PLAYER NOTES
–T Marcus Gilbert, who has missed the past four games with a knee injury, did not practice Wednesday.
–T Matt Feiler, who has started in place of Marcus Gilbert for the past four games, has a pectoral injury. He did not practice Wednesday.
–DE Stephon Tuitt, who missed the Jaguars game with an elbow injury, did not practice Wednesday.
–OLB Anthony Chickillo, who injured his ankle against the Jaguars, practiced fully on Wednesday.
–OLB Ola Adeniyi was designated for return activated from injured reserve and practiced Wednesday for the first time since training camp. Adeniyi, who was one of the top standouts during training camp, injured his hamstring in the final preseason game and was placed on IR. The Steelers have 21 days to evaluate Adeniyi before deciding whether they’d like to add him to the 53-man roster or keep him back on IR for the remainder of the season.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: OLB T.J. Watt has 16 sacks in his first 25 NFL games. That’s the most sacks to begin a Steelers career. LaMarr Woodley had 15.5 sacks in his first two seasons in 2007 and 2008. Watt has 10 sacks this season, becoming the first Steelers outside linebacker to record double-digit sacks in a season since 2010, when Woodley and James Harrison both had double-digit sacks.
GAME PLAN: The Steelers beat the Jaguars without a running game, but they needed 14 fourth-quarter points and a touchdown with five seconds left to pull off the comeback. They need to get back to the running game against the Broncos, who have one of the NFL’s worst rush defenses. The Broncos allow 128 rushing yards per game. This will be important because the Broncos have some talented defensive backs, most notably veteran Chris Harris. The Steelers were just 3 for 11 on third downs against the Jaguars. They must get in more manageable third-down situations against the Broncos and they can accomplish that by establishing the run early.
The Broncos offense is built around a strong running game. They are eighth in the league in rushing, averaging 124.8 yards per game on the ground. The Steelers have the league’s ninth-best run defense, but the Broncos will be looking to test the Steelers after the Jaguars gashed them for 179 yards rushing Sunday. If the Steelers can effectively stop the run, it will force new Broncos quarterback Case Keenum to play well. Keenum is struggling to perform at the standard he set with the Vikings last season when he threw for more than 3,500 yards with 22 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. Keenum has thrown for 2,605 yards through 10 games with 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Steelers WR Antonio Brown vs. Broncos CB Chris Harris. Brown has scored in eight consecutive games and he’ll try to get more this week against Harris, who remains one of the NFL’s best corners. The previous time Brown played the Broncos he caught 16 passes for 189 yards and scored two touchdowns during a 2015 regular-season game at Heinz Field. When the Steelers and Broncos met in the playoffs a few weeks later, Brown was injured and could not play. Brown is starting to get hot. He has three 100-yard receiving games in his past six outings, including a season-high 117 yards against the Jaguars.
–Steelers ILBs Vince Williams and Jon Bostic vs. Broncos RB Phillip Lindsay. The Steelers run defense had a bad day at the office against the Jaguars and the linebackers have another tough assignment this week in defending Lindsay, who is eighth in the NFL with 670 rushing yards and averages a whopping 5.5 yards per rush. Lindsay, a rookie from Colorado, is coming off a two-touchdown performance in a win against the Chargers. Williams and Bostic have been key figures in an improved run defense, but they’ll be looking for a better performance after allowing the Jaguars to run for 179.