Steelers 34, Broncos 27: Ohhhhh Yeahhhhhhh

Photo Creds to www.bleacherreport.com

The book of the 2015 Pittsburgh Steelers is yet to be published. It could be a season that ends in either jubilation or despair. But no matter what happens, this is the most exciting Steelers season that I have ever experienced as a fan, and I challenge any Steeler fan that has been around longer than I have to give me a season in which every game has been a thrill ride, for better or worse. Now that is not to say that this team is comparable with the Chuck Noll era clubs in terms of how good they are, but this team might just be equally, if not more, exciting. There is a big difference.

If the Steelers lay eggs at Baltimore and Cleveland in their final two games, I will still stick with this sentiment. If you're not like me and don't have the whole season practicality memorized, just look through the Steelers schedule this season. Every game has been a ride of some sort. Hell, I'll even save you the work of doing that by giving you every game in a sentence.

Week 1 at New England: Opening night, emotional due to the Deflategate saga and Pats Super Bowl festivities.
Week 2 vs. San Fransisco: 43 points with a no-huddle offense!
Week 3 at St. Louis: Roethlisberger goes down, it's Mike Vick time
Week 4 vs. Baltimore: The three stooges of Mike Tomlin, Todd Haley, and Josh Scobbe ruin Vick's Steelers debut. 
Week 5 at San Diego: Offense plays like crap for 45 minutes, Vick leads epic game-winning drive that is capped off by Le'Veon Bell's touchdown at the buzzer.
Week 6 vs. Arizona: Landry Jones comes in for an injured Vick and beats one of the best teams in football.
Week 7 at KC: Bad loss, boring game, but eventful for the soul reason that Landry Jones was the starting QB.
Week 8 vs Cincinnati: A rusty Big Ben returns, Bell goes out, Steelers waste good defensive effort and gas is poured on what is now the NFL's hottest rivalry.
Week 9 vs. Oakland: Antonio Brown has a historic receiving day, classic QB duel between Big Ben and Derek Carr ends with Landry Jones leading a game-winning drive.
Week 10 vs. Cleveland: Big Ben comes in as backup QB, I'll leave it at that.
Week 12 at Seattle: Exciting game ends with Steelers secondary blowing what should have been a signature win (aided by a poor coaching display from Tomlin)
Week 13 vs. Indianapolis: Steelers put up 45 points, and Antonio Brown loses the ability to have children.
Week 14 at. Cincinnati: Bad Blood continues, William Gay pick 6 leads to prolonged celebration,  and the Steelers get a huge win over A.J. McCarron.

That brings us to week 15, and it may just have topped all of the rest. The Steelrs were the worst football team in the world, and they were the best football team in he world, all in the span of 60 minutes. The Steelers first half performance can be summed up by sayin that Brock Osweiler looked like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning's love child, and the Steelers secondary looked like, well, garbage. Things started out promising enough, when the Steelers  second drive of the game ended with a 2-yard touchdown run from DeAngelo Williams. The rest of the first half would become corporal punishment for Steelers fans.

After two Osweiler touchdown passes gave Denver a 14-7 lead, the Steelers were putting together a promising drive until Cody Wallace decided to be a moron and speared Denver's David Burton helmet-to-helmet. Equally frustrating as the Wallace penalty were the people on Twitter who actually defended Wallace as "sticking up for Antonio Brown, who was questionabley hit on that play. Right, because nothing says "I got your back bro" like killing a promising drive, while endangering the health of an opposing player. At the same time, there were people defending Odell Beckham Jr. for his dirty play, so that should not surprise me.

This is not the first dumb penalty that Wallace has committed this season, and all we can do is hope that Marcuice Pouncy is ready asap. That once promising Steelers drive ended with an interception, and Denver would captalize with an Osweiler touchdown run. So, what could have been a 14-14 game turned into a 20-7 Denver lead, but in sure AB was ok with that because superstar Cody Wallace stuck up for him

After a Chirs Boswell field goal made it 20-10, the Steelers secondary struck again, and Denver's next drive took up 5:37 and ended with Emmanuel Sanders's second touchdown reception of the day. Chirs Boswell hit a field goal late in the first half, and both teams went into the lockerroom with Denver holding a 27-13 lead that felt more lopsided than the score showed. 

Then halftime happened, and the lights turned on. Or maybe they just went off for Denver. Osweiler became human, the Steelers defense became something other than a dumpster fire, and the best offense in the NFL woke up. Maybe it was more of the Denver offense stalling. Maybe it was Antwon Blake being pulled in favor of Brandon Boykin. Whatever the case may be, the Steelers defense rose to the occasion in the second half.

As for the offense, they made the best defense in the NFL look average. Denver's defensive back Chirs Harris, who had not allowed a touchdown since 2013, was beaten by the best receiver in the NFL: twice. It was another day at the office for Antonio Brown, who finished the day with 16 receptions for 182 yards and two touchdowns. In addition, Brown became just the 5th player in NFL history to go over 1,500 yards receiving two years in a row (it should be noted that Brown finished with 1,499 yards receiving in 2013).

As soon as the Steelers got it to within 7 at 27-20, I knew that Denver was in big trouble. I was not at Heinz Field on Sunday, but I could sense how electric it was just by watching at home. Denver had a chance to come out of the gates in the second half and bury the Steelers, and they did not take advantage. When you miss a chance to put away Ben Roethlisberger, screwing it up can lead to some nasty consequences.

As soon as Marcus Wheaton went in to the endzone to tie things at 27 early in the 4th quarter, Denver was in deep peril. The Bronco offense was in hibernation, and their defense could not get a stop. When Ben hit AB for the 2nd time with 3:24 remaining, that go ahead touchdown seemed inevitable. Although the Steelers were able to get a stop on Denver's ensuing possession, things got interesting when Todd Haley curiously called a pass play on 2nd down, which prompted Roethlisberger to throw a dud into the loving arms of Denver inside linebacker Brandon Marshall. This error could have been crushing, but it proved to be no harm no foul, as Osweiler stalled once again on the ensuing drive, sealing the game for Pittsburgh.

This Steelers team has shown a lot of guts, and Sunday was no exception. However, this secondary is a huge issue, and one could only imagine what an elite QB would be capable of doing against the tandem of Ross Cockrell and Antwon Blake (who Mike Tomlin announced will be starting again in Baltimore on Sunday, sound the trumpets). Despite these issues, Sundays win was easy, breezy, awesome, and the Ben to Brown connection never ceses to amaze.

Pittsburgh has offically leapfroged the New York Jets for the 6 seed in AFC playoff picture based on records against a common opponent, and the playoff spot is easy to lose. Baltimore and Cleveland are cream puffs, but be wary. You never know when a band of scrubs is going to ruin your playoff plans, so the Steelers need to focus on those two teams before thinking about who their first round playoff opponent will be.

And Mike Tomlin, #freeboykin