Sunday’s showdown in Pittsburgh is Lloyd Cushenberry’s circle game.
The game’s been on Cushenberry’s mind since the schedule came out, and the Broncos center plans on using it to show how his play has come full-circle since he got his “welcome to the NFL moment” in last year’s Week 2 loss to the Steelers at Heinz Field. In that 26-21 defeat, the Broncos offensive line allowed 24 disruptions (seven sacks, a dozen knockdowns and five pressures), with Cushenberry accountable for 1.5 sacks and 3.5 knockdowns in a messy performance.
“I’ve been looking forward to this game for a long time,” Cushenberry said. “I remember that day like it was yesterday. The whole game, the whole day. It just wasn’t a good game for me. It was a baptism-by-fire, but I came a long way from there to where I am today, so I can’t wait to go out there and compete and show it.”
Cusheberry admits a few plays from that game lingered in his memory and provided motivation for him this offseason when Denver’s third-round pick out of LSU in 2020 trained and studied at the Broncos facility in Englewood.
And while Sunday serves as another showcase of Cushenberry’s maturation from wide-eyed rookie to steady second-year center, it’s also a measuring stick of Denver’s resolve following a beatdown by Baltimore at home. Denver gave up five sacks for 30 yards in that game, and Cushenberry was responsible for Ravens linebacker Odafe Owehon coming through untouched on a delayed blitz to deliver the blow that concussed quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in the second quarter.
“Most of the game, we handled the rush inside, like all the stunts and games they did,” Cushenberry said. “But the play that Teddy got hit, I took my eyes off (Owehon) for a quick second because he dropped (in coverage), then he ended up coming. That’s on me. And that’s (an example) of some things I have to get better at, just keeping my head on a swivel and eyes all moving around.”
Despite that hiccup, Cushenberry still gets a vote of confidence from both head coach Vic Fangio and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.
Cushenberry’s allowed one sack and one knockdown this year while playing every snap, continuing the trend of reliability he began as a rookie. In 2020, Cushenberry and Tampa Bay tackle Tristian Wirfs were the only two rookies to play 100% of their team’s offensive snaps.
“The arrow’s up on him,” Shurmur said. “What he went through last year really will help him in his career. To be a rookie and be asked to do the things he was asked to do a year ago, that helped him and seasoned him quite a bit as a rookie. It’s showing this year.”
Fangio noted that there’s no “glaring specific (weakness” in Cushenberry’s game, but that the center needs to improve on “being more decisive and finishing his technique late in the down.” That will especially be the case on Sunday when Cushenberry will be tasked with containing Steelers’ All-Pro defensive tackle Cameron Hayward.
Fangio called Hayward one of the best interior defensive lineman in the NFL, and Cushenberry knows he needs to be locked in if he wants to reverse the narrative from last year’s game at Heinz Field.
“You have to be physical (against Hayward) — you can’t play hesitant or timid,” Cushenberry said. “You have to get after him because he’s going to try to get after you. He’s a smart veteran guy who’s going to listen to your calls, attack certain spots at certain times.”
The good news for Cushenberry and the Broncos’ offensive line is that starting guards Graham Glasgow and Dalton Risner are both trending toward playing this week. Second-year pro Netane Muti and rookie Quinn Meinerz filled in for Glasgow and Risner against Baltimore. Glasgow was inactive due to a knee injury and Risner due to a foot injury, and their experience could’ve helped Cushenberry against the Ravens’ array of exotic pressures. But both returned to practice on a limited basis on Wednesday and Thursday.
