Broncos Fifth Quarter: Missed opportunities from inside Steelers’ 10-yard line on final drive

Upon Further Review

1. Final sequence. The Broncos reached the Steelers’ 9-yard line with 56 seconds remaining. First down — QB Teddy Bridgewater had TE Noah Fant at the 3 if he wanted to fire a fastball, but he slid right and his throw (3.83 seconds post-snap) to WR Tim Patrick in the back right corner of the end zone didn’t have enough air and was broken up by CB Joe Haden. Second down — Bridgewater checked down to RB Melvin Gordon for six yards. Third down — Bridgewater overthrew WR Diontae Spencer in the end zone. Fourth down — Bridgewater threw in 2.97 seconds, but could have drifted left to buy more time. His throw was behind WR Courtland Sutton and intercepted by CB James Pierre. “We just didn’t make the plays,” coach Vic Fangio said. “Give (Pittsburgh) credit for getting us stopped down there.”

2. No pass rush. Pittsburgh entered the game with 10 sacks allowed in four games and QB Ben Roethlisberger rarely ventured out of the pocket. But the Broncos couldn’t generate a consistent pass rush. They had one sack (OLB Malik Reed in 3.89 seconds that forced a turnover), but only one other knockdown (DE Dre’Mont Jones) and three pressures (OLB Von Miller and ILBs Alexander Johnson/Justin Strnad).

3. Poor tackling. In their first four games, the Broncos missed 11 tackles (2.8 per game), but thanks in part to Steelers RB Najee Harris, the defense had a season-high eight missed tackles. CBs Kyle Fuller and Pat Surtain II had two apiece and missing one tackle apiece were Jones, Strnad, NT Mike Purcell and S Kareem Jackson. Jackson’s missed tackle came when he took a bad angle on WR Chase Claypool’s 59-yard catch and run.

4. Costly sack. RB Javonte Williams’ season-best 49-yard run, followed by his delay of game penalty, gave the Broncos a first down at the Steelers’ 9. After a two-yard run by Williams, Bridgewater was sacked in 3.00 seconds by unblocked LB Devin Bush (miscommunication by Williams and RT Bobby Massie) for a 12-yard loss. Afterward, Bridgewater admitted he should have tried to flip a pass to FB/TE Andrew Beck in the right flat. It may have been a touchdown.

5. Success downfield. Only four of Bridgewater’s 38 pass attempts traveled at least 16 “air” yards and he completed three of them for 87 yards — 25 to Sutton, 39 (touchdown) to Sutton and 23 to WR Kendall Hinton. On downfield shots this year, Bridgewater is 12-of-28 passing for 343 yards. That accounts for 29.1% of his yards for the season.

6. Protecting Teddy. Pittsburgh rushed at least five players on 14 of Bridgewater’s 42 drop-backs (33.3%). He was 9 of 12 for 100 yards (one TD, one sack) against extra rushers. The sacks were booked to RG Graham Glasgow (2.39 seconds) and Williams/Massie. The Steelers had two other knockdowns and six pressures.

Four Key Numbers

8.0 — Average yards to go on third down for the Broncos’ offense this year (second-highest in NFL).

7 — On a third-and-13 play, the Broncos’ defense played a seven-defensive back package (CB Nate Hairston and S P.J. Locke were on the field).

147 — Rushing yards by the Steelers, their highest total since 159 at Cincinnati in November 2019.

20 of 20 — Point-after attempts (nine) and field goals (11) for K Brandon McManus without a miss this year.

Talking Points

Playing time breakdown. The shortage of available players at tight end and receiver meant heavy playing time for TE Noah Fant (58 of 60 snaps) and WRs Tim Patrick (57) and Courtland Sutton (54). RB Melvin Gordon had more snaps than RB Javonte Williams (36-25) for the fourth time this year. On defense, S Kareem Jackson missed 10 snaps while being evaluated for a concussion. OLBs Malik Reed (61 of 65) and Von Miller (58) again barely left the field. S Caleb Sterns played a season-high 19 snaps as the sixth defensive back and also filling in for Jackson.

Run, run, run. The Broncos called run plays on 10 of their first 15 first-down snaps and those rushes gained a total of 31 yards, including seven that gained two or fewer yards. The lack of first-down production again contributed to long third-down plays (average to-go distance of 8.3 yards). The only conversions were third-and-1 (Williams 49-yard rush) and third-and-5 (WR Kendall Hinton 23-yard catch).

Out of position. On Pittsburgh’s last touchdown, WR Chase Claypool lined up in the right slot and ran toward the middle of the end zone. S Justin Simmons appeared to be defending a potential corner route before Claypool stemmed his route inside. Should Simmons have executed the player better? “We needed to get over with the other safety (Jackson) a lot faster than we did,” coach Vic Fangio said.

Extra points

NT Mike Purcell drew two Steelers holding penalties and CB Mike Ford drew a block-in-the-back penalty while covering a punt (still made the tackle). … ILB Alexander Johnson dropped two potential interceptions. … Ford has three special teams penalties in five games. … Broncos CB Kyle Fuller had one of those games that started bad and never got any better. In man coverage against Fuller, QB Ben Roethlisberger was 4-of-4 passing for 109 yards (50-yard touchdown) and a drive-extending 17-yard pass interference penalty.

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