Pittsburgh at Denver

The Denver Broncos are relieved. Wouldn't you be? Before Pittsburgh upended the Colts, Denver was headed to Indianapolis this weekend - a place they lost the last two years by a combined score of 91-34. Sure, this is a much better Broncos team than those two. But, they still couldn't have been very confident going to Indy. Now they get to play at home. And, they are off a convincing win over the "unbeatable" world champion Patriots. They are feeling pretty good about themselves, as they probably should be. But, they are at risk of being a bit overconfident here. They are getting the sixth seeded Steelers and the sixth seed has never won the Super Bowl. But, the Steelers are not your typical sixth seed. They are seeded here for one reason - because they lost some games with Ben Roethlisberger out. But, they have shown how good they really are the past two weeks with Ben at full force. They beat Cincinnati and Indianapolis on the road through a combination of smash mouth runnning and pressure defense. With Big Ben in the lineup, this team is now an amazing 25-4 straight up. They are better than last year's 15-1 club for one big reason - they've shown they can win through the air as well as the run. That's what so impressive. Last week they averaged 3.1 yards per carry and still spanked the Colts in their own house! Ben is the highest rated passer in the league and unlike last year, he looks very poised behind center. The point is, what is Denver to do here defensively? Stuff eight in the box to stop the Bus and Parker? If they do that, Roethlisberger can pick them apart. And, the Steelers have a defense that can pressure Jake Plummer and cause errors. If they can do it to Manning, they can do it to Plummer. And Denver's vaunted rushing attack? It's excellent. But, Pittsburgh allowed a league best 3.4 yards per carry this season (as compared to 4.0 for Denver). If they can hold the league's two top scoring offenses (CIN, IND) to 35 combined points, they can hold Denver down too. These teams are pretty evenly matched but contrary to popular belief, Pitt actually holds advantages in some key areas. In addition to the aforementioned yards per rush against stat, Pittsburgh allowed fewer points per game and threw for more yards per attempt. And let's look at Denver's win last week. It wasn't as easy as the final score would indicate. New England made a lot of mistakes and a couple of key calls went Denver's way (phantom pass inteference and no touchback on Champ's near end-zone fumble). Third road game here for Pitt, yes. But, who cares? Think Pitt is scared after what they've done the past two weeks? Not me. And, in this round of the playoffs, the visitor has won more in recent years than the home team. Don't get me wrong. Denver is a great team with an awesome offensive line and a solid defense. But, Pittsburgh is as good a team as Denver. And, they are playing with a chip on their shoulder. And, they have a better quarterback. And, finally, they are getting over a field goal. They may not win it, but it should be close at least. Two stars on the Steelers plus the points.