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Denver » They went back to wherever it is they keep their Wild Horse.
They went often to their strobe-like personality that is Brandon Marshall and his fluorescent-orange shoes.
They went to their playbook and gave some of their same old plays a try.
Nowhere, could the Broncos find their long-lost offense.
The "O" in Bronco has been missing for a couple games now.
Big Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers didn't do much, yet not much was plenty in defeating the Broncos, 28-10, on a comfortably cool Monday night at Invesco Field at Mile High.
"We certainly haven't done enough the last two weeks offensively to have our team win a lot of games," Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said.
Don't be misled by the score -- the Broncos' offense didn't score a touchdown. Their defense, which continues to perform at a playoff-level until it has recently sagged in the second half, gave its offense seven points on a fumble return by rookie linebacker Robert Ayers.
The Broncos' offense scored only seven points in getting thumped last week at Baltimore, which means the numbers behind the slump are 10 points in two games.
"Man, sometimes that's how things go in this league," said Correll Buckhalter, the Broncos' leading rusher with a mere 24 yards. "At the same time you can't panic. We still have a lot of football left. We'll get to work Wednesday, correct our
The once 6-0, toast-of-the-NFL, up by 31/2 games-in-their-division Broncos are now 6-2 and leading second-place San Diego by only one game in the AFC West.
They won their first six games by outscoring opponents a combined 76-10 in the second half. In their past two losses, the Broncos have been outscored 45-14 in the second half.
As the Broncos reached the halfway point of their season, they can be thankful that they've already faced the Steelers and Ravens -- whose defenses ranked 1-2 in the league last season.
"Both are heavy blitzing teams and they have good players on their front seven," said Broncos left guard Ben Hamilton. "I don't know until we watch the film [today] but you could feel the pressure. They bring a lot of looks."
Ahead is a chance to get better as the Washington Redskins are 2-6 with four consecutive losses and a coach in Jim Zorn who has been stripped of considerable power by owner Dan Snyder.
Then again, the nation's capital is a long ways to travel for a Broncos offense that has struggled to negotiate whatever yards necessary for points.
Against the Steelers, Marshall had 11 catches for 112 yards and quarterback Kyle Orton completed 23 of 38 passes. Those shiny-looking statistics were only surface deep.
Orton threw three interceptions, the first two leading to 14 points by the Steelers. The Steelers led at halftime, 7-3, on Tyrone Carter's 48-yard interception return for a touchdown.
"As a quarterback, I put it on myself," Orton said. "It's my offense and I'll get it back on track."
And for a second consecutive week, the Broncos couldn't run the ball. Buckhalter and Knowshon Moreno combined for 27 yards on 14 carries.
Against the Steelers and Ravens, the Broncos' offense struggle in the interior against some rugged defensive fronts.
"They can make you man up, I know that," said Broncos center Casey Wiegmann.
"We certainly haven't been able to run the ball the last couple weeks," said Broncos coach Josh McDaniels. "We haven't protected the passer. But there are a lot of things that go into that. It's not just an offensive line thing, or tight end thing, or running back. All 11 guys on the field have to get better."
Ordinarily, defensive touchdowns are rare, but not in this game. After an ineffective first half caused mostly by sideline idleness, Roethlisberger, the Steelers' enormous and enormously talented quarterback, quickly settled into a passing groove in the second half. Three consecutive completions gave the Steelers a first down at the Broncos' 33 when Roethlisberger was whacked in the arm by Kenny Peterson.
The ball bounced backward until Ayers picked it up and sprinted 54 yards for a touchdown.
One fumble for six points, though, wasn't going to demoralize a quarterback who has won two games with Roman Numerals attached. Roethlisberger got the ball back at his 20 and four plays later, he was throwing a go-ahead touchdown pass to Hines Ward.
The Steelers never again trailed.
"Still in first place," Wiegmann said. "Still got a long ways to go, though. Got a lot of improvement to do."
Fill-in safety Tyrone Carter returns the first of his two interceptions 48 yards for a touchdown to spark Pittsburgh in its win at Denver.
