The Broncos have a golden opportunity to get back on track on the road against the struggling 1-3 Steelers. Whether it is Teddy or Drew who will be playing this week, the Broncos formula should be a ground and pound mentality against a very good pass rush and a solid secondary. Here are my 3 keys for Sunday's game:
Run The Ball Early and Often
The Broncos should come in to Pittsburgh with a very run heavy game plan mainly for 2 reasons: To help the pass protection as they struggled last week and it is unclear about Risner's and Glascow's return but to also keep the pass rush of the Steelers off balance. The Steelers are only ranked T-19 in sacks but that is mainly due to the absence of TJ Watt who missed part of week 2 and all of week 3. He returned in week 4 against the packers and recorded 2 sacks on Aaron Rodgers. The Broncos must find a way to slow him down and the best way to do that is to run the ball more limiting his impact as an edge rusher. The Broncos are facing a similar play style to the Ravens against the Steelers as they both have aggressive pass rushes meaning the Broncos will have to incorporate more quick passes and screens in their game plan. The Steelers pass defense ranks 19th and the run defense ranks 11th but these numbers can be a bit misleading. The Steelers have faced very throw heavy teams in the Bills, Raiders, Bengals, and Packers. The opposing QB play for them has been challenging so their numbers will look much worse. But those very same teams refused to run the ball on them such as the Bills, who started run the ball a lot more since that game as they rank 5 6th in yards per game. The Raiders rank 5th in rush yards per game but were not super effective running vs the Steelers because Josh Jacobs was out. The Packers and Bengals rank 25th and 22nd in rush offense so they are not reliant on the run to begin with. The Broncos need to stick to who they are run the ball and control the clock and not let the numbers mislead them.
2. Be Aggressive on Defense
Last week the Broncos played a lot of zone which was understandable as they had to look out for the speed of Hollywood Brown and Sammy Watkins. However, this week they don't really have to worry about speed burners as Juju and Chase Claypool are more physical than speedy. The only receiver Denver should worry about running past them is Diontae Johnson, who scored the only TD of the game for the Steelers on Sunday vs the Packers which was a 50 yarder. The Steelers offense otherwise has been very stagnant and hard to watch this year. They rank 16th in passing offense and 32nd in rushing defense which plays right into the hands of the Broncos as they, despite Sunday's outing vs the ravens, rank 5th in passing defense and 6th in passing defense according to ESPN. The broncos do not need a complex game plan full of disguises and different types of pressure as they can just play the steelers straight up with lots of man coverage which seemed to cause a lot of problems for Claypool and Juju against the packers.
3. Chance at Redemption
Week 2, 2020: The Broncos lost both Drew Lock and Courtland Sutton to injury against the Steelers at Heinz Field. The Broncos will have a chance to right some of that wrong that took place Week 5, 2021 in Heinz Field against those very same Steelers. If Drew Lock plays, coming out of that game with a win would be a nice little taste of revenge. Same goes for Sutton as well. Lock and Sutton should not go into the game looking for redemption as it will get themselves in trouble against what is still very good defense. Rather, they should play within themselves and stick to the game plan. However, I expect a much more engaged and fiery version of Sutton as I was a little disappointed in the lack of effort he displayed throughout the Ravens game especially with Drew at QB. If they can do that, the broncos have a great chance to win this game.
Injury Update: Teddy seems to progressing nicely but will have a limited practice Wednesday and Thursday. Will have only one full practice on Friday. Lock gets first team reps.
Prediction:
Lock or Teddy: 200-225 yards 1 Td 1 Pick
Javonte and Melvin: 150+ yards combined 1 TD
Defense: 4 Sacks and 2 Turnovers
Score: 20-10 Broncos
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