Are Broncos ready for prime time?

A bit harsh on the Bronco's, doncha' think?

They 'aint as bad as yesterday.

And Joe Flacco - he shoulda been a Panther.

You've zoomed in on two Steeler foes here Bob and hit the target. The Broncos have been exposed, but of course the Steelers could lose in Denver if they start thinking about the two Raven games upcoming.  Otherwise, Ben should be able to put enough points on the board in Denver.  Let's hope the defense keeps getting better/shows up?

And the Ravens appear to have found a top flight QB to match Ben.  As he gets better, can they keep that aging defensive unit patched up and together?   It says here they won't be able to do it and will lose two out of two against the Steelers this year.

"They’re not unbeaten but they are unmasked."  "The Broncos ... will be worthy competition for the Steelers. But they sure don’t look like a threat to get to the Super Bowl."

I'm not so sure - remember the Steeler/Eagles game last year.  Broncos don't have a quarterback like Ben but Steelers better be ready for a big push back from the Broncos this Sunday.  Denver will be at home and looking to restablish themselves.

1st halfs of football games count too, you know.  a certain someone was on TV last week saying the Vikings dominated the Steelers, when, in fact, the Steelers lead in total yards and on the scoreboard at half time.  and now, yesterday, although it's true that Denver's offense was totally smothered in the 1st half against the Ravens, Baltimore's lead was only 6-0 at the break.  i believe the complexion of that game yesterday turned mightily on the 2nd half kick-off return.

the point is that 2nd half game events sometimes dominate overall perceptions, but the reality is that all it takes is a play here or there in toughly contested games between 2 good teams, and things can swing one way or the other.  i think that's what happened last week for the Steelers, when after Mendenhall's fumble, the Vikings began to dominate for a while, and it happened yesterday too.  but as the Steelers showed last week, things can always swing back around the other way, with one (or 2) big plays.  Denver didn't have any of those up its sleeve yesterday, so they just kept spiraling down.

my take is that the Steelers will go 1-2 against the Ravens and Broncos, losing both road games, but still finish the year at 12-4.  i base this on the fact that the Steelers played 4 games against teams with winning records so far, and split them at 2-2, winning the home games.  in their next 9, they play 5 games against winning teams, 3 at home, with Denver and Baltimore the only road games left against winning opponents.

the key will be the Miami game.  right now Miami is 3-4.  but if Miami ends up having a winning record, and is fighting for a playoff appearance, that road game, and last game of the season, could be the difference between the Steelers winning the division at 12-4 and maybe not even making the playoffs at 11-5.

The Ravens, stewing for 2 weeks after losing three straight games they could have easily won, was not going to be denied .... which I believe is the main storyline.  Yes, the Broncos have benefitted from a less than stellar schedule, but I believe this was mostly about the Ravens, which had two weeks to prepare  ... I doubt if their coach gave them last week off (but not sure.)

The Broncos are certainly beatable but returning home for MNF after an embarrassing loss, will probably be as focused as were the Ravens.  The Steelers are capable of beating them but it would be hard to imagine that it won't be anything less than a dogfight (politically incorrect reference for an NFL game these days.)   And I am certain that we can use this same reference for the AFC North division race this year among 3 very capable teams.

The Steelers are not going to miss the playoffs at 11-5, with so many WC teams already at 3 losses.  

The Steelers have owned the Broncos at Mile High lately, I believe they've won the last 2 pretty handily, and there's quite a Steeler following in that area (as usual).

The key to beating the Ravens is stopping their running game.  Flacco might be better than what the Ravens have ever had at QB, but put him in enough 3rd and long situations and he'll make mistakes just like any NFL QB.  That was a must-win game for the Ravens, who could not afford a 3rd AFC loss that would have certainly hurt them in WC scenerios down the road, not to mention basically forcing them to win all but 1 game the rest of the way.  They were definitely the aggressors and when they hit the Broncos in the mouth at the beginning of the 2nd half, the Broncos never responded.

BTW, the Ravens still have:

@ CIN

@ PIT, PIT

IND

@ GB

CHI

So they are far from a lock for the playoffs, especially when you consider they are going to likely split the home and home with the Steelers, that gives them 4 losses.  I would venture to say that next week is also a must-win b/c now they'd be 1-2 in the division without playing the Steelers, and they'd be 3 1/2 down on the Bengals.  

Indy looks as though they are the #1 seed, and my belief right now is New England will win the #2 seed.  After that, the Steelers are probably going to be the #4 seed if they win the WC and host a WC game presumably against...Cincy?

The playoffs could be real interesting.

I do agree that Ryan Clark ought to sit out this game.  Even if the Broncos were to win, it isn't worth risking his health over this game.  I hope Ryan ultimately comes to that conclusion.  His hesitance is remarkable and worrisome to me.

Clark should play because doctors have cleared him to play, keeping close tabs on how he feels throughout the game.

a week or so ago, someone also tried to blame Tomlin for Troy coming back too soon.  but initial clearance to play is given by experienced medical professionals - not the players and not the coaches -- and the Steelers have some of the best in the business.

Clark is certainly free to still feel anxious over the whole thing, and i wouldn't play, because i don't usually trust doctors.  but i am not in the business of putting my body at risk for a living.  if i was, i expect i would have to trust doctors.  and i think Clark has to trust them.  if he wants 100% certainty that he won't get some sort of exacerbation of his sickle cell, he won't ever get that from any doctor.

but they have told him he should be fine, and so i think he has to play -- again, while keeping close tabs on how he feels throughout the game.

@joerevs300-

- not only have the Steelers not won 2 in a row in Denver, they lost the last time they played there...remember the Ryan Clark debacle?

- as a wildcard it would not be possible for the Steelers to be the #4 seed.

@bertthescott-

- the Steelers @ Broncos game is next Monday Night (11/09), not this Sunday.

@Blitzburgh,

But they one the one that really mattered...in 2005 when they were double digit underdogs on the way to their 5th SB.  My point was they usually do OK against Denver, at least in recent years.

And I mispoke...should have said the divisional title (Indy/NE/Den/Pit).  Would have Pit the 4th seed.

As the saying goes in the NFL.......On any given Sunday yadda, yadda, yadda.

Greetings Mr. Smizik:

I do agree with some that Joe Flacco appears to be a talented QB with the potential to be elite, I just shake my head at what was the coaching staff at Pitt seeing when it chose Tyler Palko over Flacco.

On second thought, I think the Pittsburgh sports corps tend to blanket some hometown guys with a lot of love.

(As I recall the situation, Flacco was a freshman or a redshirt freshman when Palko was a junior.  Palko had been starting for two years. As a sophomore he had thrown four or five touchdown passes against Notre Dame. There's no way a freshman is going to beat out a two-year starter.  I do not blame the Pitt coaching staff for its decision.

(And you can consider that media homerism if you wish. -- Bob Smizik)