The Pittsburgh Steelers travel to face the Denver Broncos on Sunday, and they will do it without their team MVP. Antonio Brown will miss Sunday's game due to a concussion sustained in the wild card round of the playoffs, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. This is a huge hit for Pittsburgh, as Ben Roethlisberger will be playing through injury and DeAngelo Williams likely won't be playing at all.
Denver's Stifling Defense
Denver has the best pass defense in the league, which makes the loss of Brown that much of a bigger deal. In the Steelers' Week 15 win against the Broncos, Brown had a huge game. He went crazy with sixteen catches, 189 yards, and two touchdowns (most of which came against Chris Harris Jr., one of the best corners in the league). If it wasn't for Brown, Pittsburgh would have had no chance of winning that game. In two days, the Steelers need to repeat their week fifteen performance, but without the man who led them to victory that game.
Steelers Need Offensive Help
Quite a few people will have to step up to help replace Brown. The first is Heath Miller, and he is of utmost importance. Since Big Ben will not be 100 percent healthy, he will likely check down a lot. His safety blanket has been Miller for years now, and don't be surprised if he gets targeted 10+ times this week. Fitzgerald Toussaint will also play a huge role in Pittsburgh's offense in this game.
The aggressiveness of Denver's defense will play right into the hands of Toussaint, who showed last week that he is a dangerous weapon out of the backfield. However, the most important piece to a Steelers' victory is their defense. They will need to do a very good job of containing the Broncos' offense, because it's hard to say how many points the Steelers will put up without the best receiver in the NFL.