Instant analysis: Steelers sleepwalk to win against hapless Broncos

DENVER — Two games, two very Pittsburgh Steelers-esque results.

In what had the potential to be one of the more stress-free Steelers victories in recent memories, they controlled the game almost from start to finish in a 13-6 win Sunday against the Broncos at Mile High Stadium. But that finish did get a bit laborious.

It’s technically Empower Field, and a suffocating defense powered the Steelers in an overwhelming performance against rookie quarterback Bo Nix, starting a regular season game at home for the first time. Their offense just couldn't get out of its own way for much of the second half, repeatedly failing to slam the door on a Denver team that falls to 0-2.

But the Steelers improve to 2-0, and at least they scored a touchdown this week, with Justin Fields throwing for 117 yards on 13-of-20 passing. T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith each had a sack.

The two teams combined for 19 penalties, many of them coming in a fourth quarter that everyone in attendance would soon hope to forget. Denver racked up a whopping 124 yards in flags, but the Steelers won the overall penalty battle, 10-9, and had one more punt, 7-6.

It was over when: Nix’s Hail Mary attempt — more of a weak prayer, really — with a second left from his 34-yard line was intercepted easily by Damontae Kazee at the Steelers 40.

Player of the game: Fields. It wasn’t an easy week to pick this one, but Fields did his job again to take care of the ball and allow the defense to dominate. He had one iffy decision and throw late in the third quarter targeting Calvin Austin III in traffic on third-and-12, but he got lucky it wasn't intercepted. Otherwise, Fields was victimized by some penalties on offense and accounted for hidden yards by drawing pass interference calls in favor of George Pickens downfield. Fields continues to keep the whole playbook open thanks to his legs and his arm strength, so as long as he finds ways to get the Steelers out of games with victories, it might make it hard for Mike Tomlin to go in another direction at quarterback. Honorable mention to cornerback Cory Trice Jr. for his interception in the end zone and safety DeShon Elliott for a team-high seven tackles, including an instinctual fourth-down stop on Nix.

Trending up: Darnell Washington. Considering he’d never caught a touchdown in the NFL, Washington was an unlikely choice to score the first of this season for the Steelers, but that's what he did when he dominated safety P.J. Locke and hauled in a good throw from Fields with a couple minutes left in the first quarter. We’ve seen Washington box out defenders, seal them off with his big body — he’s probably closer to 300 pounds rather than his listed 264 — and catch the ball in practice, but he also nimbly got both feet down after giving Fields a huge target to hit for the 5-yarder. In addition to what was only his ninth career reception, Washington did his usual strong work blocking as an in-line tight end, clearing out defenders like an extra tackle. There just aren't many humans like him in the NFL, and he’s been a boost to Arthur Smith’s run-first, tight end-heavy offense thus far.

Trending down: Broderick Jones. Like a pitching change between batters, Jones actually got yanked from the offensive line mid-drive. You just don't see that very often in the NFL. But after incurring three penalties — one false start that appeared to be confusion with the silent count in a loud environment and two holding calls — Jones was taken out of the game on the third possession after Troy Fautanu got the start and the first two. The first holding call on Jones may have been ticky-tack, but the second was an obvious tug of a jersey that wiped out a jaw-dropping pinpoint pass from Fields to George Pickens that would’ve gone for 51 yards to the Broncos 6. The affable Jones still has plenty of upside as a starting tackle in this league — perhaps his more natural position of left tackle — but the second-year first-round pick is in a funk right now.

Up next: The 2024 home opener against the Chargers, who are off to a 2-0 start under new head coach Jim Harbaugh, 1-0 in his lone matchup with Mike Tomlin (2011 Steelers loss to 49ers).

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