by Bo Marchionte

Pittsburgh looked impressive against the New York Giants in Week 1, but it came with a cost. They will face the Denver Broncos at Heinz Field missing two of their offensive linemen. Stefen Wisniewski (chest) and Zack Banner (ACL) have both been placed in IR, with Wisniewski available in three weeks.

Pro Bowl guard David DeCastro will miss his second start and rookie Kevin Dotson a fourth-round pick out of Louisiana-Lafayette (my favorite player from East-West Shrine Bowl in 2020), will make his first in the NFL.

Think one year ago with New England followed by Seattle on the schedule. The Giants followed by the Broncos seems a lot more relaxed and allows this team to continue to find its groove.

Let us go into some numbers and try to gauge the outlook for this week’s match-up against the Broncos.

Against Denver

Pittsburgh has a losing all-time record to six franchises in the NFL, and Denver is one of those with an 8-15-1 overall record. Watching Tim Tebow drop dimes over Ike Taylor still haunts me from the from their 2012 playoff loss the Denver. Pittsburgh are the losers of their last to meetings (both in Denver) and look to put the Broncos 0-2 on the year when they arrive at Heinz Field this Sunday.

Ben Roethlisberger

Seeing Roethlisberger sling it last Monday was the highlight of being at MetLife where the press box audio was disturbing. The PA announcer could only speak two or three words (entire game) without the microphone cutting out. Thankful to see it live but there were some limitations, for sure.

It took a few series for Roethlisberger to find his groove but once he did, he was lights out and playing better than any point of last season. Those six quarters of action left me worried that it might be a sign of things to come, but against the Giants he erased those fears with stellar performance. 

The Broncos allowed Titans Ryan Tannehill 249 yards through the air on 29-of-43 passing attempts with two touchdowns and one interception. That should bold well for Ben who should exploit the Denver secondary much more efficiently the Tannehill and a run first oriented Tennessee team.

Benny Snell

It is no surprise when you see elite college running backs slip in the NFL Draft. Snell was one of those running backs. During his time at Kentucky this cat (no pun intended) was abusing defenders in the SEC. The former Citrus Bowl MVP and Associated Press All-SEC First Team (2018) tailback took advantage of his opportunity Monday night after veteran James Conner left the game with an apparent ankle injury.

Snell brought a pulse to the running game that hasn’t been seen in a while. He rushed 113-yards on 19 carries and was the first back since Conner from Week 7 of last season to reach the triple yardage total.

Most impressive was his 5.9 ypc compared to Conner’s paltry 1.5 ypc. Snell was a quick burst of power and aggression on defenders leaving the Giants defense with no answers for the second year running back drafted in the fourth-round.

Conner must get going early or it might be Snell stealing some carries that he might have gotten if not for his magnificent Monday performance.

Photo Credit Frank Hyatt