Broncos Beat Steelers in a Thriller 24-17, Improve to 5-6

The Broncos provided a little more life into their season with a thrilling 24-17 win over the Steelers on Sunday in Mile High. The win puts Denver at 5-6, and it gives them more of a reason to get excited about the home stretch of the year. The Broncos are back in the playoff chase, and they actually have some meaningful games in December ahead of them. The game was back and forth, and the Broncos held on with a huge interception in the endzone by Shelby Harris to stop the Steelers on a 3rd and goal to preserve the win. Here are my thoughts and observations on the game.....

1) The Steelers moved the ball all day on the Broncos, but they were able to come up with key stops and key turnovers. This really decided the outcome. Justin Simmons blocked a field goal in the first quarter. Will Parks forced a fumble at the goal line that resulted in a touchback in the second quarter. Chris Harris intercepted Ben Roethlisberger in the third quarter, Bradley Roby forced a fumbled in Denver territory in the third quarter, and Shelby Harris intercepted him in the final minutes of the game to preserve the win. The Steelers have these type of games throughout the year, and the Broncos capitalized on their mistakes and won the game.

2) The Broncos had a 10-3 as the final seconds were ticking down in the half, and the Steelers tied it at 10 on a fake field goal as time expired in the half. Then, after the teams exchanged punts, Big Ben hit Juju Smith-Schuster on a 97 yard pass play to give the Steelers the 17-10 lead. I really thought the Broncos were done after that sequence, but they hung in and made a comeback.

3) The offense was efficient again and Case Keenum played well again with 2 TD passes and no interceptions. The key for the Broncos was that they capitalized on two big turnovers and converted it into touchdowns in the second half. They answered the Harris pick with a TD pass from Keenum to Emmanuel Sanders to tie it at 17. Then, they answered fumble by James Connor with a TD run by Philip Lindsay. The ability to convert those scores was a huge factor in the game, and Keenum was steady throughout the game.

4) Philip Lindsay had another big day. He rushed for 110 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. He gashed the Steelers defense on multiple occasions. He is so much fun to watch every single week.

5) This game had a great feel to it, and it brought excitement to Broncos Country for the first time in over a year. You could sense that just from watching it on television. It was the late window afternoon game on CBS with Jim Nantz and Tony Romo doing the commentary. The Broncos were in their color rush orange uniforms, and the crowd could feel that this could be a season defining win if they could knock off the Steelers. It even had a little Mile High magic in there at the end with Harris' interception of Ben late in the game. It was the first time in a long time that the Broncos gave their fans some real hope for something good and exciting to happen.

6) With back to back wins over the Chargers and Steelers, the Broncos are now 5-6 with the Bengals up next in Cincy. The Bengals lost Andy Dalton for the season with a thumb injury last week, so Jeff Driskell will start the game. The Broncos have a chance to get to 6-6 and really throw their hat into the AFC Wild Card ring, but they have to get by the Bengals next week. The fact that they have life in their season is great, but they have to take care of business next week.