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Posted by ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson

DENVER -- Here are some pregame notes.

New Denver cornerback Ty Law is active and expected to play some. He signed with Denver on Saturday.

Pittsburgh linebacker Lawrence Timmons is out with an ankle sprain. He is being replaced by Keyaron Fox.

Defensive end Travis Kirschke is out with a calf injury. He is being replaced by Nick Eason.

Denver fullback Peyton Hillis is out for family reasons.

Denver tackle Ryan Harris is out with a toe injury. Second-year tackle Tyler Polumbus is making his first start.

Denver defensive lineman Ryan McBean is out with a knee injury. He is being replaced by LeKevin Smith.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is in Denver. He visited the Broncos’ facility Monday.

Minor point about the fact that Pittsburgh has not won during the regular season in Denver since 1990. The Steelers won in Denver in the 2005 AFC title game.

The Broncos huddled near where Pittsburgh was stretching about a half hour before the game. Denver did the same thing three weeks ago in San Diego. Pushing and shoving ensued. Pittsburgh’s players didn’t seem to mind it tonight.

	AP Photo/Don Wright
	Linebacker Keyaron Fox’s 82-yard interception return sealed the game for Pittsburgh.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert

PITTSBURGH -- I’m just going to say it. I thought Minnesota played better in its 27-17 loss Sunday at Pittsburgh than it did last week in a victory over Baltimore.

Ooohhh. I feel so contrarian.

Week 7 Coverage • Walker: Bengals' Palmer is back • Jon Greenberg: Benson's career day • Williamson: Chargers bounce back • Graham: Time not on Fins' side • Wojciechowski: Saints should be 5-1 • Seifert: Silver linings in Vikes' loss • Pasquarelli: Steelers' D takes charge • Yasinskas: What happened to Turner? • MacMahon: Romo-Austin in sync • Sando: Crabtree brightens 49ers day • Reiss: Pats bond in London • Chadiha: Giants have questions • NFL Nation: Reactions | Wrap-ups | Live Monday Night Football HQ • Mosley: Skins' issues run deep • Paolantonio: Vick MIA so far • Chadiha: Strange call from Skins

The difference in Sunday’s game was two turnovers the Steelers returned for touchdowns in a span of 5 minutes, 23 seconds of the fourth quarter. In both instances, the Vikings moved the ball deep inside Steelers territory and were threatening to take a late lead.

“Kind of fluke deals,” Vikings coach Brad Childress said of the two plays: LaMarr Woodley’s 77-yard fumble return and linebacker Keyaron Fox’s 82-yard interception return.

“What are you going to do?” said defensive end Jared Allen. “You win some and you lose some. Their defense outscored our defense at the end of the game. I don’t know what else to say. There’s really not a whole lot else. There’s not much else we can do. We held [their offense] to 13 points. That should be enough to win.”

That was as close as anyone came to pointing fingers in Minnesota’s postgame locker room, and most players and coaches repeated the same mantra.

“We’re disappointed,” Childress said, “but not discouraged.”

Really, it’s hard to do anything but whistle and tip your cap when two linebackers grab the ball and weave their way to the end zone, especially when you consider the superior individual efforts required on both plays. (See below.) The Vikings answered Woodley’s play with an 88-yard kickoff return from rookie Percy Harvin, but they ran out of time after Fox returned the Steelers’ lead to 10 points.

Sound familiar?

Last week, Minnesota jumped to a 14-0 first-quarter lead over Baltimore and was outplayed thereafter. Had it not been for the fourth-quarter heroics of quarterback Brett Favre, and a missed 44-yard-field goal on the game’s final play, the Vikings would have registered their first loss a week earlier.

I didn’t mind telling you that last week, and I don’t mind suggesting the Vikings put on a more impressive showing Sunday in staying with a Steelers team that seemed primed to blow them out of Heinz Field. With cornerback Antoine Winfield sidelined, it was fair to question how the Vikings might fare against a Steelers passing offense that entered the game ranked second in the NFL.

But other than some particularly atrocious tackling on Mike Wallace’s 40-yard touchdown, the Vikings' defense was surprisingly effective. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 53.8 percent of his passes for 175 yards, or about 120 yards less than his per-game average this season.

“I thought we played a great game,” cornerback Cedric Griffin said. “We let a few plays go, but at the same time, collectively we played a pretty good football game against a really good team.”

Favre and the offense did its part by maintaining possession for nearly 37 minutes despite a relatively quiet afternoon from tailback Adrian Peterson (18 carries, 69 yards).

If you want to quibble, you could argue the Vikings erred by not handing Peterson the ball four times on the goal line during a third-quarter possession. You know I never hesitate to question Childress’ decisions, but in this case I wasn’t offended. Even Peterson said: “Well, I did get two cracks at it.”

The Steelers have one of the NFL’s best run defenses and they weren’t giving up much Sunday. Peterson’s first two plunges into the line, one negated by penalty, netted nothing. Favre, meanwhile, entered the game as the NFL’s top red-zone passer.

The Vikings certainly didn’t draw up the third-down play to target backup tight end Jim Kleinsasser, but the Steelers covered up the rest of Favre’s options.

Overall, however, the Vikings offense rolled up 386 yards and converted 50 percent of its third-down attempts. Add those figures to Harvin’s special-teams touchdown, along with a defense that seemed to have the Steelers figured out, and you have the ingredients of a huge victory.

In essence, the game came down to two plays, turnovers with especially painful repercussions.

“To think coming into this game that … we were going to have two [turnovers] for touchdowns going their way?” Childress said. “Hats off to those guys. You never know which one of those 70 plays is going to end up being the play.”

Let’s take a closer look at each play:

Return No. 1
Left guard Steve Hutchinson was matched up on defensive tackle Brett Keisel. “I was just riding him around the pocket,” Hutchinson said. Favre said he was planning to throw a pass to receiver Sidney Rice: “I don’t know if we were going to have any success with the play. But I was going to give him a high throw in the back of the end zone.” The play might have taken too long, Favre said, and he might have held the ball too long.

Hutchinson said he didn’t know until later than Keisel had poked the ball out of Favre’s hands at about the 14-yard line. The ball bounced backward and Woodley scooped it up at the 23-yard line. Hutchinson tried unsuccessfully to grab Woodley’s feet at the 33-yard line, and Woodley stepped inside Favre at the 40 before breaking into the open field.

Return No. 2
On a second-down play at the Steelers’ 19-yard line, the Vikings called a screen pass to receiver Chester Taylor. “I think it was a good call,” Favre said. “We were moving the ball extremely well at that time, and things happen.”

Again, Keisel made the key play. He recognized the screen immediately, moved laterally down the line of scrimmage and drilled Taylor just as the ball arrived. Indeed, Taylor said, “I got hit in the process of catching the ball.” The ball slipped through his hands and into the Fox’s. Hutchinson missed Fox at the 24-yard line. “I guess I’m not a linebacker,” he said. Left tackle Bryant McKinnie lost his pursuit angle and Favre slid before he could attempt a tackle on the right sideline.

Those two plays ensured the Steelers’ victory, and let’s be clear: No one awards style points for victories. Every game is important, but if you choose to look at Minnesota’s season from the big picture -- and when they’re 6-1, I think that’s OK -- you saw more encouraging signs for its long-term future in Sunday’s loss than you did in a victory last week.

That’s probably why you didn’t see too many people bent out of shape after the game. If you’re going to lose -- and every team in the history of the NFL has except for one -- there’s no shame if it comes in a close game on the home field of the Super Bowl champions.

“Things like that happen,” Childress said. “I’m proud of the way guys competed. Don’t like the result. [But] it’s been a resilient group from the standpoint of coming back and wanting to improve.”

Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert

PITTSBURGH -- What an absolutely bizarre and -- if you’re a Pittsburgh fan -- exhilarating fourth quarter between two of the best teams in the NFL.

Minnesota benefited from some fortunate twists last week against Baltimore. Sunday, the Steelers took advantage of two red zone miscues to hold their lead at Heinz Field. Linebacker LaMarr Woodley returned a Brett Favre fumble 77 yards for one touchdown, and fellow linebacker Keyaron Fox returned an interception 82 yards for another score.

Fox’s play came after tailback Chester Taylor let a screen pass sail through his hands, ending the Vikings’ bid to either tie or take a lead with one minute remaining.

Without those mistakes, the Vikings might well have left with an impressive victory over one of the AFC’s top teams. To be frank, the loss hardly derails any of the Vikings’ long-term goals. From a tiebreaker perspective, the Vikings will be least impacted by a road loss to an AFC team.

Posted by ESPN.com’s James Walker

PITTSBURGH -- One of the interesting things to watch early in Thursday’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans will be the performance of backup linebacker Keyaron Fox.

Fox

Fox, 27, is replacing inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons (ankle) in the starting lineup of a huge season opener for both teams.

This is the fifth career start for Fox and his first in Pittsburgh. He had a good preseason for the Steelers, but primarily a special-teams player, Fox will need to step up his game even further against the run-heavy Titans.

Pittsburgh released veteran linebacker Larry Foote this offseason to get Timmons into the starting lineup. But that also hurt Pittsburgh’s depth, leaving Fox with some big shoes to fill.

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

Thoughts and observations from the Cardinals' first exhibition game of the 2009 season, against the Steelers on Thursday night:

• Calais Campbell made a very positive first impression as he moved into the starting lineup at right defensive end, replacing Antonio Smith, who signed with Houston. Campbell made an aggressive play against the run early. He tossed aside Steelers tackle Max Starks to pressure Ben Roethlisberger near the goal line. Campbell also pressured Charlie Batch on a third-and-3 play. This seemed to be exactly what the Cardinals wanted to see from Campbell.
• The Cardinals spread the field and then ran the ball on third-and-2, something they did only three times all last season by my count, converting none. Tim Hightower picked up the first down this time. It's premature to read anything into the decision as Ken Whisenhunt takes back play-calling duties. But it stood out to me as something the Cardinals should do more frequently. Hightower looked good.
• The Cardinals' starting offensive tackles had some problems in pass protection, just as they did against the Steelers in the Super Bowl. Levi Brown is a powerful run-blocker, though. He cleared out the Steelers' Aaron Smith, helping Hightower gain 9 yards on a first-and-10 play. Brown sometimes seems miscast for the Cardinals' pass-oriented offense. I can see why Russ Grimm liked him coming out of college, though.
• No one will be writing about how Brian St. Pierre turned up the pressure on Matt Leinart for the No. 2 job at quarterback. Leinart overcame a shaky start to play well. He took a brutal hit early in the game. It's tougher to envision the Cardinals handing the No. 2 job to St. Pierre after this game.
• The Cardinals do not want LaRod Stephens-Howling standing there as the last line of defense in blitz pickup. That happened a couple times against the Steelers and it wasn't pretty. Stephens-Howling is 5-foot-7 and 180 pounds.
  
• Rookie offensive lineman Herman Johnson held up effectively in pass protection, a very good sign for the 380-pounder. Johnson projected as a guard coming out of LSU, but the Cardinals are trying him at backup right tackle. They had to like what they saw from him in this game. His protection helped set up an intermediate completion to Sean Morey. Jason Wright found running room behind Johnson on another play. Later, Johnson pushed the Steelers' Keyaron Fox 10 yards downfield while Wright picked up 6 or 7 yards. Johnson even caught and tackled Steelers cornerback Anthony Madison during an interception return. Nice work, big fella.
• Defensive lineman Kenny Iwebema showed he's coming back strong following surgery to remove a tumor from his chest. Iwebema lifted and pancaked Steelers right tackle Jason Capizzi on one play. He was a force against the run on another.

Posted by ESPN.com staff

Baltimore Ravens

• Veteran cornerback Samari Rolle signed a four-year deal with the Ravens nearly three weeks after he was released by the team, reports Ken Murray and Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun.
• Murray takes a look back at quarterback Kyle Boller's star-crossed tenure with the team.

Cincinnati Bengals

• Tight end Ben Utecht recently visited six different Cincinnati public schools to promote GEARUP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness in Undergraduate Programs) to fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-graders across the city, according to the team's Web site.

Cleveland Browns

• Jay Cutler's agent, Bus Cook, denied a Chicago Sun-Times report that Cutler wouldn't want to play for Browns coach Eric Mangini, writes The Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot.

Pittsburgh Steelers

• The team re-signed backup linebacker Keyaron Fox to a two-year deal worth $1.8 million, says the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette.
• The Steelers have finalized the dates and times for their two preseason road games, says John Harris of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.