The Steelers had a rough second half offensively, but they did enough to leave Denver with a 2-0 record.
Justin Fields threw a touchdown in the first half as the Steelers built up a 10-point lead and Chris Boswell hit his eighth field goal of the season in the second half to extend the lead to 13 points. The Broncos would make it a one-score game just after the two minute warning, but the Steelers held on for a 13-6 win.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton made a curious choice after the Wil Lutz field goal that cut the Steelers lead to seven points. He chose to kick deep despite having just one timeout and there were just 18 seconds left on the clock after the Broncos forced a punt. Marvin Mims burned 10 seconds returning the punt to the 19-yard-line and the Broncos saw Bo Nix’s desperate heave two plays later get picked off by Damontae Kazee.
The odds of recovering an onside kick are low, but they exist and the Broncos would have had to force a punt without recovering the ball in either scenario. Payton will likely be asked if he’d like to play that differently next time.
Payton will also be asked what he can do to cut down on penalties. The Broncos had nine on Sunday, including a long pass interference on Pat Surtain II that set up Boswell’s second field goal and not including two offsetting penalty situations, and they have committed 17 over the first two weeks of the season. The team’s not good enough on either side of the ball to overcome those added obstacles.
Nix was 20-of-35 for 246, but threw another pick in the end zone and has now been intercepted four times in two games. The 0-2 Broncos will head to Tampa for a matchup with the undefeated Buccaneers.
Fields hit tight end Darnell Washington for a touchdown and the Steelers were able to move the ball well on the ground in the first half, but they had just three first downs while punting six times in the second half. The coming days will bring word on Russell Wilson’s condition and the Steelers’ plans for the Chargers in a matchup of 2-0 teams next week.
Their defense will almost certainly show up for that one and either quarterback will have to find a way to spark an offense that has produced just 31 points in their two wins. One thing that would help is cutting down on their own penalties. They had eight of them and a couple wiped out sizable gains that would have made for a more cohesive offensive effort.