What a gritty, grind-it-out game. Reminiscent of Tony Dungy during Peyton Manning’s time with Indy, Denver utilized the field goal to conquer their opponent in a defensive war.

Despite their offense being banged up, Pittsburgh’s notorious D was difficult to overcome. Fortunately, the Broncos were aided by excellent field position all game and especially early on. Maybe a raucous home crowd inspired several Steelers’ shanks.

Manning was stalled on the first 3 drives despite making his way into their territory from the punt. Brandon McManus cashed in two field goals to lead 6-0 as one quarter came to an end.

Without All-Pro WR Antonio Brown, “Fake-Big” Ben (we all saw the REAL one in Motown last night!) only had some speedy youngsters. Alas, we left one of them open deep, and despite dominating that opening quarter, we soon found ourselves trailing 7-6.

Do you know what to make of Wade “Uninspiring, deceivingly aggressive” Phillips? Because I don’t! We finished the season #1 in total defense, but at times, we look like a wild, passive-aggressive white guy is in charge. Personally, I believe slightly less blitzing would allow an incredibly solid unit to simply stop their opponent more often. But – who can question white-hair Wade?

Denver tacked on one final field goal (after the Steelers had done the same), making it 10-9 at halftime.

We looked kind of shaky to begin the 3rd quarter. After punting, we gave up another big play, but managed to limit the damage to three.

It went back-and-forth. The Broncos made a fourth field goal, 13-12, but the clock was winding down. On a cold Colorado field, our special teams had forced a pair of fumbles, but we could not recover them. Finally, in the 4th quarter in our own territory, the ball popped out of their RB’s hands and DeMarcus Ware recovered!

A stunning break Manning made sure to capitalize on. His wideouts + tight ends came through, marching down the field for a long, slow drive. At exactly the 3-minute mark, we found the end zone for the first time all day. A two-point conversion to Demaryius Thomas was cashed in for a 20-13 lead.

The defense held “The Rapist” Roethlisberger, sacking him on 4th down in Steelers’ territory. A final field goal equaled a ten-point advantage.

Pesky Mike Tomlin didn’t give up, though. With no timeouts left, he elected to kick and make a field goal to try an onside kick with 18 seconds left.

The Broncos recovered a lame attempt, letting #18 kneel out the win in Denver.

My brother and I essentially met these Gs in Detroit after the Lions game.

They are an extremely classy group who earned this by staying together against a tough Pittsburgh team.

Don’t think it’s Manning-“Pretty Boy-Cheater” Tom Brady; it truly is our entire team against theirs. And I can’t wait to kick their fucking ass…