Pittsburgh Cruises Past Denver 28-10 On Monday Night

NFL News - November 10th, 2009 - Written by Scott

Pittsburgh safety Tony Carter, who replaced starter Ryan Clark who was held out for precautionary reasons, took full advantage of his opportunity with the start on Monday night and intercepted two passes. One of his picks was returned for a touchdown early in the second quarter and spear-headed the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 28-10 win over the Denver Broncos. Clark suffers from a rare blood disease which is aggravated by playing in high altitudes and was held out of their Monday night matchup with the Broncos after nearly dying two years ago and was hospitalized following the game. Despite not playing, he could not have been more happy for his replacement following the game.

"I was excited for him," Clark said. "It was a big win. He did an awesome job. His first interception really put us in the game."

Denver (6-2) got on the board first in the opening quarter on a 40 yard filed goal from Matt Prater. Pittsburgh would respond with Carter's first interception in which he returned 48 yards for a touchdown to put the Steelers ahead 7-3 heading into halftime.

Denver Broncos would reclaim the lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter on a 54 yard touchdown fumble recovery by Robert Ayers to give the Broncos their final lead of the game, 10-7. Pittsburgh would respond on their next drive and wide receiver Hines Ward hauled in his first touchdown pass of the night from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to put the Steelers ahead for good. With Pittsburgh leading 14-10 early in the fourth, safety Troy Polamalu intercepted Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton at Denver's 25 yards line which set up Roethlisberger's second touchdown pass of the night to Mike Wallace. Roethlisberger would then find Ward again from 3 yards out to give the Steelers a 28-10 lead with 1:22 remaining in the game.

Rashard Mendenhall had a huge game rushing for Pittsburgh and had 122 yards on 22 carries. The win kept Pittsburgh in a tie with Cincinnati for first in the AFC North. Roethlisberger finished with 233 yards in the air with 3 touchdowns and just 1 interception. The defensive unit for Pittsburgh gave the Broncos fits the entire game and allowed only 242 total yards and picked off Orton 3 times.

Orton finished the game with 221 yards and 3 interceptions, including 2 in the final quarter, after throwing only 1 pick through the first seven games. The Broncos could not get anything going rushing and only managed 27 yards on the ground all night. Despite the loss, Denver still remains in first in the AFC West and holds a 1 game lead over San Diego.

As we approach week 10 of the 2009 NFL Season, you can make watching the games all that more exciting by placing your wagers on Week 10 NFL Betting Lines.

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