Power Game

I just pulled the stats from the NFL site.

The Steelers averaged 2.73 yards over 33 carries. The only reason they were that high was because the quarterback and a receiver each averaged 4 yards in their combined 4 carries.

Both Steeler running backs gained less than 40 yards.

They were smart to throw the ball, especially early in the game.

Incidentally, neither team was able to rush for 100 yards although the Broncos yardage per carry was a respectable 4.62 yards. Of course, when you quarterback has one-third of your team's rushes, you aren't gonna be dancing in the end zone very often.

Another interesting aspect of the game was how the two teams made their first downs.

The Steelers made 20 — 15 passing, 5 rushing. That's not a typical ratio for the Steelers but Denver has a tough run defence and appeared to be unable to effectively blitz or pressure Pittsburgh quarterback. Roethlisberger had a 72% completion rate and after the fact, that makes up for the feeble running game.

The Broncos however, made only 16 first downs. Three of those came on penalties and two of them came on 4th down. That leaves only 11 normal first downs.

Of course, two fumbles and two interceptions doesn't help either. All of the work the Broncos did to produce such numbers also gave them a time of possession of 23:53.