fakes. There�s a theme here for the Steelers. I expect some shots down field off play-action. A few double-fakes are in order for this game. Baily isn�t off limits, either. On early downs, play-action and work these LB�s. They are over-aggressive in playing the run (and take bad angles).

Across the front, Dumervil is a guy who scares me. The guy has a non-stop motor and may already be an elite pass rusher. On Colon, it�s a good measuring stick. Max Starks struggled with him last year while he was a situational pass rusher. This is the sort of guy Marvel Smith has struggled with in the past.

On third down, Denver likes to stand up Jarvis Moss. They walk him around a bit. I�m not sure what they�re trying to do by it, though. It isn�t confusing anyone because he always rushes, and does it from his usual spot. He would probably be more effective if they just put him down in a three point stance. They are doing this frequently over the guards, so it still remains a concern. Teams know what Simmons struggles with at this point. They are attacking him with their pass rushers. He can�t handle them coming down on his outside shoulder on stunts. This match-up is potentially scary in passing situations. The Broncos can apply some pressure they might not have been able to in the past.

How Denver will attack the Steelers, I�m not sure. They are pretty stale on defense. When they show blitz, they usually blitz. I�ve only seen a few exceptions. Then, I said above this is a desperate football team who has had two weeks to prepare. I wouldn�t be surprised if they show more blitz, drop back, and rely on four man rushes. They�ve been carved up by Roethlisberger twice now, so they know he�s capable. They�ve seen teams attack this OL with stunts and by confusing them. If they sit back or don�t disguise what they�re doing, they will get picked apart.

There should be no way the Steelers struggle to run the ball this game, but I�ve said that in the past�and said the opposite and ended up wrong. The Broncos run defense sucks for the worst reasons. The LB�s are undisciplined and the DL gets manhandled. They can stack the box or put as many guys on the line of scrimmage as they want. It shouldn�t really matter.

The Steelers get to play Sam Adams again. They manhandled him in both games against Cinci last year. Simmons absolutely dominated him. He�s fat, slow, and clearly washed up. Amon Gordon isn�t much better. He�s a complete liability as far as I�m concerned. Mahan should be able to handle him alone on a lot of plays, which is saying a lot. There will be no problem getting to the second level in this game. Jarvis Moss is an absolute joke against the run, matching what was thought about him coming out of the draft. Dumervil doesn�t do much better. Engleberger knows how to play the run, but can�t get after the passer so doesn�t stay on the field enough. Simeon Rice is Simeon Rice. You run right at him without fear.

I don�t like any of these LB�s in the ground game. I�ve seen them all fall for fakes, overshoot plays, and struggle to get off blocks. Ferguson isn�t being left over top because he isn�t a smart player.

The run game should be open. It should be there all day. If Parker doesn�t have a monster game, I can�t imagine it�ll be because of the personnel the Steelers and Broncos have.

Walker looks likely to play. The Broncos receiving corps has really rounded into shape. A healthy Walker will do them wonders. How healthy he�ll be is the only real question. We saw what he can do last year. He�s now complimented by a maturing Brandon Marshall. Marshall reminds me a lot of Terrell Owens. He�s a big, physical receiver. He knows how to use his size. He has enough speed to beat you deep and he knows how to make plays after the catch with a combination of strength/size and some nice moves. The Steelers will be without McFadden. That worries me. McFadden is a very good tackler. I would like to have him playing Marshall. Brandon Stokley will be matched up on William Gay. Gay performed well against Seattle�I think. We really didn�t see him tested.

The corners will face a huge test this week, though. One of their biggest of the season. A lot of that has to do with what happened last year. Shanahan is going to test the Steelers deep. He�s going to make them defend the deep ball.

How, exactly, Shanahan goes about calling the game will be very interesting. The Steelers have already shown they aren�t just going to blitz you. He max protected last year and took his shots down field. It wasn�t a complex scheme on his part. I would imagine LeBeau is asking himself the same question. We�ll assume the Broncos come out using a lot of two TE formations to deal with blitzes. They have to prepare for that element, anyway.

How much do the Steelers trust their corners will be a big issue. Do they play it like last year, while leaving them out on islands? Do they show blitz, and then drop 6-7 back? Or, maybe they just play it more conservatively, as they did against Seattle. I�m leaning towards showing blitzes and dropping into coverage. The Steelers need to give Cutler different looks and freeze him. We all know Cutler will make mistakes with the football. He can be baited into it. Cutler stares down his targets, as well. It�s been a problem each week. There will be chances to undercut routes and make plays. Give the corners some help this time around.

Cutler�s decision making is a double edge sword. This guy will gamble. He wins sometimes. He makes some crazy throws across the field and does things other QB�s wouldn�t even think of. He�s a bit like Roethlisberger in that regard. He�s not that poised and he�s not as deliberate when he scrambles, but he is capable. He buys extra time and makes plays outside of the pocket. The Steelers want him to sit back there and make smart decisions. Challenge him to do that. Don�t let him pull a Mike Vick or Phillip Rivers�or even Jake Plummer.

Redzone defense is going to be crucial. Denver has moved the ball well. They cashed in last year for TD�s on a lot of fades and big plays. They have put an extra emphasis on this in their bye week. First priority this game for the corners needs to be defend the jump ball. Can�t be emphasized enough this week in practice. This concerns me. I�m not sure the corners can handle it.

The Steelers can apply pressure. The Broncos OL does not hold up in pass pro. I like both tackle match-ups for the Steelers. Pressure should be applied off the edge successfully.

The Steelers haven�t had many problems stopping the Denver run game recently. We all know Nalen is out. LG Chris Myers shifts over, and back-up Chris Kuper takes his spot. Myers seems like he�s more of a finesse guard. Hampton may not play this week. He hasn�t practiced yet. Hoke should be able to hold his own.

The right side of this line is very good in the run game. Unfortunately for them, Aaron Smith is very good in run defense. It�s repetitive. You can say it every week. Just says how damn good Aaron Smith really is.

Lepsis is one of the better run blocking tackles in the league. Harrison may find himself boxed out a few times. It�s a potentially troubling match-up. However, Keisel should be giving a back-up LG fits. If Denver runs, it will be a surprise.

Denver has some pretty bad coverage and return teams. They have a pretty good kicker and a pretty good punter. The potential for big plays is there this week. Unlike last year, these should be going against the Broncos.

Everything went right for the Broncos last year when these two teams met. The Steelers should have won last year. They dominated the game but continued to cough the ball up. I don�t expect two goal line fumbles or special teams turnovers. Some things about this game say trap to me, but I�ll stick with the talent on the field and say the Steelers pull it out.