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(AP) -- The Pittsburgh Steelers were among the few teams to succeed against the Denver Broncos' top-ranked defense this season.

 

That probably won't be so easy this time around.

 

Antonio Brown and DeAngelo Williams won't play while Ben Roethlisberger may at least be limited, and the top-seeded Broncos' secondary is far healthier as the Steelers visit Denver on Sunday in an AFC divisional-round game.

 

Pittsburgh (11-6) is the only team to reach 30 points versus Denver and posted the highest yardage total of the season against the Broncos with 377 in a 34-27 victory Dec. 20. Roethlisberger threw for 380 yards and Brown finished with 189 receiving - also both season highs for Denver opponents.

 

"We got lucky the first time," said Roethlisberger, the only quarterback to throw for 300 yards against the Broncos in 2015. "We made plays, they had guys injured, we were at home. It's not going to be that easy (again)."

 

Especially without Brown (concussion) and Williams (foot). The Steelers advanced with a stunning late rally in an 18-16 wild-card win at Cincinnati, but the price was high as both Roethlisberger and Brown suffered injuries.

 

Roethlisberger hurt his shoulder late in the third quarter on a sack by Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict, and Brown took a shoulder to the head from Burfict while trying to make a leaping catch with 22 seconds left - the first of back-to-back Cincinnati penalties that helped set up Chris Boswell's winning field goal.

 

Roethlisberger, who returned for Pittsburgh's final drive, said Tuesday on his radio show that he's dealing with torn ligaments and a sprain in his right shoulder. He didn't throw in practice earlier in the week but did on Friday, with coach Mike Tomlin saying Roethlisberger did everything they asked of him.

 

Though he's listed as questionable, it seems the Steelers expect him to play.

 

Williams won't after missing the playoff opener, leaving Pittsburgh's third-ranked offense well short on weapons as the club looks to reach the AFC championship game for the first time in five years.

 

Brown, an All-Pro, torched a Broncos secondary that was without safeties T.J. Ward, Darian Stewart and Omar Bolden for 16 catches and a pair of touchdowns last month while ending Chris Harris Jr.'s 35-game streak without giving up a touchdown. He had seven catches for 119 yards against the Bengals, his highest total in six career playoff games.

 

"We want those guys to be there," Denver cornerback Aqib Talib said of the injured Steelers. "If we didn't want them to be there, that means I'd want A.B. to be messed up. That's a good dude, a good family dude. We don't want him to be messed up."

 

Denver (12-4) will have Peyton Manning starting under center for the first time since Week 10, when reports surfaced he had a partially torn plantar fascia in his left foot after a dismal start to the season. Manning relieved an inconsistent Brock Osweiler in a 27-20 win over San Diego in the regular-season finale, going 5 of 9 for 69 yards to spark an offense that had scored seven points in the first half.

 

Manning will have Demaryius Thomas and former Steeler Emmanuel Sanders as targets. The pair combined for 242 receiving yards and three touchdowns in the first matchup with Osweiler throwing to them.

 

Perhaps more importantly, the Broncos should have a completely healthy secondary. With Ward and Stewart back for the final two weeks of the regular season, the Broncos held the Bengals and Chargers to a combined 393 passing yards.

 

That group might have a bit more motivation due to a hit from Steelers center Cody Wallace on Denver safety David Bruton Jr. last month. Two plays after breaking his fibula, Bruton was speared by Wallace. The seven-year veteran was later placed on season-ending injured reserve.

 

"No, it's not going to be anything as far as cheap or anything," Stewart said. "We're going to get them between the lines, between the plays, the whistle. So, I mean, (Wallace is) going to be sore after the game. That's how I see it, man. He come out on a screen, he'd better not come at (number 26, Stewart's jersey). Shoot, I'm cutting him."

 

The Broncos have won eight of the last 11 meetings with the Steelers in Denver, including a 29-23 overtime victory in a wild-card game Jan. 8, 2012 in which Thomas scored in the extra period on an 80-yard pass from Tim Tebow.

 

 

Steelers already used up their one win against the Broncos, they're not getting another.

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Peyton Manning's career ends not with a bang but with a whimper. CJ Anderson and Ronnie Hillman are not Terrell Davis, and they never will be. Not even combined. I don't even give a shit that all the Steelers offensive weapons are hurt, that just means our poorly coached team will underestimate them and blow it.

 

:Steelers: 38

:Broncos: 14

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Speaking of TD, I was watching an ESPN special about how he beat our faces in during the Super Bowl. It's crazy to look back and see how the league and everyone handled concussions. TD hit his head, COULD NOT SEE, and Mike Shanahan told him to get back out there and be a decoy because he doesn't need to see in order to be a decoy.

Crazy how times change. Ha.

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Well he actually had a Migraine, but again coaches did not give a fuck, and they still don't unless their jobs and wallets are put into serious jeopardy.

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Broncos declared RB Juwan Thompson, QB Trevor Siemian, S Shiloh Keo, CB Lorenzo Doss, C Sam Brenner, OG Robert Myers, and NT Darius Kilgo inactive for the Divisional Round against the Steelers.

Nobody stands out. Brock Osweiler (shoulder) is active as Peyton Manning's backup.

 

 

 

Ben Roethlisberger (shoulder) is active for Sunday's Divisional Round game against the Broncos.

Despite being listed questionable, Big Ben was never expected to miss this one. The Steelers, however, will be without DeAngelo Williams (foot) and Antonio Brown (concussion) on Sunday.
Also inactive for the Steelers are Michael Vick, CB Doran Grant, FB Will Johnson, OT Byron Stingily, and DE Leterrius Walton. Roethlisberger is expected to have the full playbook available.

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Dear Markus Wheaton,

 

CATCH

THE BALL

WITH YOUR HANDS

 

loser

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Did Roby force that fumble by punching Toussaint's cover hand into the ball?

 

What a play.

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http://m.nbcsports.com/content/peyton-isn%E2%80%99t-proud-his-self-sack-pass

 

Denver’s come-from-behind win over the Steelers included a play that has become a late-career staple for quarterback Peyton Manning, with a twist.

 

Manning, whose strategy for avoiding a possible injury-inducing hit consists of diving to the ground when under pressure, took a dive in the fourth quarter.

 

Untouched either on the way down or after he landed, Manning then got up and threw the ball to receiver Emmanuel Sanders for a 34-yard gain, taking the ball from the Denver 20 to the Pittsburgh 46.

 

It was the biggest gain of the day in the passing game, matching the biggest gain of the day on the ground. And even though the effort didn’t result in points, it helped alter field position en route to the short field the Broncos got after Fitzgerald Toussaint’s fumble on the next drive.

 

Still, after the game Peyton wasn’t thumping his chest for thumping the ground.

 

“I’ll have to take a look at that play,” he told reporters after the game. “I’d like to get in there early in the morning and then I can get it deleted off the game film. I don’t know because those video guys get there pretty quick. I think it was probably our longest pass play of the game. We’ll take it.”

 

Asked later whether he realized that he hadn’t been touched on his way to the ground, Manning made an interesting (and reluctant) confession.

 

“I don’t really want to analyze this play too much,” he said. “I’d kind of like it to go away, if it could. I was stepping up. When you fake that way and kind of get your head around, I felt that guy closing, so I stepped up and kind of leaned forward. My momentum kind of just took me down, I guess. I didn’t think that he had touched me. I told Emmanuel just to kind of be alert in case I fall down, get back up to be uncovered.”

 

Manning didn’t lean forward and fall due to momentum. He took a dive to avoid being hit. He’s done it before, and against a Steelers defense that has plenty of guys who could inflict significant damage on a body that, with a win, would have to be ready to go again, he intended to do it again. Indeed, Manning admits he told Sanders to be ready for the possibility that Manning would take a dive without being touched, allowing him to get up again and throw it.

 

More than 20 years ago, Jim Everett was called “Chris” by Jim Rome for taking dives in lieu of taking hits. Manning, despite the fact that he seems to be ashamed by the play, has never gotten criticized for opting to preserve his body.

 

That said, the officials blew it by not concluding Manning had given himself up, and to Peyton’s credit he anticipated the possibility that they would.

 

So maybe he’s not ashamed of this one because he preserved his soon-to-be-40-year-old body. Maybe he’s ashamed because he got away with a cheap one — and because he apparently planned it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFCCG in Denver...

 

tumblr_inline_npnkjlnP7i1r1jtxd_400.jpg

 

 

https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/689138446934224897

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