Steelers Out-Muscle Broncos at Mile High

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

The Pittsburgh Steelers went on the road and dominated the Denver Broncos on Monday night for a final score of 28-10. The game was a lot closer than you may think--until the second half. It was 7-3 in favor of the Steelers at halftime, but Denver stayed in it.

Both teams may have scored a touchdown in the third quarter to make it 14-10, but all hell broke loose for the Broncos after that--specifically for their defense, as the Steelers scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton finished the night with three interceptions (INT), no touchdowns (TD), and 221 passing yards on 23/38 completions to attempts. Oh--and he had a zero quarterback rating in the fourth quarter. On the other hand, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went 21/29 with 233 passing yards, three TD, and one interception.

The biggest reason why the Denver Broncos lost?

Not being able to run the ball and forced to have Kyle Orton attempt to make big plays--unsuccessfully. It doesn't take an expert to realize you're usually not going to win a football game when your quarterback throws three INT and running backs can't get their rushing attack going.

Shall we take a look at the rushing totals?

Steelers: 173 rushing yards (thanks in HUGE part to Rashard Mendenhall's 155 yards )

Broncos: 27 rushing yards

I rest my case.

The Steelers at 6-2 are now tied with the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC North Division, although Cincy still leads because they hold the tie breaker after a win against the defending Super Bowl champions earlier this season. Pittsburgh looks to get revenge against the Bengals this Sunday at home

As for the Broncos, they are no longer the darlings of the NFL, having lost two straight to AFC North opponents--Ravens and Steelers.

With the rival San Diego Chargers (5-3) just one game back of the Broncos' AFC West lead after three consecutive victories, Denver looks to bounce back against the dysfunctional Washington Redskins (2-6). So no need to panic, Denver fans.

Now if they lose to the Redskins, then you might want to be nervous--very nervous.

Fred "The F-Bomb" Richani is an actor and columnist. Richani founded The Sports Courier n 2009. He is currently a columnist and album reviewer for 411Mania.com and a syndicated writer for BleacherReport.com.

His work has been featured on CBS Sportsline, 1Wrestling.com, Pro Wrestling Torch, Gerweck.net, GOOGLE News, and USAToday.com. He has also interviewed Platinum-selling bands Blue October and OneRepublic. Richani currently resides between New York City and Philadelphia in Freehold, NJ.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?