The Steelers hung tough against the Broncos to win their home opener against the Denver Broncos.
The Steelers played great ball and it started with the physicality on defense and ended with hard running of the ball. In the middle, there is a team that was aggressively attacking the Broncos corners.
The Black & Gold were hard-hitting on defense and brought the blitz. The dirty truth about this game was with the violence that Bud Dupree hit Drew Lock in the first quarter, it injured Lock and gave the Steelers the advantage the rest of the game.
I like the way the Steelers attacked the Broncos secondary today. They had AJ Bouye out and the Steelers capitalized on Michael Ojemudia starting of the Denver football team.
James Conner looked healthy as the starter today and played a good game. He came up big at the end with a 59-yard run to seal the deal in the game. He also had the presence of mind not to score a touchdown at that point in the game.
Ben Roethlisberger also hit a milestone against the Broncos. He became the seventh leading passer in the NFL all-time ahead of Eli Manning. We can’t forget the contributions that Ben Roethlisberger has made for this team over the years.
Let’s take a look at five things that went well:
Bud Dupree knocked Drew Lock out of the game
Bud Dupree had an aggressive strip of the ball that lead to a fumble and knocked Broncos’ starting quarterback, Drew Lock, out of the game.
I hate injuries as much as anyone but they are a big part of football, unfortunately. The Steelers were on the right side of it against Denver. Bud Dupree got a release off the line of scrimmage and hit Drew Lock on his way toward the ground. This injured his shoulder and knocked him out of the game.
The Broncos had trouble scoring points for the rest of the game because they had to rely on journeyman backup Jeff Drikel for the rest of the first quarter and the following three quarters. Driskel played well but was unable to mount a comeback.
Bud Dupree plays with intensity and I like that but the way he swatted the ball and tackled Lock on the way down may earn him a fine with the NFL. I thought Drew Lock was a bit defenseless in that position but I can’t blame Dupree for doing his job.