When it comes to stopping the run, no NFL team has been better at harnessing that responsibility than the Steelers.
Through seven games this season, Pittsburgh’s defense is allowing a league-low 76.6 rushing yards per game. The Cincinnati Bengals (100 yards) and Detroit Lions (110 yards) are the only two Steelers opponents to post 100-plus yards on the ground.
While Pittsburgh has been stout against the run, offensive line coach Rick Dennison was more focused on what his unit can control, beginning with improving its toughness from the previous week.
“I think you have to execute every week and you’ve got to be tough every week,” Dennison said. “There is nobody that is going to just let you walk around and make yards. We just have to be better than we were last week.”
The Bengals (75 yards) and Ravens (66 yards) are the only two teams to hold the Broncos under 100 yards rushing, as Denver mustered a season-low total a week ago in Baltimore. To reverse that trend, Dennison’s line will turn its attention to containing the Steelers’ lineup of smooth rushers, led by James Harrison.
Harrison leads defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau’s defense with eight sacks this season. Seven of those sacks have come over the last four games, helping the Steelers to an undefeated 4-0 mark their October contests against the Chargers, Lions, Browns and Vikings.
“He is just a really good player,” Dennison said. “He plays very hard and he knows what he is doing – very slippery. (You) have to try and stay in front of him and then when the play is over that is when you stop blocking — not before.”
One of the players entrusted to perform that task is Tyler Polumbus. With Ryan Harris sidelined due to a toe injury, Polumbus is slated to start in Harris’ place at right tackle.
Regardless of the how remodeled rotation works, Dennison said the responsibilities for all of the Broncos’ linemen are concrete.
“Get an opportunity to play, do well, do your assignment, do the techniques and just try and focus on those things,” Dennison said. “I think that is what everyone of them is trying to do.”
INJURY UPDATE
There were several changes on Friday to the Broncos’ Week 9 Injury Report. After not participating in Thursday’s session, Josh Barrett (hamstring) was a limited participant. After being limited participants during Thursday’s session, David Bruton (groin) and Jack Williams (illness) were full participants on Friday. Peyton Hillis (not injury related) did not participate in Friday’s practice.
On the other side, there were no changes to the Steelers’ report.
Here are some photos from the onset of Friday’s practice.
– Chris Gentilviso, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Pittsburgh Steelers, Rick Dennison, Week 9
Haha, I threw the airball last week and had the Broncos winning by 11 points in Baltamore. I called the Ravens all kinds of neat bird euphemisms and felt a mile high on my Broncos. Turns out, I am the fool that needs to gobble down a big plate of pickled crows toes. I’m just a contestant on the bronco-baylinor score guessing fear factor episode of the week anyways…
I’ve also let my Broncoheart over run my Broncobrain. I need to quit taking our offense for what it was and look at it for what it is. It’s like a honda civic, it starts and runs good and will get up and down the road but you can never drive it in the fast lane or attempt to pass with it. It is never going to excell you far ahead of the rest of the cars in the race.
I want to see Orton do a friggin helicopter spin into (or close to) the endzone! Not because JE did it, but because JC did it! I hate to say anything good about the boy but he is obviously going FEREL in his attempt to win games and I don’t see anything WILD about the Broncos O. They look like they have no gas in the tank. I expected a rocket ship Offense out of HC McDaniels and he has provided a Hybrid/Honda Civic going uphill.
Ferel-Flaco was taking chances in his attempts to make a play and he was getting big yards doing it. I know there’s a risk to turn the ball over when the coach lets the QB just use his ability to try and make something happen, but heck we are already fumbling anyways even in the SAFE MODE of Offense. So what gives? Why is the Bronc O soo dismal and prone to sputtering? There is no wide open throttle, just a full blown mosey speed, and then low sputter gear.
This week I’m giving Respect to the Steelers, The World Champions. I won’t use any bad names like squeelers or make fun of their blankies because I don’t want to make them mad or anything… I also think we can upgrade the Steel Curtain to the Titanium Wall! They are the best run stopping team in the NFL! How are the Broncos going to try to win against the metallic monstrosity that is the Pittsburgh Defense? Let me tell you…..
The Broncos are going to put on a running game in the likes of that which we haven’t seen this year. There will be a lot less focus on the Steelers known weakeness (pass D) and more aggresive playcalling right into the heart of the strongest part of their defense. We could see Hillis lined up at FB and Buck and Know POUNDING! If, and thats a big IF, the Bronco O line plays with FIRE we might be able to put up three or four FG’s and the Broncos win in the last seconds of the game.
Thank goodness for the BLAZING BRONCO DEFENSE, I wish they could find a way to score though..
Blazing Broncos 12
Titanium Wall 10
STONE COLD ORANGE CRUSHER DEFENSE!!!
STONED COLD SPUTTERING BRONCO OFFENSE?? I HOPE WE DON’T SEE THAT AGAIN!!!!!
Dont get me wrong its very typical for coaches to do what McD doess….or should i say is alledgedly doing. Same with Kubiak when he left us to become HC in Houston. Sign alot of ex-broncos….they were calling them Broncos South….but now they’ve carved out their image. Only team Browns coach makes a big trade with is his former team the jets….all specualation ofcourse but its not a rare thing in the NFL.
I hope it is Doomsday monday, Elvis needs to get a bigger lead in most sacks this year. Will be tough tho….we had trouble bringing down Phylis Shivers and Joe Flacco and Roethlistberger is way bigger than them. they dont call him BIG Ben for no reason lol….but we got this….Its looking like we are back to being the underdoggs and i love it…fly under the radar for 6 more wins lol
Orange Crusher,
I have to agree with you. Allthough, I am very happy with how are season is going it appears our offense is the weakness. McD has done an excellent job as head coach, but I must say I’m a little dissapointed in the offense he brought. We have WAY to much talent on offense for it to be the weakness of this team. I definately have faith in this team and hope that we come ready to play our “A” game in all three phases for 60 minutes. If we do that and have a good game plan no one can beat us.
My preditction 20-17 but I hope we win by more.
GO BRONCOS….
I have been a Broncos fan since I became aware of football (somewhere in the sixties). We had season tickets before they ever won many games. I remember all those very bad teams under Lou Saban when the only thing they had was Floyd Little. I watched Elway his entire career and I place him in the top five QBs of all time. I watched the Donkeys lose several superbowls and then finally win two. I very much remember the Orange Crush.
Well, that leaves me with the current team.
Like most of us, I did not expect much this year, with a new coach, new offensive system, new defense, and a new quarterback (turns out that Cutler may not be the next Elway, may not have the mental game that John did). Well, I was wrong and we are getting a great deal from them this year. I know they are a great team after what they did to San Diego, their biggest challenge each year (at least for the last decade) on their field.
This is perhaps Denver’s best defense ever. Ditka said it: I don’t care what league you play in, giving up eight points per game is remarkable. Last week, they did not play so well. Even Dick Butkis had a bad day now and then. BTW, Baltimore is a very good team with a very good defense. Now we have another good defense to face. Pittsburgh may be watching Baltimore-Denver films but then, so are the Broncos and the Broncs must be watching Pittsburgh’s losses and wins. McDaniels seems to be a very bright coach and person. I suspect Denver may do better than people think on the ground and Pittsburgh is vulnerable through the air, even with Pallamallow. If the O-Line plays like the unit they truly are (one of the best I have ever seen), Pittsburgh can be had because Denver is a very balanced team that can beat you with so many different types of weapons, from one of the best WRs (and the rest are pretty damned good too, Royal looks like a star in the making) and a very steady, smart QB to a dangerous running game and a killer defense. Denver has three games remaining that look difficult: Pittsburgh, the Giants and the Colts (undoubtedly their toughest test this year). Denver has shown that they can beat anyone and they may win all, some, or none of those games. They should definitely win all the other games. At worst, I would say 12 and 4, not too bad but possibly better, though on any given sunday….
This may be a year to remember and the ultimate goal is a real possibility, but that is too far to look ahead. This is a very good team who can beat anyone. It should be interesting to see the remainder of this year and for the first time since Elway retired, I expect them to win every week. I am not waiting for the other shoe to drop this year, I know they are a great football team (not just a large bunch of good/great players). BTW, they do have an exceptionally large number of great players. Still, the whole is much, much more than the sum of the parts. If they finish strong, they will have earned it, already having beaten Dallas, San Diego, and New England, and possibly Pittsburgh, New York (Giants), and Indianapolis.
I always hope for them to win but I expect them to win this year. Go Broncos! Denver/New Orleans at the finish.
OC, absolutely thought your post was awesome, as usual, at least all the parts before you got to how we’re gonna beat them. LOL. We don’t just have the power of a Honda civic mind you, but a hybrid one, that’s much worse! LOL. Score guessing fear factor, lol, everybody is putting their rear end on the line in this one in my opinion, the fear factor could be intense, not the fear of the Steelers so much as the fear of making an absurd pick, like last week.. That’s why so far we only have 19 picks instead of the 40 some picks we had last week. I still can’t pick us to lose for game day, but I like your pick of a close one.
Have you heard? Cutler says his helicopter is stronger than Elway’s, hahahaha.
Kudos to you for going out on a limb about predicting we are going to do it with the run, if we do, you will be branded Genius for the week, if we don’t, like the rest of the planet thinks, including myself, you’ll be getting a send off with the whole premium treatment of tar and feathers, my compliments, and I’ll gladly carry you into the nearest asylum. LOL.
wlaffen, great to read your take on our season, you are definitely very optimistic as to the remainder of it, and that’s heart warming, considering you have basically seen it all Bronco wise therefore your comments I do respect very much. I’ve been a fan since 75 at age 21 and that experience goes a long way into looking at a season like this one. This is an incredible start, and I believe you are right when you say we will not see a second half of the season let down like we have in recent past. The main reason is the D and the coaching staff. I think the O, both the passing and running and the ST have many strides to make before we can be considered a championship team caliber as some bloggers refer to us as.
Nevertheless, putting together a good D is a much quicker process than putting together a good O, so I’m still hopefull, but I do remain more cautiously optimistic than you because of our currently under performing running game. In the two months to come, winter games, running the ball can be at a premium depending on the weather conditions. Other than the teams you think will be a challenge for us, I also include at Philadelphia in there (winter, hostile, away), San Diego (revenge factor) and at KC (winter, hostile, usually a horrible windy place to play for us in Dec., regardless of how bad they might be, we still lose 80% of the time there).
I said this week that depending on how we rebound Monday night, with a loss we could possibly finish with a 10-6 record, and with a win end up up to a 14-2 record. IMO, this game is a statement game for the Broncos as far as where the season will ultimately take us. A much more important game than our record would lead anyone to think. We are 0-1 in November and don’t want to start that most important Nov/Dec stretch 0-2.
Orange Crusher, I have one thought. Do not sell the O line short, they are one of the best. Even Ali did not win every fight and only two teams have ever had undefeated seasons. I do not believe we have seen anywhere near what this offense is capable of and will soon produce. By the way, this system is not designed to beat you with 35 points a game and does not have to (though it will if it can). Remember, Orton does not have Elway’s arm (he can’t throw the ball 80 yards on a dime) but he is smarter than Cutler (perhaps as smart as Elway) and that is what it takes. Tom Brady does not have a rocket arm (neither did Unitas, nor does Manning) but Brady is one of the smartest I have ever seen, Manning is incredible, and Unitas was easily the best I have ever seen play (OOPS, telling my age). Unitas was just the best filed general ever and he called his own plays. New England went 18-0 with a form of this offensive system. Great offense is more difficult to create than great defense, especially with today’s defenses, though defense is usually more difficult to play. BTW, defense is still what wins you super bowls (with the exception of St. Louis one year). Just look at the percentage of super bowl winning teams who have had #1 offenses compared to the number of super bowl winning teams with #1 defenses. Lombardi’s Packers won three NFL championships and the first two superbowls with one thing on offense, PERFECT execution. Everyone knew what they were going to do (student body left, student body right, and a pass) but they executed so perfectly it could not be stopped. That is what I have seen in this offense (except one game). Then again, McDaniels is probably not Vince Lombardi.
baylinorcrush says:
November 7, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Have you heard? Cutler says his helicopter is stronger than Elway’s, hahahaha.
Bay,
This is the funniest thing I have read in months!!!!!!!!!!!!LMAO!!!! thank you!! hahahahahahaha!!!
Broncos win 27 to 20. The game ends on an intercepted pass by Ty Law within the five yard line.
Gotta go with a defensive struggle again..Denver:17 Pitt: 10