GABE BARNARD

This Sunday, Jan. 17, at 2:40 p.m, the Denver Broncos will play the Pittsburg Steelers in the second round of the NFL playoffs.

Pittsburg beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the wild card round of the playoffs last weekend, while the Broncos enjoyed a byweek.

Coming into the game, both teams will be experiencing lineup changes. In last week’s matchup against the Bengals, Pittsburg wide receiver Antonio Brown fell victim to a nasty hit by Cincinnati’s Vontaze Burfict, leaving him with a concussion that will most likely prevent him from playing in this week’s game.

After suffering a small injury to his throwing shoulder, Ben Roethlisberger will be returning during the game to lead the Steelers as quarterback.

In their week of preparation for the playoffs, some Broncos, including Von Miller and Malik Jackson, came down with a flu-like illness which prevented them from performing at their best. However, the players got through it and will most likely be fully participating in the playoffs.

Most notable for the Broncos is the quarterback change. In their last regular season game against the Chargers, Peyton Manning was substituted for Brock Osweiler, leading the team to victory. It has been announced that Manning will start for the team against the Steelers and Osweiler will remain in his second-string position.

The Broncos have been struggling with this portion of the lineup for a while now, with some fans advocating Manning as starter and some vouching for Osweiler.

When asked if they agreed with Manning’s position as starting QB, 63 percent of students who responded to a survey said yes while 32 percent argued no.

After being asked if they thought the Steelers’ defense (which is one of the strongest the Broncos have faced) would challenge the Broncos’ offense, 45 percent of the same group of students said no while 55 percent said that it would be.

As for the fan base at Mountain Vista, the majority of people are Broncos fans, which is to be expected. Out of 108 people that participated in the poll, 90 percent were Denver fans and 10 percent supported Pittsburg.

With the game approaching in a few days, it is up to the Broncos to use their home-field advantage and bring the thunder to defeat the Steelers and advance to the next round of the playoffs.