The Steelers thought that a punt was dead when safety Shamarko Thomas touched it at the Broncos’ 29-yard-line in the third quarter, but Jordan Norwood knew better.
Norwood scooped the ball up and returned it 71 yards for a touchdown that looked like it would put Denver back up two scores heading into the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for Norwood, a lot of his teammates thought the play was over as well and the Broncos were penalized for illegal substitution when several of them came on the field before the return was over.
The play might have been overturned on replay anyway because Thomas appeared to be out of bounds when he touched the ball and the change of fortunes meant the Broncos didn’t get any points. They went three-and-out after a sack of Brock Osweiler on third down, giving the ball back to the Steelers as the final quarter opened.
That proved costly because the Steelers quickly marched down the field to tie the score. Ben Roethlisberger completed five passes, including the game-tying score to Markus Wheaton, and got 15 more yards thanks to a roughing penalty on Derek Wolfe. Roethlisberger also threw a touchdown to Antonio Brown in the third quarter, which leaves things knotted at 27 with 12:34 left to play in Pittsburgh.