The NFL game of the weekend for me was Sunday nights affair between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos. The why's of this are simple and threefold; I was interested in seeing Denver QB Tim Tebow in action, I'm a Steelers fanatic, and the third preseason game is traditionally the one that will give you a feel for your team.
Well, if that last part is true, then the Steelers are in rough shape till they get Roethlisberger back after the 37-14 beatdown they gave themselves up in Denver.
Outside of some garbage scores in the fourth quarter that may have saved the professional career of Pittsburgh rookie RB Jonathan Dwyer, who rattled off 89 yards on 13 carries in the final period, the Steelers received no decent quarterback play outside of starter 'Big Ben' Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger looked crisp and sharp, going 4/6 for 67 yards in limited action Sunday night. Ben was yanked after the first quarter much to his disappointment.
"I was shocked," Roethlisberger said of coach Mike Tomlin's decision to sit him at the start of the second quarter. "It was the end of the quarter and he said I was done. I still wanted to go in, but he wasn't going to have it."
His replacement in this affair, Dennis Dixon, who was coming off of two impressive preseason performances the past two weeks, looked lost and ineffective. He struggled to find the open receiver and when he did, he struggled to get the ball to him. This was a chance for Dixon to secure the starting job for the duration of Roethlisberger's suspension and his two interception performance might have been enough to knock him out of the running.
"He didn't play well," Tomlin said of Dixon. "And a lot of guys didn't."
On the other side of the line, the Denver Broncos looked solid. They got two gift pick-six's and was getting consistent pressure on the Steelers quarterbacks. They did have a nasty scare early in the game when James Harrison put a heavy hit on Kyle Orton who was trying to tackle the defensive monster after a fumble recovery that was later ruled an incomplete pass. Orton left the game for a short period after that one.
"I don't know if I went after him or he went after me," Orton said. "You have to try to save a touchdown and took a pretty decent shot, yeah. Just got the wind knocked out of me. Felt pretty good afterward."
Denver rookie Tim Tebow saw his first snaps at his new home stadium, looking cool and comfortable in the pocket at times while seeing some extended action. For the night, Tebow went 5/10 for 72 yards and had a touchdown pass to go with an interception. The biggest improvement for the young QB was that he stayed a pocket passer during his time n the field, wisely opting to not put his body on the line in a preseason game.
"I'm just trying to do what I'm asked," Tebow said.
With the third game behind them, both teams are set to begin the roughest part of the preseason, cuts, as teams must get their squads down to 75 players by August 31st.
