The Pittsburgh Steelers won a thrilling shootout over the Denver Broncos on Sunday, as Ben Roethlisberger threw three touchdowns in a 34-27 victory. Pittsburgh helped their chances at a wild card berth, prevented the Cincinnati Bengals from clinching the AFC North and stopped the Broncos from clinching a playoff spot period with the win.
Broncos vs. Steelers 2015 final score: Pittsburgh wins wild one with late score, 34-27
Roethlisberger threw three touchdowns and the Steelers downed the Broncos on Sunday.
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a second half comeback after they trailed, 27-13, at halftime. He completed 40 of 55 passes for 372 yards and three touchdowns and two interceptions. The second interception was a hugely quesitonable call by Roethlisberger, as they elected to throw the ball while up a score just before the two-minute warning. Denver got the pick and another shot at the victory.
But the Broncos squandered that chance in just four downs, giving the Steelers another chance to kill the clock. Roethlishberger didn't throw a pick this time, and the Steelers got the win. Brock Osweiler played well for the Broncos, tossing three touchdowns, but he had a huge interception late in the fourth quarter that hurt the team big time.
The Broncos rushed for 104 yards on the ground, while the Steelers put up just 23 yards, with DeAngelo Williams getting just 14 touches.
The Broncos had a pretty consistent first half, recovering well from a fumble on their first possession that set the Steelers up with a 1st and 10 at the Denver 21-yard line. The Steelers punched the ball in with DeAngelo Williams to take an early 7-0 lead. But the Broncos then went 85 yards on 12 plays before Demaryius Thomas caught an 18-yard touchdown from Osweiler.
Denver pulled ahead in the first frame when Osweiler hit Emmanuel Sanders for a huge 61-yard touchdown.
In the second quarter, the Broncos continued to put big points on the board. Chris Boswell made field goals of 24 and 41 yards for the Steelers, but Osweiler ran in a 7-yard touchdown early in the quarter and then found Thomas for another touchdown pass near the end of the half.
Osweiler was a little banged up and went to the locker room just before the half ended, but he was fine and played when the third quarter got underway. The Broncos looked like the much better team, but the Steelers did start to bring things back in the third quarter, when Roethlisberger found Antonio Brown for a 9-yard touchdown to bring the game within a single score.
After a couple punts, the Steelers then managed to tie the game on the back of a 9-yard touchdown catch by Markus Wheaton with 12 minutes to go in the game. The team's exchanged failed drives for awhile, though one in particular warrants mention: the very bad drop that ended a Denver drive.
That is tight end Vernon Davis, acquired in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers due to the lack of options at the position, dropping a great pass by Osweiler for basically no reason. Davis has a history of drops, with the 49ers and even in his short time with the Broncos. It's a weekly occurrence, and it forced the Broncos to punt.
Pittsburgh wound up punting on its next possession as well, but an Osweiler interception set the Steelers up in scoring territory and they needed just three plays to go 37 yards, capped with a 23-yard touchdown from Brown. That gave the Steelers a one-score lead with under four minutes to go. A bunch of turnover madness occurred at this stage, but the Steelers somehow came out of the other end with a win and a 9-5 record.
The Steelers will next play the Baltimore Ravens in Week 16. The Broncos will try and secure a playoff spot next week when they face the Bengals.
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