Rashard Mendenhall Injury: Steelers Won't Need Star RB to Beat Broncos

Rashard Mendenhall will miss the playoffs with a torn ACL, but that won't stop Pittsburgh from beating the Denver Broncos in the first round.

Mendenhall, who ran for 928 yards and nine touchdowns this season, went down in the Steelers' Week 17 win against the Cleveland Browns.

This injury severely hampers Pittsburgh's Super Bowl chances, as they won't beat the AFC's elite without their leading rusher. Still, they should have no problem getting past the Broncos in round one.

The Tim Tebow honeymoon has gone south for Denver. After starting 7-1 with Tebow under center, the Broncos have entered a free fall.

They've dropped three straight games heading into the playoffs, including blowout losses against New England and Buffalo.

Tebow has been awful the last three weeks, throwing four interceptions and just one touchdown. In last week's 7-3 loss to Kansas City, he completed just six of 22 passes (27.3 percent) for 60 yards. He also ran the ball six times, but only mustered 16 yards.

All of this is great news for the Steelers, who once again boast one of the NFL's most fearsome defenses.

Pittsburg is holding opponents to just 171.9 passing yards per game (first in NFL) and 99.8 rushing yards per game (eighth in NFL).

With Troy Polamalu, James Harrison and James Farrior lurking around, the Steelers will have no trouble corralling Tebow.

The Mendenhall injury obviously hurts, but with Ben Roethlisberger and an elite defense, the Steelers will cruise to a round one victory.