When asked Monday about the Broncos allowing seven sacks in Sunday’s 26–21 loss to Pittsburgh, coach Vic Fangio didn’t single anybody out, but also didn’t issue any pardons.
“It’s always going to be different issues, but basically, we just kind of took turns getting beat a little bit,” he said. “(Pittsburgh) ran some games we couldn’t handle and anytime you drop back 50-some (52) times against a good defense that is willing to rush five a lot, you’re going to have some protection issues if you don’t get the ball out quicker or don’t do a better job blocking.”
The Steelers rushed five or more players on a whopping 32 of the Broncos’ 52 drop-backs and piled up an equally whopping 24 total “disruptions” — 12 knockdowns and five pressures in addition to the sacks.
From 1995–2018, the Broncos allowed at least seven sacks in a game only once (seven in a 45–10 home loss to Detroit in 2011). But in the last year, they have allowed nine to Kansas City and Sunday’s seven to Pittsburgh.
Putting the stop- to the sacks, the Steelers got home in 4.03, 1.64, 2.90, 2.40, 2.15, 3.81 and 2.41 seconds.
Assigning the sacks: One apiece by quarterbacks Drew Lock and Jeff Driskel for failing to get rid of the ball, two via unblocked rusher and 1 1/2 apiece by center Lloyd Cushenberry and right tackle Elijah Wilkinson.
“We’re a blitz group,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said. “That’s kind of our philosophical approach.”
It worked out well for the Steelers.
Here are other takeaways after a further review of the Broncos-Steelers game:
Offense
Going long. The Broncos’ downfield passing game was greatly improved. In Week 1, Lock was 0 of 5 on attempts that traveled at least 16 yards in the air. Against Pittsburgh, the Broncos were 8 of 14 for 178 yards. The offense had 14 total explosive plays — 11 catches of at least 16 yards and three rushes of at least 12 yards.
Gordon’s day. Running back Phillip Lindsay’s turf toe kept him out and Melvin Gordon played 61 of the 77 snaps. He rushed 19 times for 70 yards and it was an all-or-nothing day — six carries of at least six yards and seven attempts that gained one yard or fewer. Gordon caught a 16-yard touchdown when he appeared to be running to the flat before turning up the sideline on a wheel route-type of play to easily get ahead of linebacker Vince Williams.
Vannett’s tough game. Tight end Nick Vannett saw his playing time increase from 16 snaps in Week 1 to 23 on Sunday. But it was a struggle. He had a false start penalty, was beat by cornerback Mike Hilton (who he outweighs by 64 points) for a “bad” run block and fell down before Driskel could throw him a short pass. Vannett did draw a penalty.
Big second half for Fant. Tight end Noah Fant was blanked in the first half, but had four catches for 57 yards in the second half. On his 20-yard touchdown, Lock was lined up in the left slot and ran a corner route away from inside linebacker Devin Bush, who had inside leverage and was likely thinking Fant was going to run a post or cross.
Defense
Ojemudia goes to school. As Fangio said afterward, Broncos cornerback Michael Ojemudia will improve if he uses Sunday’s struggles as a learning experience. Per our charting, Ojemudia was targeted in man coverage 11 times and Ben Roethlisberger completed seven passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Ojemudia should have had a first-quarter end zone interception but he dropped it. On the 84-yard touchdown, receiver Chase Claypool simply ran by Ojemudia. On the 28-yard touchdown, Ojemudia can’t be totally faulted because Roethlisberger had 4.59 seconds to find Diontae Johnson streaking across the end zone.
Sack issues. The Broncos have only two sacks through two games, which is actually an improvement over last year (no sacks in first three games). They rushed five or more at Roethlisberger on nine of his 42 drop-backs and didn’t do much. Nose tackle Mike Purcell’s sack came in 2.57 seconds, but inside linebacker Alexander Johnson had the only other disruptions (one knockdown and pressure apiece).
Mixing up pressures. Fangio used rookie Essang Bassey as a blitzer from the slot on multiple snaps. But one pressure stood out and it should be used until it can be stopped. On third-and-10 from the Broncos’ 46, Fangio called an overload blitz — four players against Pittsburgh’s right side. It allowed safety Justin Simmons to rush unblocked and bat down Roethlisberger’s pass.
Behind-the-line tackles. The Broncos aren’t getting many sacks, but they are tackling ball carriers behind the line of scrimmage. They had three tackles for lost yardage in the run game (Simmons, defensive end Shelby Harris and outside linebacker Bradley Chubb) and two in the passing game (cornerback Bryce Callahan and outside linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu).
Special teams
Bad coverage day. The Steelers had returns of 18 yards (punt) and 49 yards (kickoff). After punter Sam Martin dropped the snap and Pittsburgh tackled him for a safety, Diontae Johnson returned the free kick 24 yards to the Broncos’ 48 after breaking three tackles. The Steelers fumbled on the next play. Earlier in the game, only Jake Butt getting blocked in the back prevented an 81-yard punt return touchdown.