Broncos Rewind: 2015 AFC Divisional Playoff: Pittsburgh at Denver

This summer, I decided to look back and re-watch the three playoff games from Denver's victorious Super Bowl run and go back and look at it from a diary type perspective-after the fact. The first installment: The Divisional Playoff between Pittsburgh and Denver from Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 17, 2016.

The game starts with a montage to Peyton Manning, who returned as the Broncos starter after Gary Kubiak benched Brock Osweiler in the Week 17 game against San Diego. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms talk about Ben Roethlisberger's shoulder injury and the absence of Antonio Brown, who missed the game with a concussion. Nantz is beyond excited about Manning returning. It was picturesque day in Denver with the temps at about 46 degrees and sunny. It was a perfect day for playoff football.

The Steelers receiver the opening kickoff, and there is nothing better than a Broncos playoff crowd waving orange towels.

Pitt's first drive begins at their own 20.
Big Ben throws deep and incomplete on the first play of the game to show that his shoulder injury is not as bad as it was talked about all week leading into the game. A 2nd down run gets two yards and a 3rd and 8 quick screen gets absolutely snuffed out by T.J. Ward for a loss of two and a quick three and out for the Steelers.

Omar Bolden get a big return and takes it down to the Steelers 30. What a perfect way to start the game.

Denver's first drive starts with a first down throw from Manning to Demaryius Thomas for a gain of 11. The next throw was a drop by Thomas that would have been a first down. This is the first drop of the game-with many more to come. Ronnie Hillman runs like 50 yards to get only 5 yards and on 3rd and 5 a quick pass in the flat to C.J. Anderson gets only 2 yards. Denver settles for a 28 yard field goal by Brandon McManus, who was basically our offensive MVP in 2015, and an early 3-0 lead.

Pittsburgh's second drive starts on their own 20 again. A dumpoff to Fitzgerald Touissant gets nothing as he gets wrapped up by Demarcus Ware and Derek Wolfe. A run for three yards sets up a 3rd and 8 for the Steelers. A underneath throw to Sammie Coates goes for a big play as he outruns Chris Harris, who was playing with basically one arm due to a freak shoulder injury, and the Steelers are on the move at the Denver 40. Harris' shoulder really limited him in this game. Thank God it got better as the playoffs went on. A Martavis Bryant drop on 2nd and 8 was big because he completely beat Aqib Talib off the line. A crossing pass to Markus Wheaton set up a 4th and 1 from the Denver 32 and the Steelers decide to go for it. Mike Tomlin passes up the 49 yard field goal and goes for it early in the game. Big Ben's play action throw in the end zone for Wheaton gets broken up perfectly by Talib and the drive stalls. That sequence will play a big role later on, but it showed that Big Ben's shoulder is fine and the Steelers can move the ball in the air on the Broncos defense.

Denver's drive begin at their own 32 with 7:56 left in the 1st quarter.
A play action screen to Owen Daniels gets four yards and a Hillman run gets five yards but he falls down and he could have had a first down. A trick play on 3rd and 2 goes nowhere as the direct snap to Hillman gets snuffed out by James Harrison, who no one even attempted to block. A Britton Colquitt punt lands perfectly inside the 10 and Kayvon Webster does an amazing job of knocking it down and out of bounds at the 3 yard line. Webster and Colquitt were the unsung heroes for the Broncos in the playoffs. This was just the first of many great plays that they made.

Pittsburgh's drive starts at their own 3 yard line with 5:59 to go in the 1st quarter.
A run for five, an incomplete to Bryant, A false start on the Steelers and an incomplete pass to Coates cause the Steelers to punt. A shanked punt gives the Broncos the ball at the Pitt 31 with 5:06 to go in the quarter.

Hillman barrels for 8 on first down. Another Hillman run loses a yard, and then a weak incomplete to Jordan Norwood makes Denver settle for another field goal by our MVP Brandon McManus and he nails the 41 yard field goal to give Denver a 6-0 lead, but this game should be 10-0 or even 14-0. That was the story of the 2015 Denver Broncos offense right there.

The Steelers next drive starts at their own 20 once again.
An inside run on 1st down gets nothing, and on 2nd down Big Ben hits a wide open Bryant, who beats Talib again, for a gain of 22. An end around to Bryant goes all the way to the Broncos 16 yard line. Another big play by the Steelers offense, and now the Steelers are on the move. Touissant breaks the next play up the middle for a gain of 15 and it gives the Steelers a first and goal from the 1 yard line. Toussiant walks into the end zone and now the Steelers have a 7-6 lead. The Broncos defense got carved up by the Steelers on that drive, and as a Broncos fan I was very worried that we were in trouble at this point. The Broncos looked like they were playing very tentative and nervous at this point.

Denver's next drive starts at their own 20 and a first down pass to Andre Caldwell gets broken up over the middle. Manning hits Virgil Green over the middle for a gain of 11 and a first down. Demaryius Thomas makes a nice catch on a curl route and gets another first down for the Broncos. Manning hits Cody Latimer on the next play over the middle and another first down as the 1st quarter ends.

End of 1st Quarter: Steelers-7 Broncos-6

Start of 2nd Quarter with 1st and 10 at the Pitt 42. A play action throw to Thomas on a deep post falls incomplete as Manning overthrows it. Manning overthrew basically every deep throw he attempted the entire 2015 season, so this was pretty much par for the course. Manning from 2012-2014 would have hit that throw almost every singe time for a touchdown. A 3rd and 11 pass to Emmanuel Sanders is dropped and the drive stalls. Drop #2 for the Broncos wideouts. A punt to Pitt sets up the Steelers at their own 15 with 14:12 to go in the quarter.

Toussiant breaks a tackle to get four yards on 1st down. A 2nd and 6 play gets only 1 yard, and Big Ben hits Darrius Heyward-Bey on a blown coverage and Heyward-Bey makes a huge catch and run for a 58 yard gain down to the Denver 22. Big Ben is killing the Broncos and the receivers are getting wide open on the secondary once again. Plus, they are doing this without Antonio Brown! A 2nd down sack by Antonio Smith is a huge play and 3rd and 13 drop by Heath Miller bails out the Broncos defense. Big Ben hung in there against a blitz and Miller should have caught it for a first down. Chris Boswell nails a 43 yarder and it is now a 10-6 lead for the Steelers with 10:19 to go in the 2nd quarter. As a Broncos fan, the anxiety levels are really rising at this point in the game.

Denver's next drive starts at their own 20. Ronnie Hillman runs for five on 1st down. A 2nd down run by Hillman goes no where and a 3rd down floater to C.J. Anderson over the middle gets dropped and Anderson would have had about 20 yard of running room had he caught it. Drop #3 by the Broncos.

Pittsburgh's next drive starts at their own 37 with 8:44 to go in the half.
A dumpoff gets a yard as Von Miller finally makes a play and makes the tackle. A short run on 2nd down sets up a 3rd and 8 and Derek Wolfe breaks free up the middle and sacks Big Ben for a huge sack and forces a punt. Wolfe just signed a contract extension and he backed it up in the playoffs.

Another shanked punt gives the Broncos the ball at their own 41 with 6:48 to play in the half.

Manning hit Sanders over the middle for a first down on a throw that could have been picked off by William Gay, but Sanders gets it and the Broncos have a first down in Pitt territory. A play action pass is incomplete as Bennie Fowler drops a crossing route while he was wide open over the middle. Drop #4 for Denver. On 2nd and 10, Manning scrambles and Fowler drops another one on the sideline. Phil Simms is talking about how the Manning and the Broncos offense is not crisp at this point, and that might be the most obvious statement of the game so far. Nantz and Simms also bring up the wind, but let's face it: Manning doesn't look great at all. On a 3rd and 10, Manning dumps it off to Anderson for a gain of 7. Kubiak decides to go for it. A field goal would have been a 54 yard attempt and I think it was the right call to try and go for it here on 4th and 3. Sanders drops a pass that would have been a first down because he got rocked by Mike Mitchell right after he caught it, but he should have made the catch. Drop #6 for Denver and another drive is wasted. The Broncos offense just seems to be in a bad state at this point in the game. It looks like another playoff disappointment for the Broncos and their fans.

Pittsburgh's drive starts at their own 37 with 5:03 to go in the half.
An end around to Bryant on a 3rd and 3 gets nothing as Ward and Ware were not fooled and push him out of bounds for no gain.

Denver's drive starts at their own 4 yard line with 3:14 left in the half.
C.J. Anderson gets nothing on 1st down, but on 2nd down he breaks it off left tackle all the way to the 40 for a gain of 34. After the 2:00 warning, a short pass underneath to Owen Daniels gets 6 and sets up a 3rd and 3. Manning hits Thomas on a slant for a first down to the Pitt 43. A short throw to Fowler in the flat gets 4 and Denver calls a timeout with 47 seconds left in the half. A run to Anderson gets another first down to the Pitt 31 and Manning throws it away with 16 seconds left in the half on 1st and 10. On 2nd and 10, Manning gets blindsided by Will Allen on a blitz and the ball goes forward for an incomplete pass but Manning took a real shot there. On 3rd and 10, Manning fumbles the snap and Manning has to fall on it and Denver takes a timeout with 5 seconds left. McManus hits the 51 yard field goal as it curves in right at the last second and it makes it 10-9. That was a very key moment there because every point counts in this game for the Broncos and their offense.

Halftime: Steelers-10 Broncos-9

At this point, the Broncos and Manning look pretty sluggish on offense. Manning looks uncomfortable, the run game is basically ineffective, the receivers can't catch the ball, and Brock Osweiler is already thinking about which team he is going to sign with when free agency starts that March. The Broncos defense is having trouble containing an offense that features Big Ben with a bum shoulder, no Leveon Bell and no Antonio Brown. I am having the same feeling I had when Denver got upset by the Colts in the Divisional Round the year before. Not good times at this point.

Start of the 3rd quarter. Pittsburgh leads 10-9. Denver starts with the ball at their own 20.
Two Anderson runs get two yards. A 3rd and 7 pass to Thomas is incomplete but the Steelers get flagged for a pass interference and it was a questionable call to say the least. A 1st down run to Anderson gets a few yards and a quick out to Virgil Green sets up a 3rd and 5 and a WR screen to Caldwell fools no one and William Gay blows up for a loss of one. Another great tackle by Kayvon Webster on the ensuing punt gives the Steelers no yards on the return.

Pittsburgh's next drive starts at their own 21 with 11:51 to go in the 3rd quarter. A quick screen to Bryant is dropped, but on 2nd down another blown coverage gives the Steelers a huge play to Bryant who catches and runs all the way down to the Broncos 28 for a gain of 52. Holy shit! I still can't believe how many big plays the Broncos gave up in this game. They gave up more in this game than they did all season long. A long out to Bryant on 2nd and 10 gives the Steelers another first down as Talib was playing too far off of Bryant again. Another quick screen to Bryant gets broken up by Chris Harris. On 2nd and 10, Heath Miller catches one underneath for a gain of five as he gets wrapped up by Danny Trevathan and Brandon Marshall, who haven't done much at this point in the game either. On 3rd and 5, Big Ben goes to Bryant on a back shoulder fade, but Talib makes a great play and gets his hand in there to break it up and save a touchdown. Chris Boswell hits a 28 yard FG to make it 13-9 with 9:32 to go in the 3rd quarter.

Denver's drive starts at their own 20 and Manning hits Sanders on a out route off of play action for a first down with his best throw of the game. Why didn't the Broncos do more of this in the game? Manning's next pass is incomplete to a covered Daniels. On 2nd and 10, Hillman gets stuffed by James Harrison for a loss of 1, and Manning throws high and wide to Thomas and it sails out of bounds. Thomas was well-covered anyway. Denver is 1-10 on third down so far in the game.

Another punt and another big hit by Webster as he forces a fumble on the return but the ball rolls out of bounds and stays with Pitt.

Pitt's next drive starts at their own 6 with 7:55 to play in the 3rd quarter. On 1st down, Trevathan makes a great play to drop Toussaint for a loss of one. Another run on 2nd and 11 and Vance Walker buries for no gain. On 3rd and 11, a draw to gets only three yards as Darian Stewart blows it up and forces the Pittsburgh punt. VERY conservative play calling by the Steelers there, but they trust the way their defense is playing, so you really can't kill them in hindsight.

Denver's drive starts at their own 47 with 5:53 to go in the quarter. Manning hits a sliding Sanders for a first down near the sideline. Manning completes a pass to Norwood over the middle for another first down. A run to Anderson gets 11 on a nice cutback run and now Denver is on the move. Manning gets sacked by James Harrison as he runs over Anderson and it put Denver in a 2nd and 17. Manning completes a wobbler to Latimer for a six yard gain. On 3rd and 11, Manning first has to call a timeout, then Manning overthrows a well-covered Norwood on a go route. McManus comes back in and nails a 41 yard FG to cut the score to 13-12 in favor of Pittsburgh. The crowd barely cheered at that point because they knew that the Broncos offense was just not clicking and all these field goals were not what they expected.

Pittsburgh's next drive starts at their own 20 with 2:45 to go in the 3rd quarter.
On 1st and 10, Big Ben hits a wide open Sammie Coates over the middle for another big gain over Chris Harris. A 1st and 10 throw to Wheaton gives the Steelers the ball at the 50. A flag on 2nd and 4 on Bradley Rob for pass interference gives the Steelers a first down and it was the first penalty of the game on Denver. It was a call that could have went either way. On 1st and 10 from the Denver 38, Ben hits Wheaton over the middle for a gain of five, and on 2nd down Toussaint breaks a run for a 1st down to the Denver 23. On 1st and 10, Shaq Barrett speed rushes through and sacks Big Ben and the Steelers also get flagged for a face mask on OT Marcus Gilbert. That was a very underrated sequence in the game that gets overlooked. The third quarter ends on that play.

End of 3rd quarter: Steelers-13 Broncos-12.

Start of 4th quarter. Pitt has a 1st and 25 at the Broncos 39. A quick pitch to Todman gets snuffed out by Ware and it results in a loss of five. On 2nd and 30, Big Ben throws incomplete over the middle. On 3rd and 30, Big Ben checks it down to Bryant, who gets about 10 yards to the Denver 34. Instead of trying a 52 yard FG, Mike Tomlin elects to punt. I was surprised by this decision at the time and watching the game again, I am puzzled by this. Boswell was money all game long, and I think he had a very good shot at making this kick. Interesting call there once again by Tomlin.

Denver's drive starts at their own 20 after a touchback with 13:15 to go in the game.
On 1st and 10, Manning play fakes, then slips and falls to avoid the sack, looks like he gave himself up and gets back up and throws a strike to Sanders, who grabs it and runs to midfield. This play was very controversial and it is amazing how it transpired, but as a Broncos fan, you'll take it. Just a weird play all around. The Steelers tried to challenge it but they couldn't so Denver has a 1st and 10 at the Pitt 46. Hillman drops a pass on a checkdown on the next play, so that gives 7 drops for the Broncos in this game. On 2nd and 10, Denver burns their 2nd timeout. and a draw to Hillman loses for yards. Hillman had a rough game and a rough postseason. On 3rd down, Manning hits Thomas on an underneath route that gains only a couple to force a punt. On the punt, Markus Wheaton fumbles the punt but Pitt recovers it basically at the goal line but the refs call it a touchback. A big break for the Steelers because the play was ruled a muff and not an actual fumble.

Pitt's drive starts at their own 20, and Big Ben hits TE Jesse James for a gain of 22. On 1st and 10, Big Ben hits Markus Wheaton underneath and he breaks 2 tackles to get another first down and into Denver territory. After a short throw to Heyward-Bey on 1st down, Touissant gets hit by Bradley Roby at the 30 yard line, the ball gets knocked out and Demarcus Ware recovers the fumble. This was the game-changing play, and the Broncos needed it desperately because they were on the ropes. This was the turning point of the game and it proved to be the turning point of the Broncos playoff run as well. Incredible turn of events and now the crowd is back in it.

Denver's drive starts at their own 35 with 9:45 to play in the game. Two plays later, Anderson breaks off a huge run down to the Pitt 35 but it gets called back due a holding call on our good friend Michael Schofield. That was a killer at that moment. On 2nd and 12, Manning throws the ball right into the hands of William Gay for an interception but Emmanuel Sanders knocks it away and saves Manning from getting picked right there. On 3rd and 12, Manning hits Fowler over the middle on a perfect seam pass for the biggest first down of the game to keep the drive alive. Fowler gets it down to the 35 for a gain of 31. Hillman gets three yards on 1st and 10, and Manning draws Pitt offside with the hard count to set up a 2nd and 2. Hillman gets four and a first down to the Pitt 25. Anderson gets dragged down for a gain of three to set up a 2nd and 6 and Manning throws a quick pass to Sanders for a gain of eight and a first down. Hillman wiggles his way for a gain of five and on 2nd and 5 from the Pitt 9, Hillman spins his way for a first down to the Pittsburgh 3 yard line with 4:20 to go. On 1st and Goal, Hillman gets rocked by Ryan Shazier for no gain. On 2nd and Goal, Anderson gets two yards down to the 1 yard line. The Broncos hurry up and Anderson bursts through for the touchdown. It was their first TD in 23 postseason possessions. The Broncos go for two and Manning hits Thomas on a quick throw and DT walks into the end zone for the 20-13 lead with 3:00 to go in the game. By the way, the Broncos would never trail again in the postseason after getting the lead at this point in this game.

Pittsburgh's next drive starts at their own 20. On 1st and 10, Big Ben hits Bryant for a gain of 16. On 1st and 10, Chris Harris wraps up Bryant for a gain of only three. The Steelers take a timeout and on 2nd and 7, T.J. Ward crushes Touissaint for a gain of 2 and the 2:00 warning hits. On 3rd and 5,  pressure by Ware forced an early throw by Big Ben and the pass falls incomplete over the middle. On 4th and 5 with 1:56 to go, Von Miller forces Ben to step up and he gets sacked by Ware and Wolfe and the Broncos take over on downs with 1:49 to go in the game.

Denver's drive starts at the Pitt 30. Two straight runs to Anderson lose a yard but it forces Pitt to take their last two timeouts. On 3rd and 11, Anderson runs again for a gain of only four, and McManus comes back out and nails a 45 yard FG to give the Broncos a 23-13 lead with 53 seconds left and that effectively puts the game out of reach for the Broncos.

Pittsburgh's next drive starts at their own 20.
On 1st and 10, Ben's pass to Wheaton is incomplete but the Broncos get called for pass interference. On 1st and 10 at the 42, Ben hits Bryant on an out route for a gain of 8. On 2nd and 2, Ben completes a pass to Bryant over the middle to the Denver 29. A spike with 24 seconds left sets the Steelers up for a 47 yard FG by Chris Boswell and he makes it to cut the score to 23-16 with 19 seconds left in the game.

The only chance for the Steelers is to convert an onside kick. The Steelers touched the ball before it goes 10 yards and C.J. Anderson recovered it easily and all the Broncos have to do is knell down and the game will be over.

Denver's drive starts at their own 37 with 14 seconds left. Manning takes the snap and takes a knee and the clock runs out. Wisely, Manning gives the game ball to Demaryius Thomas, whose mom was attending her first game since she was released from jail.

The celebration begins and the Broncos are onto the AFC Championship Game next week in Denver against the New England Patriots and the final installment of the Brady-Manning rivalry. It wasn't pretty, but like the Broncos did all season long, the Broncos grinded it out and got the victory.