The Broncos face off against the Steelers in this week 2 matchup. The Steelers are coming off a 26-16 win against the Giants. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 229 yds and 3 touchdowns on 21/32. Juju Smith-Schuster had 6 receptions for 69 yds and 2 touchdowns, and has started to line up in the slot for the majority of the snaps. Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, and James Washington are taking the outside and Eric Ebron has acted as a mere decoy opening up the offense more. James Conner left the game injured, but Benny Snell Jr. looked promising averaging 5.9 yds/carry on 19 attempts for 113 yds.
On defense, the Steelers came up with two big interceptions from T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward. Saquon Barkley was limited to 6 yds but put up 60 yards recieving on 6 receptions. Daniel Jones put up 279 yds and 2 touchdowns on 26/41 with the majority of the yards yielded by Darius Slayton. I assume the Steelers were focused on shutting down Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram so it opened up the game for Slayton here. The Giants offense made a clear jump from last year, but I still believe the Steelers maintain one of the best defenses in the league right now.
The Broncos are coming off a 16-14 loss. Drew Lock threw for 216 yds and 1 touchdown on 22/33. Melvin Gordown carried the ball 15 times for 78 yds and 1 touchdown averaging 5.2 yds/carry. Jerry Jeudy had a couple drops last game but managed to bring in 4 receptions for 56 yds. Noah Fant led the way receiving with 5 recpetions for 81 yds and 1 touchdown. Key receiver Courtland Sutton (WR) has been limited at practice.
The Broncos defense allowed Ryan Tannehill (Titans) to throw for 249 yds and 2 touchdowns on 29/43. Derrick Henry carried the ball 31 times for 116 yds. The Broncos placed Von Miller on IR, one of their key leaders on defense. The Broncos allowed Corey Davis to put up 7 receptions on 101 yds, while Jonnu Smith and MyCole Pruitt put up their only two (receiving) touchdowns.
I like the Steelers to cover the spread here, the Broncos could be missing key player Courtland Sutton, and are without Von Miller's presence on defense. The Steelers offense looks primed and ready and I expect their defense to limit Drew Lock and Melvin Gordon on offense.
