- **
Ben being Ben:** Ben Roethlisberger, despite playing with a shoulder injury that limited him in practice during the week, completed 24 passes for 339 yards. With his 339 yards passing, Roethlisberger passed Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw (3,833) with the most passing yards in the postseason. Roethlisberger now has 4,052 career postseason passing yards.
- **
Stepping up:** The offense needed someone to step up in the passing game with Antonio Brown inactive with a concussion, and that person was Martavis Bryant. Bryant had nine receptions for 154 yards, including a 52-yard reception. It was Bryant's first career 100-yard receiving game in the postseason. Bryant also had a 40-yard end around.
Sammie Coates, who was active because of Brown not playing, had two receptions for 61 yards, while Darrius Heyward-Bey had two receptions for 64 yards.
"We made it to this point with a lot of guys stepping up," said Roethlisberger. "I am just really proud of the effort and next man up mentality."
- The Wizard: Kicker Chris Boswell hit on all three of his field goal attempts against the Broncos, from 28, 43 and 47 yards. Boswell, a first-year player who is the Steelers fourth kicker this season, was five-for-five on field goals in the postseason.
Full out effort: Linebacker William Gay finished the game with seven tackles, included six solo stops. Harrison had the only sack for the Steelers, getting to Peyton Manning for a seven-yard loss. Harrison had a total of three tackles for a loss.
After the game Harrison was asked if he was considering retirement, but he said that isn't something he would have a yes or no answer to at this point.
"A big part of it is my kids," said Harrison. "Another big part of it is how I feel. I might make things look easy, but at the end of the day it's hard. I'm 37-years old. It's not something I could give an easy yes or no answer to."
