PITTSBURGH — On a perfectly sunny afternoon in front of 65,000-plus yellow seats, the Steelers did everything but quietly beat the Denver Broncos, 26-21, at Heinz Field on Sunday.
They had an 84-yard touchdown to rookie Chase Claypool, a 59-yard run by James Conner, an 81-yard punt return that was negated by a penalty, two takeaways by the defense and a safety from the special teams. And yet they still almost blew a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter before stopping the Broncos at the Steelers 15 with 1:51 remaining.
And it was safety Terrell Edmunds who preserved the second victory of the season, sacking quarterback Jeff Driskel on fourth down that would have normally brought a roar at Heinz Field — if there was anyone in attendance.
Ben Roethlisberger threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns and Conner had the Steelers’ second 100-yard game in a row thanks to a 59-yard run after the defense stropped the Broncos.
The Broncos cut the deficit to 17-14 with 67 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Driskel hit tight end Noah Fant with a 20-yard touchdown behind linebacker Devin Bush. The six-play, 65-yard drive was set up when the Steelers failed to convert a fourth-and-2 at the Denver 35 — Roethlisberger overthrew tight end Eric Ebron — on the previous possession.
But the Steelers came right back and responded with a 28-yard touchdown from Roethlisberger to wide receiver Diontae Johnson, capping a nine-play, 75-yard drive that gave them a 24-14 lead. This time, the Steelers converted a fourth-and-2 from the Denver 35 on a 3-yard shovel pass from Roethlisberger to JuJu Smith-Schuster.
They added a safety on the next series when Broncos punter Sam Martin fumbled the snap in the end zone and was tackled by Derek Watt, T.J.’s brother.
But the Broncos wouldn’t go away, though they got some help from running back Benny Snell.
It was Snell’s fumble on first down following the safety that gave the Broncos possession at their own 46. Five plays later, Driskel found running back Melvin Gordon behind linebacker Vince Williams for a 15-yard touchdown that cut the lead to 26-21 with 7:43 remaining. The touchdown was set up on a 17-yard pass to wide receiver Tim Patrick on third-and-7.
After not committing a turnover in the first six quarters of his return, Roethlisberger finally slipped up and threw an interception on the first possession of the second half. The Broncos turned the interception by safety Justin Simmons into a 28-yard field goal by Brandon McManus to cut the deficit to 17-6. Denver had first-and-goal at the Steelers 4, but T.J. Watt sacked Driskel on first down and back-to-back incompletions forced the Broncos to settle for a field goal.
Roethlisberger was 11 of 18 for 188 yards and a touchdown in the first half, when the Steelers built a 17-3 lead.
The Steelers lost one big play but came right back to deliver another — an 84-yard touchdown from Roethlisberger to Claypool, who beat cornerback Michael Ojemudia down the left sideline. It was the fourth-longest touchdown by a rookie in team history.
The touchdown gave the Steelers a 14-3 lead and came one play after Diontae Johnson had an 81-yard punt return for touchdown negated by a block in the back penalty against cornerback Cam Sutton.
The Steelers built the margin to 17-3 on Chris Boswell’s 21-yard field goal with 39 seconds remaining, but they blew a good chance to pad it even more after an interception and 24-yard return to the Denver 11 by cornerback Joe Haden. On third-and-1 at the 2, James Conner was stopped for a 1-yard loss by linebacker Bradley Chubb, who blew through a block by Ebron.
The Broncos lost quarterback Drew Lock on the second series when he was sacked by linebacker Bud Dupree and injured his right shoulder. He was replaced by the backup Driskel. The Steelers had five sacks — four on Driskel — and two takeaways in the first half. Linebacker T.J. Watt had 1 ½ sacks after spending most of the half running around right tackle Elijah Wilkinson.
It was a big first half for nickel back Mike Hilton, who had one tackle for loss, another for a 1-yard gain, a quarterback sack and recovered a fumble that led to the Steelers first touchdown.
Hilton’s fumble recovery at the Steelers 41 was created by Dupree, who sacked Lock and knocked him from the game.
The Steelers capitalized on the takeaway, going 59 yards on nine plays to take a 7-0 lead on Conner’s 2-yard touchdown run. Roethlisberger completed 4 of 7 for 46 yards on the drive, none bigger than an 18-yard catch-and-run to Smith-Schuster on third-and-10 from the 20.
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