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
Ok, Ty Law’s in. Who’s out?
Ball in (strong RB)… Hillis DNP…
I have a bad feeling about this.
I know, I’m just having a little fun with sarcasm, the in vogue word of late. LOL. By the way, you probably noticed he doesn’t have a chance in hell to do that. LOL.
Thanks Baylin, Hope your right. Do you have a thought of who is out now that Law is in?
I agree with royalbroncofan1 the Steelers D-line has two rookies starting. I say pound the ball inside and see if they can stop us! Our Offensive line needs to get back on track. If they bring Troy up in the Box then we go to a 3 tight end set and then see what opens up down field. Or we come out slinging it down field. We match up very well vs. the Steelers. But I think we should challenge their running defense. It’s one of the best in the NFL. But I have got a gut felling we can run against this team! Just my two cents!! Broncos 24 —Steelers 17.
Go Broncos!!!
FTR
BB09, Law is not in yet from what I gather, unless that has just changed, he still needs to pass his physical, so they won’t have to clear a spot until then. With 53 players, your guess is as good as mine, I doubt they’ll be cuting anyone in the back field, they are bringing Law in maybe because they are already thin there with J. Williams and Phonzy posibly not at full strength. It’s got to be at a position they’re healthy at, mabe Jordan, all RB’s are healthy now and he really hasn’t been used and with Ball coming in it might have been what this all thing has been about. Fun to guess, but we’ll know pretty soon.
FTR, you are a man of principles, you don’t change your pick as the week goes. LOL.
Baylinorcrush…
You are right, I am about 95% sure they’ll cut Jordan! I know Hillis is safe because he got use some last game! They just signed Ball and he is a big physical down hill runner. So I believe that Jordan will be cut which will make me happy because he hasn’t been doing much at all and we could definitely increase our runners by dropping him and having Ball! I was never thrilled with signing him anyway!
GOO BRRROOONNNCCCOOOSSS!!
baylinorcrush
You got that right!! I was wrong on the Ravens game. But I will pick the Broncos every week–Cuz I bleed blue and orange and have done so all the way back to Morton! Love my Broncos Good or Bad!!!
FTR
BF30, anybody who has been a Raider for three years, even if he came here from N-E, I have a problem with, never liked it either.
FTR, same thing here, even if in my early yearly picks I have us lose the Baltimore game and the Pittsburgh game, NO way I can pick against my team come game day, I picked us to beat the Ravens and I pick us to beat Pittsburgh too. That’s why I make early year predictions, because as the season goes on I always let my heart take over my brain with my picks, hahaha.
FTR, interesting that you had us beat the Ravens by only 4, but Pittsburgh by 7. I know what it is, the difference is that 3 point home team advantage that’s always given to the home team in Vegas!
meant homefield
baylinorcrush
I agree with picking with your heart. I would have won my companys pool this past week if I would have picked the Ravens! To the tune of $260 bucks! I got alot of Crap from my co-workers! So what I said!!!I always will stay true to my team.
Go Broncos!!
FTR
MNF Baby we will show up to play at home!
You wouldn’t believe how slow the picks are coming in. Last week I already had over 30 at this time, this week I have 13! Amazing what one loss will do to the psyche of people, they are definitely not that enthused about making a prediction, even so most everyone says we will win, they won’t predict a score because I think in reality there is fear in the air… Can’t think of anything else that would cause such a drop off.
What does everyone think about all the Fans in Clevand and Washington’s discontent? We could have been in the middle of that mess if not for our 6 and 0 start!
FTR
Broncos -24 Steelers-17–Bet on it!
and Tennessee and the Rams and the Bucks. It’s ugly out there at the bottom this year, a lot more bad teams than I can remember for a long time. Add KC, Oakland, Detroit and Seattle, you got a huge pile of cellar teams.
Buccs.
FTR, I’d like to know what was said during McDaniels interveiw with Pat Bowlen? Besides the mess in Washington and Cleveland, look at St. Louis? We could have Spags as our HC right now.
As much as a lot of us critisized Pat Bowlen for his decision to hire Josh McDaniels, I’ll give him an A+ for bringing him (McD) to Denver.
I think Monday night is going to be one heck of a game! I can’t wait!!!
Well, i didn’t make a pick yet this year on these blogs. But i was right that we’d probably lose last week. I told my buddy, don’t be on my Broncos this week, cus he’s been making money on my tips to keep betting on them. I warned him that last week wasn’t the best. I knew the scenario. Well, this Pittsburgh team as had two weeks to prepare for us. So that’s a downer. However, they are missing some starters and that could be huge. I’m 7-0 on my picks this year when it comes to the Broncos. I really think we prove that we respond to losses like NE. They don’t lose two in a row. We beat the Steelers 27-21. I think a Defensive touchdown is due. And Orton and B Marsh connect. Either Bucky or Moreno will get a TD!! GO broncos.
27-21 Broncos win.
Baylinorcrush…
I just think everyone is nervous about the bye week of the Steelers!! This is BS!! We had to face the Chargers, Ravens, and Steelers all coming off of their bye week!! Our boys are 1-1 right now in wins against bye week teams and I look for them to make it 2-1 this Monday! You all saw how well they played against Chargers at their home and Chargers were desperate for a win! I think we addressed all of our problems this week and I think we will win this game!! However, for this to happen, Marshall HAS to get the ball, along with Royal and Gaffney, Scheffler, and Grahm.
Prediction Broncos 27-20!!!
Keep up the good work, 7-1 guys. GO BRONCOS!!!
If we open up the play book and Orton can execute and make the throws (down field as well) then we can compete w/ anyone including the Steelers. Defensively we can matchup w/ any team but so far offensive explosion (or should i say lack of) has been our weekness.
We have all the tools we need in place to match any team. We are strong and have depth everywhere. ..The only questionable position that remains is QB. And well, it’s the most important position so it’s kinda vital. Hopefully our man Orton can step up and answer the call. Yes he’s played well (and conservative) but he’s gonna have to do better 2nd half of the yr if we’re going to have a legtimate shot at a championship
Broncosfreak,Denwu,FTR
All of you guys are real close on your picks and close to mine. Here is what I think we need to do to get the W this week.
When the Broncos are on offense: Go into a spread set of 4 and 5 reciever sets with Orton working out of the shotgun. Steelers have a tendency of blitzing their linebackers on 75% of passing downs, this would slow that down and create more 1 on 1 matchups. Orton needs to read where the blitzer- blitzers are coming from and adjust at the line of scrimage. I also see us running from this formation ( and Max protect )with our runningbacks, and even going with an empty backfield with the running back lined up at reciever.
Steelers will use Troy Palamalu ( “Head and Shoulders” the best player on their team Lol….) much like the ravens used Ed Reed, with the other safety playing deep to keep the play in front of them. Go ahead and call me a Homer but I really have a good feeling about our Offense and our recievers ( Marshall, Gafney & Royal in particular having a good game. One key matchup will be Polumbus going against James Harrison (8 sacks). Tyler, you need to keep your QB upright.
When the Steelers have the ball: This is not the Steelers of old who used to run to set up the pass. These guys are the most dangerous when Big Ben has time to create a play, ” after the play,” if that makes any sense. We need to keep him contained within the pocket, get pressure on him, and get him on the ground. He has an arsenol of recievers at his disposal that can get deep at any time. We all know what Ward can do but the one that concerns me the most is Mike Wallace. When Rothlisburger gets rolling outside the pocket ( Remember his hero John Elway?) he seems to find this guy open for some huge plays. Key to all of this is bend but dont break and contain, contain, contain!!!
BOTH Special teams can be torched!! Getting back Spencer Larsen was huge, he has a week under his belt and this guy can just flat out punch you in the mouth. Guy’s please stay in your lanes and if all possible, funnel the ball carrier to Larsen and look for the fumble. Steelers have given up 2 scores on ST in two of the last 3 games. Eddie, buckle your chin strap, run north and south, ( not east and west!! lol…) and take it to the house.
Sorry for the long post but, last week I had a really bad feeling about the game with the Ravens. However, I let my heart predict over my head. This week I think we have a real shot at beating the world champions in our house and righting the ship. This is the way I see it and I always love reading all of your posts!! Thoughts???
P.S Broncos win 28-17
Regards,
Coach
coachemup, I like the 4/5 receiver set out of the shotgun, if we’re going to attack them where they are weak, at the corners, that would be a good way to hit it there. I also like the idea of using the wildhorse this week, as rbf1 mentioned earlier, I think it could be a real effective way to keep them off balance with all their up front pressure. In addition to Royal, Marshall and Gaffney having a big game, I would also mentioned Scheffler earlier, who can go long. Polamalu, “Head and Shoulders” ABOVE the team, hahaha. Good one. Obviously keeping Roethlisberger contained is of utmost importance, but as he has shown us time and time over, even in the super bowl, he is so strong, built like a tower, that he will still play houdini a couple of times regardless of how good we contain him so keeping up coverage when you think a play is over is just as important, IMO. And yes, I agree we had missed Larsen badly and the hit he delivered last week to pin them inside their 20′s on a return was something we had not seen. Hopefully someone is watching his every move in the locker room. LOL. How stupid was that? Yeah, I know, an accident! Thanks for the info on the Steelers getting torched twice for scores on ST in their last 3 games, something to be excited about.
Finally, as I’ve been saying all week, this is not a good game for us to get our running game back in order after a dismal showing last week, but as I am a true believer that a game is won or lost in the trenches, and that Championship football starts with a good D and a solid running game, and for the sake of the rest of the season, I thought I’d share with you part of what Kizla had to say in the DP regarding our running game and I was glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks that way, as I have all year so far about Moreno AND Bucky. Here it is:
So what can the Broncos do to fight the Steelers in a battle of wills? Put it all on the shoulders of quarterback Kyle Orton?
Something tells me Denver better come up with a Plan B.
Better give Buckhalter an increased role in the game plan.
In an offense averaging a modest 20 points per game, McDaniels has given Moreno 120 touches from scrimmage to 73 for Buckhalter, yet despite the disparity in workload both Denver players have gained an identical 484 total yards by running or catching the football.
If productivity counts for anything, then it seems to me Buckhalter deserves to be in the huddle nearly twice as much as Moreno.
“We let them play, and we feel good about our backs. No matter who’s in the game, we think they’re capable people,” McDaniels said.
Here’s the problem: Know-shon doesn’t know all the tricks of the NFL trade, and what the rookie doesn’t know is hurting the Broncos.
Don’t get me wrong. Despite all the caterwauling when Denver used the 12th choice in the first round on Moreno, taking the 5-foot-11, 210-pound runner out of Georgia was the right thing to do. Playing him so much while Moreno learns on the job has been the mistake.
It’s as if McDaniels is in a rush to prove wrong the doubters of his football acumen. Could it be ego is blinding McDaniels to the fact it’s Buckhalter, not Moreno, who has been the most dangerous weapon in a Denver offense lacking in big shots?
Despite missing the New England game with an ankle injury, Buckhalter leads the Broncos with five gains of more than 20 yards.
After salary negotiations and a banged-up knee cost Moreno valuable time on the field during his first NFL training camp, his apprenticeship has been done with victory and defeat on the line. The 420 yards gained rushing speak loudly to Moreno’s natural talent. Nevertheless . . .
Whether smashing into the pile on third down or fumbling the football in a crash, there are too many times when his rookie anxiety shows and Moreno treats this sport like demolition derby.
It’s not the speed of the game that’s killing Moreno. It’s failure to trust his instincts to slow down the action. Moreno is so obsessed with picking up the tough yards he doesn’t give himself a chance to take a play to the house. Maybe that’s why his longest run in 109 attempts for Denver is 17 yards.
What Moreno must learn to break big plays is the same trait McDaniels needs to employ in the development of his prized rookie running back: patience.
“Patience is not getting the ball and going 100 mph. In this league, the majority of the time, if you’re going 1,000 mph from the time you touch the ball, you’re not going to make a good read,” said Buckhalter, whose 6.0 yards per carry this season ranks second in the NFL behind the superb 6.9 per attempt by Chris Johnson of Tennessee.
“When I say have patience, I don’t mean running the ball at 50 percent speed,” Buckhalter added. “But you start out at maybe 70 percent. Then, when you find the crease, you see the opening and that’s when you turn it on. Slow to the hole. Fast through the hole.”
Buckhalter started four consecutive times to open the season, then got injured, which allowed McDaniels to give the No. 1 running back job to Moreno, and Denver’s rushing production has gone on a slow, steady decline.
It’s OK for Moreno to be in the game. The Broncos, however, need Buckhalter to make more plays to win the game.
Broncos waived #26 Jack Williams to make room for Ty Law. I was thinking it would be Lamont Jordan as well. Jordan has not contributed all lately. (injury?). Williams was struggling in the nickel package.
Best wishes to Williams.
I like the addition of Law, very physical corner who can man handle some of the slot receivers he’ll be lined up against. Jack Williams is a good guy and I hope he finds a new home. I would like to see us play more bump n run on the outside and blitz hard.
Moreno and Bucky need to get going this week to open up the play action. We are at our best when Graham and Scheffler get involved in the offense keeping the safeties from shading Royal and Marshall.
Another rough matchup this week, I do think we will pull it off with a score of:
Broncos: 24
Steelers: 20
I’m sure some team will pick Williams up. Good luck Jack!
come on yall…do you really think McD would drop an Ex Patriot? this is a known thing, he is looking out for his “ownn”….even tho on the depth chart it would require 3 people to get hurt before Jordan ever touches the ball he will still be around. He wont drop and ex patriot for an ex patriot.
Liked jack Williams…struggled yes but he is a young guy….though he had alot of upside and potential and before anyone says it yes, im sure McD picked the right person to drop because “he is the highly paid coach and im just a fan playing coach”…..hopefully jack can make practice squad.i Had a bad feeling it would be Jack….had to be someone form the secondary. Best of luck pinball (what they called him on NFL.com after that his INT return in preseason last year where he was bounching off people for the score)
anyway, my Steelers game prediction is 23-20 Broncos win ita
Well- we really don’t know do we. It’s easy to come in after the fact and say… “He won’t drop an ex-Patriot for an ex-Patriot”. Hindsight better than foresight. lol
All you McD haters and NE way bloggers, remember this “a player can not be cut if he is injured”. Well the word has been that LaMont Jordan is injured.
Then why is he not on the injury list?
Good question??
Hate to see Williams go too,had potential for a young corner,but life goes on, good luck Jack.
So I guess that means Law will be starting??He had 10 int for the jets in 95??
Lamont was only a Patriot for one year, it is stretching it a bit to make that analogy of McD on this move. I thought Jordan could be the one let go, but obviously McD thought our weakest link was J. Williams. Williams was the weakest guy on a very strong secondary. Bailey, Goodman, Phonzy, now Law, Dawkins, Hill, Bruton, McBath and Barrett. If a secondary guy had to go, that was the obvious choice. IMO.
sorry not 95 but 2005.
Hines Ward voted dirtiest player in the game!!!!
Williams did not start, Law won’t either, not right away anyway, Goodman and Bailey are the starters with Law and Phonzy coming in on the nickel and dime packages. It would take a couple of bad games by Goodman for McD to entertain that thought.
Hines can be on my team anyday. They’re dirty when they play somewhere else and they’re just great players when they join us, remember Romanowski?
Hines Ward is one heck of a football player. He’s runs great routes, can block really well downfield. Only reason he broke Keith Rivers jaw last year is because Rivers didn’t seen him coming. Champ had some good things to say about him on his interview.
Yeah- Romo was awesome for us
I can’t get myself to call him Romo anymore since we have that TONY Romo, just doesn’t feel right, LOL.
Didn’t Romo break Steve Berlien’s jaw??
Almost, it was Kerry Collins jaw he broke in 1997 when he was the Panthers QB.
Yeah your right again Baylin,as usual.LOL
Dosen’t Ward line up on the same side as Champ and Dawkins???
I believe you are right, he usually lines up right side which would be left side of our D, champ’s side.
BFE92, actually even he does usually line up on the right side, this year he has been catching them all over the field. I looked at his 09 stats, he has 17 catches on the right side, 10 in the middle and 15 on the left.
We have to definately keep an eye on where he is!!!!!
The Steelers have a good solid left tackel,can’t remember his name,but I believe it’s( DOOMSDAY) on Monday.I know one thing for sure if we get hits on rothlisberger we have to hit him hard or he’ll break tackels.