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Homeless sign for the future?: Broncos will work for a running attack
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Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger barks out signals in Monday night's game in Denver.
It seems obvious to this observer that Broncos Coach Josh McDaniels thought he needed to use an extra lineman as a tight end to protect quarterback Kyle Orton and help boost Denver's running game.
Playing offensive lineman Russ Hochstein at tight end in several formations throughout Monday night's game didn't seem to work so well, huh, Josh?
The Broncos got whupped again, 28-10, and managed a paltry 27 yards rushing in the process (one yard, yes, as in 1 yard coming in the second half). Orton was sacked only once, but Pittsburgh pressured him enough to force three interceptions. One of those picks was returned 48 yards for a second-quarter touchdown. The second led to another score.
The Broncos failed to get a first down rushing -- getting only 12 first downs the whole game.
“There’s no shortcut to it," McDaniels said after the loss of the unblanced attack. "We have to work hard at getting ourselves to run the ball better and be more effective running the football and staying out of third and long, which we were in a lot today. That alone will allow us to stay balanced."
THe Broncos didn't have much balance the first half, but Orton's short passing game -- 16 of 21 for 163 yards -- was effective if it onlt mustered three points on the Broncos' opening drive.
“We would love to be balanced, but we feel like we have got a good pass game," Orton said. "If it comes to throwing the ball 40 times, we have won that way in the past, and we should be able to do it in the future.”
McDaniels admits the Broncos need to go back the drawing board.
"We have to go back to work on Wednesday," he said. "We’ve got to get the running game going. We’ve got a lot of things to do better though, it’s not just the running game.”
THE FLIP SIDE: While the Broncos offense struggled to run the ball, Pittsburgh found plenty of room to ramble in the second half. Rashard Mendenhall had 130 yards rushing in the final 30 minutes after just 25 in the first half.
The Broncos trailed 7-3 at the half but dominated the Steelers, except for Carter's interception return for the lone TD. Ben Roethlisberger had just 49 passing yards in the first half. He finished with 233 yard on 21-of-29 passing and three touchdowns.
The Steelers utilized a no-huddle attack several times, much as Baltimore did a week before in thr Ravens' 30-7 drubbing of the Broncos.
Defensive lineman Kenny Peterson wouldn't accept the no-huddle befuddled Denver, though.
"Absolutely not, it’s no problem," Peterson said. "Like I said, they made plays and that’s what the game is about, making plays and that’s what they did. They beat us in all phases of the game.”
Cornerback Andre Goodman said finding the winner's circle again -- after a 6-0 start and two losses -- is simple: Play better for an entire game.
“Sixty minutes, we can play 50 great minutes of defense but if we don’t play for 60 minutes then it really doesn’t matter," Goodman said.
QUOTABLE:
I might be like Wally Pipp. I better get back fast so that I don’t lose my spot.
-- Steelers free safety Ryan Clark, whose replacment, Tyrone Carter, returned an interception for a TD. Clark didn't play because coaches and doctors feared he would have health issues at Denver's altitude because he has the rare blood disorder, sickle cell trait.
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