Steelers vs Broncos - Week 1 - Don't Call it a Rematch



The Tim Tebow Circus Moved -
Steeler v Broncos will be a Different Game


-Mason Noland @m_noland386

Let's make this clear, the Sunday night game between the Steelers and Broncos will be a rematch in name only. Sure, the two teams played the wild card game against each other, but these are vastly different teams than the ones that played in January. The Steelers that took the field that game were essentially a M.A.S.H. unit. To remind you, Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel were hurt during the game. Rashard Mendenhall had a torn ACL the week before, and Maurkice Pouncey was out with a high ankle sprain. Ben Roethlisberger played, but it was only on one leg. Defensive Lineman Chris Hoke and Aaron Smith had been out for the majority of the season, while special teams ace rookies Cortez Allen and Curtis Brown were on IR before the playoffs. Take Ryan Clark off the field for his sickle cell trait, plus a few I'm probably missing and you have a recipe for disaster. I know I am probably throwing the oldest excuse in the book out there, but come on. Mike Tomlin would tell me "the standard is the standard" but I have to believe in a moment of weakness, he would say its hard to play football when you are missing a ton of good players. The Broncos should have beaten us like a drum. A better team would have slaughtered us, but the Steelers do what the Steelers do. We played a tough physical game and took the Broncos to Overtime. I sometimes think it was better that the Broncos won because they got a Foxboro beatdown the next weekend. When I watched the Pats dismantle Denver,  I thought to myself I'm glad that's not the Steelers. I have a feeling it would have been bad. Sure we beat the Pats convincingly in the regular season, but that was at full strength, but I digress.

This year, the Steelers are playing the Broncos at the beginning of the season, when everyone is relatively healthy. The Steelers are missing two high profile rookies who were expected to contribute, but its not half the team like the playoff game. The more high profile change is on the Broncos sideline. Unless you were living under a rock, you know the Tim Tebow experiment was ended and Peyton Manning was brought in. The Tebow Circus was sent to the New York Jets for, I believe, a bag of Kicker balls and a ham and swiss cheese sandwich. It really says something to me about what John Fox and John Elway thought about Tebow when they dumped him (and his crazy fans) for Manning.  Even after Manning was forced to take a year off due to injury, possibly knowing he may not be the same. What Tim Tebow fans don't understand is an old, possibly broken Peyton Manning is a 1,000,000% upgrade at quarterback over Tim Tebow. I know Fox and Elway are smart guys, so they would not be signing Manning without actually knowing he was going to be able to play.

Let's also be clear on a couple things about the wildcard game. First: Tim Tebow did not win the game by himself. Tebow had 316 yards on 10 completions. I'm going to say that the receivers and their yards after catch inflated his yardage number. Demaryius Thomas was the MVP of the passing game. Ike Taylor played an uncharacteristically bad game, but Thomas played out of his mind.  Second: John Fox's game plan for Tebow was insane and it worked. He did it all season. He knew his quarterback was terrible at throwing a forward pass, which is essential to the position. Fox used a college zone read offense and Tebow did well with it. Much like the wildcat before it, its a gadget offense and it worked the first time teams saw it. When they played New England again, they got pummeled. This is a key reason Tebow is out and Manning is in. John Fox wants to go back to playing big boy football. Troy Polamalu said the defense couldn't believe the Broncos kept running the same play over and over. The game plan was so simple, it beat the number one defense in the league.

I know I sound bitter about this loss and Tim Tebow in general. I guess its because of the over saturation of Tebow ingrained in all football broadcasts. He'll probably eventually start for the Jets and the worldwide leader will not be able to handle it. He'll be the most overrated NFL player in History playing for the most over hyped team in the NFL. They love him so much they had poor Sal Palantonio camped out at training camp to give updates. I also don't get Tebow fans. Its like they don't understand how football works. Tim Tebow is not a very good quarterback at all. He's an option quarterback and that doesn't translate to the NFL. Look at Eric Crouch, Pat White, Tommy Frazier....etc. He was a wonderful college player because he was able to run first and throw five yard patterns to Aaron Hernandez and Percy Harvin, who were great YAC guys. God forbid you criticize the guy. His fans think you are attacking him. I am not saying he's a bad guy. He truly seems to be a good guy, but that doesn't mean he's a good quarterback. Plenty of good guys aren't good quarterbacks and conversely, plenty of terrible people are good quarterbacks.

I am hoping for a great game Sunday. Denver is bringing a good defense and a good running game to the table. These are staples to a John Fox team. What Fox has to be absolutely giddy about is having an actual quarterback to lead his offense. I think Eric Decker and Thomas will have good seasons now that they have someone to throw to them. I think it will come down to the wire because of how evenly they are matched, but look for Pittsburgh's defense to be a little too much for the Broncos to handle as well as Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Passing game. My prediction: 27-20, Pittsburgh.