Denver holds on to win a wild and crazy game!
The most anticipated Wildcard game of the weekend occurred in Mile High Stadium in Denver as the Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Denver Broncos on Saturday. When you think of these two teams, you think of the stars like John Elway, Kordell Stewart, Terrell Davis, Jerome Bettis, Shannon Sharpe and Yancy Thigpen. Although the superstars showed out, but the stars of the game were two unheralded players… the Broncos Darian Gordon and the Steelers Will Blackwell.
Gordon made the biggest impact in the game as he gave the Broncos are near insurmountable lead. With the game tied at 7, Gordon caught a line-drive punt from Steeler punter Josh Miller and raced through the Steeler coverage team for a 53-yard touchdown to give the Broncos a 14-7 lead that they never relinquished. Then in the second quarter, Gordon picked off a Kordell Stewart pass and zig-zagged through Steeler offensive players for a 27-yard interception return for a touchdown. That gave the Broncos a 24-10 lead going into halftime.
On the Steeler side, Will Blackwell caught the kickoff 1-yd deep in his end zone. He blazed through the Bronco coverage unit and returned the kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown to start the second half. Blackwell cut the Bronco lead to 24-17 15 seconds into the second half.
With the Broncos leading 27-23, the Steelers went on a drive to possibly steal a win. Stewart hit Yancy Thigpen on a huge 3rd down for 30 yards to put the Steelers inside the Broncos’ 20-yd line. Then Stewart drilled a pass to Blackwell to set the Steelers up at the Bronco 11-yard line. On the next play, the Steelers handed off to Bettis. He plunged through the Bronco defense, but as he stretched for more yardage, he was drilled and fumbled. Bronco linebacker John Mobley secured the fumble and secured the Bronco victory!
Exciting game!