Steelers vs Broncos: Defense Is More Important Than Peyton Manning for Denver

The Denver Broncos' defense was better last season than it was in 2010.

Key word: "Better."

The Broncos still ranked 16th in points allowed per drive (1.76) and 14th in yards allowed per drive (29.03), according to FootballOutsiders.com.

Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil were obviously beasts when it came to getting to the quarterback (Denver had 41 sacks as a team last season), but it didn't change the fact that the secondary was mediocre.

Even Champ Bailey, the heart of the secondary, has declined bit by bit throughout the years. His "success rate" against opposing offenses, defined by FootballOutsiders.com, has steadily decreased the past three years (he's also, you know, 34 years old).

The safety spots are manned by the average Mike Adams and second-year pros in Rahim Moore and Quinton Carter.

There's also the fact that the Broncos replaced the disappointing Andre' Goodman with Tracy Porter at the No. 2 cornerback spot in the offseason, but that may not even be an improvement.

Everyone's talking about Peyton Manning heading into the Broncos-Steelers matchup, and for good reason. He went 21-of-40 for 240 yards and three touchdowns against Pittsburgh in November 2008, and he's looked good in the preseason.

But nobody's talking about what Ben Roethlisberger could do to the Broncos' defense in this game. After all, in Roethlisberger's last game against the Broncos (November 2009), he went 21-of-29 for 233 yards and three touchdowns to one interception. That was despite the game being in Denver.

Manning will get his points against a Steelers' defense that has some problems of its own (mainly, age), but the game may ultimately rest on if the Broncos' defense can simply be decent, instead of mediocre.

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