Player of the game: Safety Tyrone Carter.
The super sub came up big on the grand stage that is Monday Night Football.
Playing for starting free safety Ryan Clark, whom the Steelers held out of the game because of a medical condition, Carter intercepted Kyle Orton twice, and returned one pick for a touchdown.
Clark, by the way, said he would have played Monday night against the Broncos had coach Mike Tomlin allowed it. Carter’s play made it easier for Clark to accept the decision Tomlin made.
“Ty did an unbelievable job,” Clark said. “I was probably more excited for him than he was for himself because he just works so hard. If he’s not the AFC (Defensive) Player of the Week it would be surprising.”
For those scoring at home when it comes to intercepting Orton: Tyrone Carter 2, rest of the NFL 1.
Play of the game: Carter’s 48-yard interception return early in the second quarter gave the Steelers their first touchdown — and one more than the Broncos offense managed all game against a defense that looked energized following the bye week.
A close second would be quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s 25-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide Mike Wallace with just over seven minutes left in the game.
It came on third-and-10 when the Steelers were nursing only a 14-10 lead, and it was classic Roethlisberger. He eluded the Broncos rush, stepped up into the pocket and delivered a strike to Wallace. With the way the Steelers’ defense was playing, that touchdown ended any chance Denver had of rallying.
Run of the game: You could pick a handful of big gainers that Rashard Mendenhall broke when the Steelers collapsed the right side of the Broncos' line in the second half.
The one that may have been most significant came on the four-play, 80-yard drive that followed a 54-yard fumble recovery return for a touchdown by Broncos outside linebacker Robert Ayers.
Mendenhall broke free for a 24-yard gain on the drive that took just a little more than two minutes and ended with Hines Ward catching a 3-yard touchdown pass.
Telling statistic: The Broncos had just 59 yards of total offense and two first downs in the second half.
A defense that struggled to close out games earlier this season completely owned the fourth quarter at Invesco Field. Troy Polamalu’s interception set up the Roethlisberger-to-Wallace touchdown pass that gave the Steelers an 11-point lead.
Meanwhile, the only first down the Broncos got in the fourth quarter came with less than a minute left in it when the Steelers were sitting on a 28-10 lead.
“I think we’re starting to trust each other, and everyone knows what we’re running and I think when everyone does that we’re a tough defense to move the ball on,” defensive end Brett Keisel said of the Steelers’ dominance in the fourth quarter.
Notable quotes:
“They just outplayed us. There is a reason why they are the defending Super Bowl champions.” — Broncos defensive end Kenny Peterson
“I don’t think he realizes how good he really can be. He’s a special back.” — Ward on Mendenhall, who rushed for 155 yards against the No. 1 defense in the NFL.
“Offensively we’ve got a long way to go. Yeah, we’re putting up some points and playing well. To me we need to complete more passes, I need to make better decisions. We can’t turn the ball over.” — Roethlisberger after completing 21 of 29 passes for 233 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
“I tried to bribe him a couple of times, but then I realized he makes more money than I do. I was hoping against hope (that he would be allowed to play) but we won, so it doesn’t really matter.” -- Clark on Tomlin’s decision to not play the free safety against the Broncos because of a medical condition.
“Every week we keep getting better as a unit.” — Steelers left guard Chris Kemoeatu on the play of the offensive line.
“They made some really good adjustments and we really did not have an answer for them.” — Broncos linebacker Andra Davis on the Steelers’ success in the second half.
Next up: An unexpected showdown for division supremacy.
The Steelers host the Bengals Sunday at Heinz Field with first place in the AFC North on the line. The Bengals are 4-0 in the division with a win over the Steelers already.
Another loss to the Bengals would put the Steelers at a significant disadvantage when it comes to tiebreakers, and the defense will be up big for this one.
It couldn’t protect a fourth-quarter lead on Sept. 27 in Cincinnati, and the memory of that game should help pull some of the veteran players on defense through the short week that is ahead for the Steelers.
November 10th, 2009 - 4:25 pm
I listen to experts today and found it amazing again that they seem to always need something to cry about when it comes to the Steelers. A lot of experts are finding fault in Mendenhall because of mental errors here and there. For me it seems that Mendenhall is to valued an asset to worry about small mental lappes that accur while in the heat of the game in what must be considered his rookie year. The threat of Mendenhall is helping everything else on the offense, the ability to throw so well wouldn't be there if Mendenhall didn't demand attention as all the other weapons.
November 10th, 2009 - 6:02 pm
Charles, I have to agree with you about Rashard Mendenhall. In all due respect Rashard's running style is similar to Walter Peyton (I am not at all saying he is the next Walter Peyton, but I see similarities). His drive, and persistence to break and spin off tackles, and hit the line of scrimmage with velocity which is making our OL block better, and at the end of the game the opponents DL is exhausted which reduces the number of sacks later on in the game.
November 10th, 2009 - 7:45 pm
hey charles it isn't mental lapses as much as it is consistently fumbling the ball at or near the goal line, mendenhall dodged a bullet and i don't know what the refes were looking at but from ms vantage point mendenhall fumbled AGAIN, last week it was at the 5 yard line, this week was at the 3, yeah i guess he was great between the goal lines, but rashard needs to be mentally tough at close range, and punch it in for once, this guy should have at least 4 more rushing touchdowns if not for his frequent fumbling. there was a head shot of ward after that play, and it went under review, ward looked like i felt, i thought for sure it would be Bronco ball at the 3,
November 10th, 2009 - 7:47 pm
I'm so proud of the Steelers, especially living so close to Baltimore, this is the greatest feeling in the world when the Steelers win and the Ravens lose. One thing that I did wish the Steelers would do is run that draw play more instead of throwing somtimes. I think BA and BEN get a little to greedy when the offense is really rolling. The TD to Hines was nice but I would have liked them to run, when Ben threw the INT, I thought the Draw Play would have worked then also. But other than that, i'll have to live with it. I hope William Gay can stop giving up so much space in front of him. I dont see that happening to IKE. BE LIKE IKE. LOL
GO STEELERS!!
November 10th, 2009 - 8:16 pm
MendenHALFAMER sure looked good last night. I was a bit surprised that there was not more criticism about him running out of bunless iounds! It brought back memories of Franco 'always running out of bounds' unless, of course, it mattered--you would look up and realize he was over a hundred again. I see Mendenhall as a smart player with the sky being his limit. As for Limas Sweed, he too, is the real deal--unless the idiot fans in Pittsburgh steal his confidence. He is futher along in his development than Plax was, and a much nicer person to boot. I believe by the end of his career he will be viewed as a steal in the second round. Remember Hines, Santonio and Wallace have dropped them this year also.
Remember, 95% of the REAL steeler fans are rooting for him and waiting for that BIG Game that he will be sure to produce!
November 12th, 2009 - 1:50 am
Hey Guys How bout talking about Brett Keisel. He's a force to be reckoned with and I believe it was his sacks on Orton that threw Orton off his game. You could see that he did not feel safe in the pocket after that and he hurried his passes along. Its time that Kesiel gets some real good press. He doesn't get the numbers of sack and tackle but thats not his job. His job is to disrupt the line and nobody does that better than #99. He's having a probowl year why not write about it?