Broncos Need Defense to Return to Stellar Form to Make Playoff Run

In need of a big win to keep themselves within reach of the conference-leading New England Patriots, the Denver Broncos fell short in their Week 15 contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Broncos allowed a huge week for Ben Roethlisberger and Co., and the result was a 34-27 loss in one of their most telling matchups of the season.

Denver came in with a big question mark at the quarterback position, but Brock Osweiler answered the call valiantly. The Arizona State University product threw for 296 yards on 21-of-44 passing with three touchdowns and an interception.

Surprisingly enough, the defense, which has been a hallmark for this team for so many weeks in 2015, was eventually what let them down.

Consider the Steelers output against the Broncos in this Week 15 contest.

Splits	Total Yards	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards	Points	First Downs	Sacks	QB Hits	Takeaways
Stats	377	354	23	34	28	3	4	2
Per-Game Average	272.5	188.2	84.3	17.3	18.7	3.7	--	1.9

The unit was thoroughly beaten up and down the field by the Steelers offense and was torched for its second-highest-yards-allowed total of the year. In addition to letting Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense run roughshod over them, the Broncos also gave up a season-high 34 points.

The fault lies mostly on the team's overall inability to defend in the passing game.

The defense allowed a whopping 354 yards through the air—by far its worst mark of season—and also allowed Big Ben to rack up three touchdown passes in the process.

Sure, the unit forced Ben to throw two interceptions on the night—and even sacked him three times. That said, on 58 drop backs, those numbers somehow seem less impressive.

Moving forward, the Broncos will be tested on defense.

Week	Opponent	Total Offense	Rushing Yards	Passing yards	PPG
16	vs. Bengals	4900 (8th)	1484 (15th)	3416 (10th)	27.2 (4th)
17	vs. Chargers	4847 (10th)	1036 (31st)	3811 (4th)	19.2 (28th)

Denver will come up against two solid passing attacks in its remaining two games against the Cincinnati Bengals and San Diego Chargers.

Both the Bengals and Chargers rank well within the NFL's top 10 in terms of total passing yards, and while the Chargers generally fail to convert all those yards into points, they're still dangerous—especially if Denver's secondary doesn't rebound from Sunday's poor performance.

The Bengals, meanwhile, will head into their matchup against the Broncos looking to secure the No. 2 seed in the AFC, and it's likely that Cincinnati will still be without star quarterback Andy Dalton. But that may not matter as much as we once thought.

Against a San Francisco defense that, for all intents and purposes, isn't very good, Cincinnati's second-year backup quarterback AJ McCarron picked the 49ers apart Sunday, going 15-of-21 on pass attempts for 192 yards and a touchdown without registering a single turnover.

McCarron wasn't asked to do much, but in just his first start of the year, the former Alabama Crimson Tide great was solid and displayed the ability to get the ball into all of his playmakers' hands. He connected with six different receivers without tight end Tyler Eifert even seeing the field.

If the Broncos are going to beat the Bengals, they're going to have to contain their playmakers, which is something they failed miserably at in their matchup with the Steelers.

It's not just about beating the Bengals and the Chargers though. It's about making a legitimate run in the NFL playoffs.

Of the five other teams currently in line to make the postseason in the AFC, only two rank outside the conference's top five in yards per game, and only one—the Houston Texans—ranks outside the top four in points per game.

In short, if the Broncos hope to make waves in the playoffs, they'll need their defense to come up big against some prolific offenses.

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