Denver Broncos Tale of Two Halves, Lose to the Steelers in Week 15

The Denver Broncos have lost back-to-back games for the second time in the 2015 season as they fell 34-27 to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday. The team got off to a great start, and at one point they led the Steelers 27-7. However, things started to fall apart in the second half as the team struggled to move the ball on offense and wore down on defense.

Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak knows the team has to perform in all four quarters.

“As a team, we probably played as good at times as we could tonight and then not so good at times," Kubiak said. "This is a great football team we played. We needed to do it all night long, and we didn’t.”

Kubiak continued, “Offensively in the second half we didn’t make any of the plays we made in the first half. We had some opportunities and didn’t get it done. It’s very disappointing. That’s this business. You better be built for four quarters, not three.”

The game against the Steelers was a tale of two halves. The first half was great, but everything fell apart for the Broncos in the second half. Let’s take a look at the differences we saw in the Broncos on Sunday.

Third-Down Improvements

Don Wright/Associated Press

With Brock Osweiler at quarterback, the Broncos had led the league in three-and-out situations. In the first half against the Steelers, the Broncos were perfect on third down. When the two teams went to the half, the Broncos were 8-of-8 when needed to move the chains.

Osweiler felt like the team was out of rhythm in the second half.

“Obviously, as an offensive unit, you can feel you weren’t moving the ball and you weren’t in the rhythm. Do your job and it is going to result in good things. That’s what happened in the first half.” Osweiler explained, “Until I can see the tape, I won’t know what happened in the second half. Obviously it needs to be better, it needs to be fixed and as a group we will get it fixed.”

The team finished the game 9-of-17 on third downs. This mark fell from 100 percent in the first half to only 53 percent for the entire game. The Broncos were also 0-of-2 on fourth down against the Steelers.

Osweiler Starts Hot Then Struggles

Fred Vuich/Associated Press

The offense went 23 drives without scoring a touchdown, but that quickly changed against the Steelers.

Osweiler is not blaming his poor second-half performance on injury.

“We still don’t know what happened to my shoulder," he said. "We are doing some X-rays tomorrow to find out. But the shoulder did not affect my playing in the second half.”

Osweiler’s favorite target on Sunday was former Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. In four years with the Steelers, Sanders never had a 100-yard game. He’s had several during his time with the Broncos, and Sanders had 181 yards receiving (and one touchdown) against his old team in Week 15. With a 24-yard carry, Sanders finished the day with over 200 total yards on offense.

He finished with 181 yards receiving, but most of that was done in the first half. After the first two quarters, Sanders had eight catches for 139 yards. He would only snare two more catches in this important contest.

Sanders has no answers for the team’s second-half problems.

“It felt good to start fast," Sanders said. "We have to continue to get better. I do not know what it is but we just have to be a better second-half team.”

He may not have any answers, but several fans are going to point to the drops by Demaryius Thomas and Vernon Davis. Those gaffes were only part of the struggles the Broncos had when the game was on the line. This offense has not scored a second-half touchdown over the last three games.

The Broncos need to make better second-half adjustments and play a complete game if they want to advance far this season. Perhaps a change at quarterback is in their plans.

Defense Wears Down

Fred Vuich/Associated Press

The Broncos defense held the Steelers to 13 points in the first half, but they couldn’t hold them off in the second half. While the Broncos offense didn’t score a single point in the third and fourth quarters, the Steelers offense went wild with 21 unanswered points. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger kept attacking the Broncos secondary, and that aggressive nature paid off in a big way.

Kubiak believes the defense was tired in the third and fourth quarters.

“I’m sure they did [get tired] because in the first half the offense was 4-for-5. In the second half, we just weren’t doing anything. So they just kept going back out there, and I’m sure they were worn out.” Kubiak emphasized, “We just couldn’t put anything together.”

Cornerback Chris Harris had gone over two years without giving up a touchdown. Arguably the best corner in the game, Harris was torched by Steelers All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown. Roethlisberger targeted Brown 18 times, and Brown hauled in 16 catches for 189 yards and two touchdowns—mostly against Harris.

After arguably the worst game of his pro career, Harris was putting the loss on his shoulders.

“Oh yeah definitely. It was the best versus the best and he won. I have not given up a touchdown in two years. The way I played was very disappointing, and I let my team down.” Harris exclaimed, “[Brown] is a good receiver. He’s the best receiver in the game right now. I just did not make any plays today.”

Roethlisberger became the first quarterback to have 300 or more yards passing against the Broncos defense in 2015. His 380-yard passing mark is unlikely to be beaten by any other quarterback the Broncos face—or could face—later this season.

The Broncos defense was taken advantage of by a team that is better when it comes to playing in a back-and-forth, high-scoring contest. Getting out to a big lead early could have been a disadvantage for the Broncos since the Steelers had to go into pass-happy mode in the second half.

If these two teams somehow meet in the playoffs, we should see another fantastic contest in an epic clash of an elite offense versus an elite defense.

All quotes and injury/practice observations obtained firsthand. Record/statistical information provided via the Broncos media department unless otherwise noted. Advanced stats via ESPN's employees-only database.

Contract and salary-cap information provided by Spotrac. Transaction history provided by Pro Sports Transactions.