PITTSBURGH (12-4) At DENVER (8-8)
Sunday, 6:30 p.m., CBS
OPENING LINE - Steelers by 8
RECORD VS. SPREAD - Pittsburgh 7-9; Denver 7-9
SERIES RECORD - Broncos lead 16-10-1
STEELERS OFFENSE - OVERALL (12), RUSH (14), PASS (10)
STEELERS DEFENSE - OVERALL (1), RUSH (8), PASS (1)
BRONCOS OFFENSE - OVERALL (23), RUSH (1), PASS (31)
BRONCOS DEFENSE - OVERALL (20), RUSH (22), PASS (18)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Teams split six playoff games, last one coming in AFC championship Jan. 22, 2006, when Steelers prevailed 34-17. ... Nobody playing in this game had more than two interceptions all season. ... Steelers can break tie with Cowboys for most playoff wins with their 34th Sunday. ... QB Ben Roethlisberger 10-3 lifetime in playoffs. In only playoff appearance against Broncos, he completed 21 of 29 passes for 275 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 124.9 passer rating. ... Steelers without top tailback Rashard Mendenhall but backup Isaac Redman had career-best 92 yards last week against Browns. ... WR Mike Wallace (1,193) topped 1,000 yards receiving for second straight season, and WR Hines Ward became eighth NFL player to catch 1,000 passes. He also has 88 catches in playoffs for 1,181 yards and 10 TDs. ... WR Antonio Brown is first player in league history to top 1,000 yards in both receiving (1,108) and returning (1,062) in same season. ... Steelers defense allowed NFL lows in points per game (14.2), yards per game (271.8) and yards passing per game (171.9). ... Broncos coach John Fox 0-3 against Pittsburgh, where he first broke into NFL as secondary coach in 1989. ... LB Von Miller leads Broncos with 11 1/2 sacks but has just one in last month while playing with cumbersome cast on right hand. ... PR Eddie Royal averaged 16.2 yards but dealing with toe injury that could limit effectiveness. ... Broncos coming off just their third loss in 89 games in which they held opponent to 7 points or fewer. ... Broncos making first playoff appearance since 2005. ... Denver 3-0 in overtime this season. ... QB Tim Tebow is 7-4 as starter but has lost career-high three straight after six-game winning streak that included four straight fourth-quarter comebacks. ... Broncos led league with 164.5 yards rushing a game and set franchise mark with 2,632 yards, including 1,199 by RB Willis McGahee, who joined Ricky Watters as only players in NFL history to top 1,000 yards for three teams. His seve n 100-yard games tied Arian Foster for NFL lead. ... In last five games, WR Demaryius Thomas averaged 89.6 yards per game with three TD catches. ... WR Eric Decker had eight TD catches, and TE Daniel Fells tied career high with three TD grabs. ... DE Elvis Dumervil has 3 1/2 sacks in three games against Steelers.
