The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos will clash on Sunday in the fourth of four games in the NFL Playoffs 2016 Divisional Round taking place this weekend. The Broncos will be big favorites to win this game, but the Steelers should not be written off after the season they've had. The game has a scheduled start time of 4.40 p.m. ET and takes place from Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado. The game can be watched on TV on the CBS network or online through live stream via the link below.
The Broncos will be big favorites to win this game, but the Steelers have better credentials to cause an upset here than most teams in the NFL. Pittsburgh are the only team in the NFL to have posted 30 points against this powerful Broncos defense this past season, and Pittsburgh also recorded the highest total yardage against Denver with 377 total yards when the team met on December 30.
That game just weeks ago saw the Steelers claim a surprising win 34-27, however, it must be remembered that a regular season game and a Playoffs game are entirely different beasts, and the challenge awaiting the Pittsburgh team today is arguably many times greater than what they achieved in December.
In that previous match up between these teams, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger became the only quarterback to throw for 300 yards against this Broncos team this season.
However, Roethlisberger himself is not using that result to read anything into this game, and he knows full well today will be a very different match up.
The quarterback said, "We got lucky the first time. We made plays, they had guys injured, we were at home. It's not going to be that easy (again)."
Last week the Steelers managed to come through the Wild Card Round of this year's Playoffs with a stunning 18-16 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. However, they paid a high price after both Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown suffered knocks.
Roethlisberger suffered a shoulder injury late in the third quarter of last week's game when he was sacked by Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict. His injury nearly turned the game in the Bengals favor, however, Roethlisberger made his comeback to the field late in the final quarter to rally his team to a tight win.
Meanwhile, Brown also suffered a concussion in that game, also at the hands of Burfict - the now infamous shoulder to the head with 22 seconds remaining to spark a late winning field goal for the Steelers by Chris Boswell.
Roethlisberger did not throw during training all week until Friday in an effort to rest his shoulder, and although he is listed as questionable he is almost certain to start for Pittsburgh.
For the Denver Broncos, meanwhile, veteran quarterback Peyton Manning will be starting for the first time since Week 10. Manning came on to replace Brock Osweiler who was having an up and down final regular season game against the San Diego Chargers, and a further few weeks of rest for Manning should mean he is getting back to his best.
Whether the Steelers can steal another postseason win here today remains to be seen, but the Broncos are big favorites in most people's eyes.
Today's big NFL Playoffs 2016 football game between the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers has a scheduled start time of 4.40 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the CBS network or online through live stream by clicking here.
