Steelers at Broncos Capsule

PITTSBURGH (12-5) At DENVER (9-9)

Sunday, 8:20 p.m., NBC

OPENING LINE – Broncos by 2

2011 RECORD VS. SPREAD – Pittsburgh 7-10, Denver 8-10

SERIES RECORD – Broncos lead 17-10-1

AP PRO32 RANKING – Steelers No. 7; Broncos No. 11

LAST MEETING – Broncos beat Steelers 29-23 in OT, Jan. 8, 2012

STEELERS OFFENSE – OVERALL (4), RUSH (8), PASS (3)

STEELERS DEFENSE – OVERALL (1), RUSH (4), PASS (1)

BRONCOS OFFENSE – OVERALL (11), RUSH (1), PASS (15)

BRONCOS DEFENSE – OVERALL (12), RUSH (10), PASS (12)

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES: Olympic gold medal swimmer Missy Franklin will be at midfield as honorary captain for coin toss as Broncos honor 12 Colorado Olympians. … Steelers coach Mike Tomlin 4-1 in season openers. … Ben Roethlisberger’s .703 winning percentage as starter is second among active QBs to Tom Brady (.780). … WR Mike Wallace says no need to hold him back against Denver despite holdout that ended last week. Pro Bowler said he’s nearly up to speed on new offensive coordinator Todd Haley’s playbook. … Steelers must replace four stalwarts who helped them win three AFC titles and Super Bowl in WR Hines Ward, DE Aaron Smith, LB James Farrior and NT Chris Hoke. They combined to play in 644 regular season games plus 59 more in the playoffs. …Haley’s father, Dick Haley, was Steelers director of player personnel from 1971-91. … Broncos 38-13-1 record in home openers (.745) is best in NFL. … QB Peyton Manning needs one TD pass to reach 400 in regular season. Only Brett Favre (508) and Dan Marino (420) have more. … Manning has won his last two regular season games against Pittsburgh, throwing for five TDs with one INT. … Broncos led league last year with 164.5-yard rushing average. … WR Eric Decker led Broncos with career-high eight TDs last year; WR Demaryius Thomas had four catches for 204 yards, including 80-yard TD grab on first play of OT in Broncos’ 29-23 wild-card win over Steelers in January. …Champ Bailey’s 50 INTs since joining league in ’99 is tops among NFL CBs.