Steelers vs. Broncos: How Denver Shocks Football World and Upsets Pittsburgh

Tim Tebow can turn water into Gatorade, but can he feed 600,000?

The Denver Broncos will host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon and everyone in their right mind is picking Troy Polamalu and company to come away with the win.  While a Denver victory is improbable, it isn’t impossible.

According to the USA Today, Ben Roethlisberger is probable after re-aggravating his high ankle sprain last week against the Cleveland Browns.  Big Ben will play, but there’s a likely chance that the Broncos will face off against the same Roethlisberger that the San Francisco 49ers saw, an immobile one.

On top of their star passers’ injury, starting center Maurkice Pouncey is questionable with his own high ankle sprain that he re-tweaked in practice on Wednesday.  If Pouncey plays or not, either way, Pittsburgh’s offensive line just took a huge hit.

With a weak o-line protecting a limping Roethlisberger, Denver’s pass rush will be in position to completely take over the football game.  As a defensive unit, they rank 10th in the NFL in total sacks on the season.  They boast one of the top pass-rushing duos in the entire league as Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil combined for 21 of the Broncos' 41 sacks.

Pittsburgh won’t be able to run the football without Rashard Mendenhall.  Isaac Redman will get shutdown early and the Steelers will be forced to become one-dimensional.  At that point, Miller, Dumervil and the rest of the Broncos’ front-seven can pin their ears back and relentlessly attack the injured QB.

Denver must smell blood.

Yes, Tebow’s performance is a key on Wild Card Weekend. 

He can’t turn the football over and go three-and-out every drive if the Broncos want to keep their storybook season alive.  But Tebow won’t be able to put the team on his back in this one; Denver must come out on top in a battle of defenses to be the last one standing when the clock strikes zero.  

David Daniels is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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