DENVER — Zach Allen has played well enough to be 2-0.
That’s not how its worked out, though. The Broncos are 0-2 despite the stellar play of their veteran defensive end. Allen had a sack and four quarterback hits in the Broncos’ 13-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
A gallant effort in defeat.
“We knew it was going to be that type of game,’’ Allen said. “You have to make sure you have 60 minutes of focus and not 50 or 55. But we’ll get there.”
The Denver defense was stellar for all but one quarter last week in Seattle, scoring two safeties (one by Allen) and setting up a field goal with an Alex Singleton interception. The biggest problem in the Broncos’ 0-2 start has been their offense.
Allen says the defense is going to continue to support and show confidence in the offense.
“I mean they’re playing against a real good defense,’’ Allen said. “Atlanta has a real good offense and the Steelers did the same thing to them (last week). I mean you have, Cam Heyward is a Hall of Famer. T.J. Watt is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Then Minkah (Fitzpatrick) is a superstar in this league. Patrick Queen.”
Alex Highsmith, who had an early sack, is not bad either.
“Yeah, I’m forgetting a guy who’s making $17 million a year,’’ Allen said. “That says something about their defense. (Joey) Porter’s a helluva player. That’s the NFL. We’ve faced two great defenses. We have more than enough faith (in the offense). We’ve seen it in OTAs and camp when they click what can happen. Now it’s just week 2 of 17, we should be all right.”
Franklin-Myers, Browning, McGlinchey injured
The Broncos lost two key defensive players in the first half. Defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers suffered a concussion and outside linebacker Baron Browning left with a foot injury.
Right tackle Mike McGlinchey got rolled up from behind on the final play heading into the 2-minute warning. He limped off with an apparent knee injury.
No onside kick?
The first difficult decision Broncos head coach Sean Payton made was to accept the short field goal to narrow the score to 13-6, instead of going for it on fourth-and-5 from the Steelers' 11 and try for 13-10.
The second decision wasn't so difficult. Or at least it shouldn't have been. With just 1:54 remaining, or past the 2-minute warning stoppage and only one timeout remaining, Payton declined to try an onside kick. Instead he had Wil Lutz boot the ball in the end zone for a touchback.
Huh? The Steelers predictably ran three running plays and punted. The Broncos got the ball at their own 19 yard line with only 9 seconds remaining. Again they're down, 13-6.
Virtually no chance to score a game-tying touchdown -- and indeed with 1 second left, Bo Nix threw a desperation interception to end it.
Why no onside kick when it seemed to be the obvious move?
“We spent a lot of time going through it back and forth,'' Payton said. "We had plenty of time to discuss it, there was a player down. The long run on third down (by quarterback Justin Fields) prior to them punting took about 6 seconds. We were hopeful to have two or three plays before we went to the end. It was just weighing the odds versus recovering an onside kick or getting the ball back with 26 seconds. We chose to kick off.”
Bronco Bits
This is funny. After the game, the Steelers awarded their "petty" game balls to Russell Wilson, who was their No. 3 emergency quarterback for the game and was not needed. You know, because after collecting $123 million from the Broncos for going 11-19 in two seasons of work, Wilson had gone through so much.
"I think we all know Russ got kind of did dirty last year," Fields said after the game. "So I know he wished he could have played today in this game, but it's awesome getting a win for him. He got a petty game ball."
Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin often rewards game balls to players or coaches who beat their former teams. ...
One reason why the game was so low-scoring was referee Clete Blakeman and his crew were extremely flag-happy. The Broncos were penalized 9 times for 124 yards while the Steelers were flagged 10 times for 78. Broncos star cornerback Pat Surtain II drew three flags – defensive holding, pass interference, and holding on a Marvin Mims Jr. punt return. …
Tight end Greg Dulcich had a tough day, catching three passes for only 16 yards and had two drops. “We’ve got to make the plays when they're there,’’ Dulcich said. “I obviously had two drops, and it's unacceptable. I have to correct those things.” …
Josh Reynolds led all receivers with 93 yards off four catches. Lil’Jordan Humphrey added 50 yards off four catches. …
Inside linebacker Alex Singleton finished with a game-high 11 tackles.
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