When I observed the Pittsburgh Steelers offense last Sunday afternoon and evening being dominated by the Denver Broncos defense, I immediately thought of the “orange crush.”
For a few of you millennials out there who have no idea what of what I am referring to; “The Orange Crush Defense was the 3–4 defense of the Denver Broncos during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The team adopted the 3–4 defense during the 1976 season, and the nickname “Orange Crush” for the team’s defense was popularized early in the 1977 season by [the Denver Post] sportswriter/broadcaster Woody Paige.”(Wikipedia.com)
I actually sat about three seats away from Woody during the game and I will feature his take on the game and the remainder of the AFC playoff teams and wild card hopefuls next week.
Now back to the subject at hand. In the first half of the game, the Steelers both offensively and defensively looked like Jekyll and Hyde. In the second half they appeared more like Bonnie and Clyde, taking very few prisoners and the POW’s that they did take into custody, they ended up “executing” without so much as even issuing any ransom demands.
Unlike in the first two quarters, Denver’s #1 defense morphed from Attila the Hun into Attila the “Hunted,” roaming the Asian Steppes on Georgia mules instead of Arabian stallions.
The Broncos almost flawless offense, (they had 8 third down attempts in the first half and converted all of them). However in the second half the Broncos offense quite frankly became offensive stinking up the joint like a bunch of lactose intolerant men with no bathroom in sight.
As far as the Broncos league best goes defense, Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown who should be nicknamed “the human torch” after his “flicker” of a flame in quarters 1 and 2, morphed into a five alarm fire after the break burning the Broncos secondary with 16 catches for 189 yards.
Brown had this to say during his post-game analysis. “Well if you want to be the best man we gotta beat the best. “It’s not about how we started, it’s about how we finished.”
The Steelers initially seemed to be tentative and unsure on offense, which was totally out of character for the #2 offense in the NFL. The first half play of the defense also was a bit out of character for a defense that previously in week #14 smacked around their AFC North Division rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincy by the score of 33-20, dominating Cincy both offensively and defensively, especially after the Bengals lost their starting QB Andy Dalton.
Dalton injured the thumb on his throwing hand after making an ill-advised tackle of Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt after Tuitt intercepted a failed screen pass by Dalton with the Bengals deep inside the red zone early in the first quarter.
The confidence and swagger from the previous week that Pittsburgh had after thrashing the Bengals definitely did not carry over into the contest against the Broncos.
In the first half the Steelers looked like Bambi staring into the headlights. In the second half the Black and Gold was more reminiscent of a twelve point buck crashing through a storefront window trashing the place, exiting before the arrival of animal control.
Pittsburgh Bred Hip-hop star Wiz Khalifa provided his own pregame “fireworks” performing his mega-hit Steelers anthem; “Black and Yellow.” ‘Black and Yellow” was the song that propelled Khalifa onto the national and international entertainment scene.
The Steelers defeated the Broncos 34-27 after being down two touchdowns. Before the game began the Steelers and their nation may have been chanting “black and yellow,” but I am certain after their second half collapse of the Broncos Denver exited Heinz field maybe not feeling black and blue but more than likely feeling like “oranges crushed.”
Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412.583.6741
Follow him onTwitter@ultrascribe
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