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Jack Dempsey / Associated Press
The Denver Broncos broke the Pittsburgh Steelers' six-game winning streak, beating the 24-17 Steelers at home on Sunday.
Phillip Lindsay ran for a career-high 110 yards and a touchdown in 14 carries, while Case Keenum had 197 yards and two goals.
Ben Roethlisberger threw for 462 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The Broncos defensive end, Shelby Harris, intercepted a pass from Roethlisberger in the end zone with 1:07 remaining in the match to seal the win.
JuJu Smith-Schuster became the fourth player in the history of the NFL with two touchdowns of 95 yards or more in his career, by NFL Search. Smith-Schuster allowed the Steelers to advance 17-10 with a 97-yard reception with a time remaining at 10:32 in the third quarter.
Steelers must solve business turnover problems before it's too late
The Steelers should have won this match. They beat the Broncos 527-308 and averaged 6.9 yards per game versus 5.8 for Denver. Pittsburgh lost largely because it was at least four in the battle for numbers.
Jason McIntyre @jasonrmcintyre
Hearing Steelers
* FG blocked
* Escape lost out of goal zone
* INT in the territory of Denver
* Punt Fumbled (recovered)
* Fumble inside Denver 30Can not win these games on the road https://t.co/C2t7bKzCau
Bob Pompeani @KDPomp
The interception of #Steelers killing themselves at Roethlisberger led to a quick #Broncos TD – and now a fumble Conner is heading to 79 yards by car 24-17 Denver — Add the 7 thrown by fumble Grimble … Here is the game
No turnover was worse than that of Xavier Grimble on the 1-meter Broncos line. Broncos safety Will Parks kicked the ball just before Grimble was about to cross the goal line in Pittsburgh's second possession of the game.
Ray Fittipaldo @rayfitt1
The mistake of Grimble was the worst of all. If the ball was in the wrong hand. Seemed to hesitate. Did not bore it.
Rather than having a first goal on the goal line, the Steelers returned the ball to the Broncos.
Then it was Roethlisberger's second interception, while Pittsburgh was trying to get the score that equalized the match. The Pro Bowler, six times tried to hit Antonio Brown with a quick pass but did not see Harris in position to stand in front of the throw.
Michael Hurley @MichaelFhurley
The room in which Roethlisberger just launched the choice to lose a match … I do not think this game has already led to an interception before. And yet, if the big guy did not choose him, the DB was also able to do it.
Gross.
Sunday's game was not an isolated incident for the Steelers. They came in week 12 tied for 21 in margin of turnover (minus three). To add a little perspective, one team on the right track do the series (Baltimore Ravens) has a worse turnover differential.
Pittsburgh has the talent to win a seventh Super Bowl, but the team can not afford to shoot themselves in the foot as often.
The Steelers can survive three turnovers against the Jacksonville Jaguars and continue to win, and they nearly pushed Sunday's game to overtime despite four giveaways. Playing carelessly is a recipe for a playoff disaster when the margin of error becomes much smaller.
Solving the problem will not be easy. To some extent, the turnovers are simply due to luck, and coaches can not do as much work in practice to make sure their players are more cautious with the ball.
Nevertheless, this problem is likely to derail the Pittsburgh season if things do not improve.
The Broncos' long-distance chances of resting their postseason on Phillip Lindsay
according to ESPN.com, the Broncos have the toughest program in the league, with a combined winning percentage of .579. The good news for Denver is that things will stabilize a bit in the last five weeks of the regular season.
Gregg Rosenthal @greggrosenthal
If the Broncos could get away, they would only have one offside match with only one game against a winning team.
If the Broncos beat the odds and climb to a place where there are no cards, Lindsay will probably be one of the main reasons.
Fans who watched Denver for most of the year were aware of the unprepared rookie. In battling for a career-high play-off against a playoff team, Lindsay ended the anonymity he still enjoyed.
James Palmer @JamesPalmerTV
The secret was revealed for a while in Denver. Nationally, we should talk more about Broncos rookie RB Phillip Lindsay. The league's players said how much they liked his game and how much he played bigger than his 190-pound frame.
The Broncos need Lindsay to continue in this way to lead them to the finish line as the ceiling for the passing game is only very high.
Keenum is what he is and Courtland Sutton has not yet filled the void. Demaryius Thomas went away when Denver traded it to the Houston Texans. Keenum's last 300-yard game was against the Los Angeles Rams on October 14, when Thomas was still on the list.
Bringing Lindsay to the field would not only help move the chains for Denver, but also relieve Keenum.
More than anything, increasing Lindsay's role has a strategic meaning.
The Broncos have the Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers. These teams placed 30th, 14th, 26th, 25th and 18th in defense against the defeat DVOA (value adjusted to the defense on the average) before the 12th week, Football Outsiders.
By playing on one of his offensive forces, Denver would exploit a zone of weakness evident to his last five opponents.
And after?
The Broncos hit the road for a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on December 2nd. The Steelers will return home for a duel with the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13.
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