In a game that was supposed to be all about Peyton Manning (19 of 26 for 253 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions) this and Peyton Manning that. High priced cornerback Tracy Porter ($4 million for the 2012 season) stole the spotlight with a standout night of his own (8 tackles, 3 pass breakups, and 1 interception) to give the Broncos a season opening 31-19 victory at Invesco Field. Manning also joined the 400 touchdown club as he threw for two scoring passes to put him at 401 over his stellar career.
Manning and the Broncos started their first drive of the regular season at their own 20 yard line after a touchback. His first pass was complete for 15 yards to receiver Eric Decker. Then Manning completed his second pass of the drive for 9 yards to veteran receiver Brandon Stokley. On 3rd down and 10, linebacker Larry Foote abruptly ended a promising drive with a 5 yard sack to force a punt. Manning’s numbers for the first drive of his career in a regular season game in Denver: 2 for 4 for 24 yards.
Pittsburgh had a three and out of their own which gave the ball back to the Broncos. But Foote ended a second straight drive with by forcing a Willis McGAhee to hand the Steelers the ball in decent field position. Rookie defensive end Derek Wolfe did some damage of his own as he forced a 4th and 21 punting situation for Pittsburgh with an all-out effort on a crawl and grab sack of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
A Stokley 17 yard reception to the Denver 22 got the Broncos out of the shadow of the end zone. But another promising drive died on a 3rd and 17 incompletion to receiver Demaryius Thomas in double coverage.
Pittsburgh’s third drive of the game yielded some points, a 21 yard field goal by kicker Shaun Suishm. But of course that wasn’t what the Steelers wanted as they had three tries in prime scoring territory to score a touchdown, which included cornerback Tracy Porter on third down tipping away a pass intended for an all alone Heath Miller in the end zone.
On Denver’s fourth drive of the game and their first of the second quarter, Manning showed the nation that he still has it. He and the Broncos surgically dissected the Pittsburgh defense with a 12 play-80 yard scoring drive, capped off by a Knowshon Moreno 7 yard touchdown run lead by a dominant block from left tackle Ryan Clady. On the drive, Manning distributed the ball to three different receivers (Jacob Tamme, Thomas, and Decker) and the Broncos mixed in some solid running by McGahee.
A marathon but effective drive for Pittsburgh put points on the board for them. Roethlisberger completed a 4 yard touchdown pass to Miller who was not covered again in the end zone, but this time he caught the pass to give the Steelers a 10-7 lead. The drive was keyed by a Emmanuel Sanders 17 yard reception after a Max Starks false start penalty the play before.
In the third quarter, Pittsburgh took a 13-7 lead after a Suisham 35 yard field goal. But near the end of the third quarter, Thomas turned in the biggest play of the game. Thomas ran a short comeback route to Manning near the left sideline, received the pass from Manning, and sped forward for a 71 yard touchdown reception that was aided by good blocks and Thomas’ own speed to give Denver a 14-13 lead.
Another marathon drive by Pittsburgh culminated in a 3 yard Mike Wallace touchdown reception, but the Steelers missed the 2-point conversion and took a 19-14 lead.
With 9:38 left in the game, Manning answered that Wallace score with a 2 yard speedy pass to Tamme in the left corner of the end zone. Manning then completed a pass to McGahee for the two-point conversion to give the Broncos a 22-19 lead.
On the ensuing drive, Porter again came up big for Denver as on back to back plays, he broke up passes which could have given Pittsburgh sizable gains and not to mention the impetus to score a touchdown and take a 26-22 lead. Those two defensive pass breakups forced a Drew Butler punt. Denver took advantage of Porter’s big defensive drive with a Prater 26 yard field goal to give the Broncos a 25-19 lead late in the fourth quarter.
But Porter still wasn’t done. He had the audacity to make another huge play as he intercepted a pass at the Steeler 42 yard line after breaking away from coverage, and returned the theft unscathed to the end zone to further nail Pittsburgh’s coffin shut with a 31-19 lead after Prater’s successful extra point.
