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Coming off a week 1 victory against the New York Giants, the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to continue their offensive-heavy approach as they face the Denver Broncos. Having scored the fourth fewest points in the league last year, following the loss of Ben Roethlisberger, its no surprise that the Steelers focus has been on the rejuvenation of their attack with their perennial pro-bowl quarterback under center.
While this looks certain to continue, Pittsburgh's defense seems primed to shine against a Broncos squad that looked out of sorts without a traditional training camp.
Let's look ahead.
Steelers Will Hold Denver to under 10 points
Expected to significantly impact the quality of play coming into the year, the loss of preseason football has had an uneven effect around the league. Not surprisingly, those franchises with a high-degree of continuity seemed to have been least effected through the first week of the season, requiring little time to get acclimated to the play-calling.
The Broncos however, are not among these teams. Having scored a mere 14 points in their loss against the Titans Monday night, Denver was the victim of an offense unable to convert third-downs–converting less than 33% of the time–as well as a quarterback routinely overthrowing his receivers. Lead by Drew Lock, the Broncos are not only attempting to figure out if Lock is capable of leading their team, but doing so while learning a new offensive system under Pat Shurmur. Against an aggressive defense ranked 5th in the NFL last year in points allowed, its a recipe for disaster.
Roethlisberger will throw for 350+ yards
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Despite solid debuts for Michael Ojemudia and Essang Bassey, the two rookie cornerbacks for Denver will now have the unenviable task of attempting to stymie Ben Roethlisberger. Though the Steelers didn't require a vintage Roethlisberger performance in week 1 to secure the victory–with the veteran QB contributing just over 220 yards passing–expect the Pittsburgh offense to throw early and often Sunday, as they look to test the unproven Bronco secondary as well as force Lock to play from behind.
Should the Bronco's defensive line be unable to pressure the Steelers' passing attack, every fantasy owner who owns Roethlisberger should be in for a big day.
The Steelers get to 2-0 in an easy win
On paper Pittsburgh is primed to dominate on both sides of the ball, giving us a vintage performance that should catapult the Steelers to the top of the contention discussion, despite the small sample size. Whether they will be able to maintain such lofty expectations will be a conversation for another day, as Mike Tomlin and company improve their record with a 30-9 victory.
