DENVER — — Justin Fields and the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the sputtering Denver Broncos 13-6 on Sunday, with Russell Wilson resuming his bitter role as a sideline spectator in the Mile High City.

Wilson’s long-awaited return to Denver to face the team that first replaced him with the veteran Jarrett Stidham and then with rookie Bo Nix ended in something of a footnote when he was demoted to emergency QB after a calf injury sidelined him for the second straight week.

That didn’t stop Steelers coach Mike Tomlin from giving Wilson a game ball in the visitors’ winning locker room.

“It was nice to give him a win,” Fields said of Wilson upon his return to Denver.

Fields threw a touchdown pass and finished 13 of 20 passing for 117 yards without an interception, helping Pittsburgh (2-0) beat the Broncos (0-2) for the third straight game.

“It’s always tough to win in this league, so it’s great to start 2-0, with two away games,” said Fields, who won his first start 18-10 in Atlanta in another solid but unspectacular performance. “But we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to stop the penalties and stuff like that. We’ve got to get better, myself included.

“We understand that and the way our defense is playing, we’re going to come out on offense and score 28 points or more. We’re going to be in a good position.”

Though Nix threw for 246 yards on 20 of 35 passes, he never reached the end zone and was intercepted twice. And like Fields, he was sacked twice.

Broncos icon Peyton Manning often laughs about hoping someone comes along and breaks his NFL record of 28 interceptions as a rookie. And with four passes intercepted so far, Nix is ​​on track to do just that.

Nix, who committed two turnovers deep in Seattle territory in his NFL debut, was intercepted by Cory Trice Jr. in the end zone in the third quarter, deterring Denver’s best drive, which included passes of 26 yards to Courtland Sutton and 50 yards to Josh Reynolds, that put the Broncos at the Steelers’ 6-yard line.

“That was just a bad call. You can’t do that,” Nix said, adding when asked again to describe what exactly happened: “Yeah, backed off. Thrown to the other team.”

Enough said.

On Pittsburgh’s ensuing drive, Broncos star cornerback Patrick Surtain II penalized the third of the game — a 37-yard pass interference — and set up Chris Bowell for his second field goal, this time from 53 yards out, to make it 13-0 late in the third quarter.

The Broncos were facing fourth-and-6 from the Pittsburgh 16-yard line when coach Sean Payton decided to send kicker Wil Lutz in for a 35-yard field goal with 10:42 left in the game, making it 13-3 and preserving a two-score deficit.

Another drive stalled at the Steelers 11, and Lutz connected from 29 yards with 1:54 left. With one timeout remaining, Payton elected to kick the ball deep rather than call an onside kick.

The Broncos held on, but with just 9 seconds left on the clock, they got the ball back at their 19-yard line. Damontae Kazee intercepted Nix’s final throw as time expired.

Wilson’s tumultuous two-year tenure in Denver featured an 11-19 record, a head coach who couldn’t get through his first season with Nathaniel Hackett and a year with Payton, whom Wilson coveted playing for earlier in his career but whose duo collapsed in their lone season together.

Wilson finished his time in Denver on the bench and the Broncos let him go in March, even though their split triggered a record $85 million in dead cap charges over two years. Wilson signed for the veteran minimum ($1.21 million) in Pittsburgh, meaning the Broncos will have to pay $37.79 million of his 2024 salary.

So the Broncos are paying the price for their split with Wilson in more ways than one. They’re trying to move on, but it’s hard.

“We can’t let this train keep rolling the way it’s going,” said Sutton, who had just one catch. “We’ve got to figure out a way to get it back on track as quickly as possible.”

Was Russell the problem?

Payton is 1/3 since they went 7-8 when Wilson was his quarterback. The Broncos’ scoring average has dropped from 21.7 points per game with Wilston to 14.0 without him, and their offensive output has dropped from an average of 329.7 yards to 281.5.

In 20 drives (excluding the end of the half) so far under Nix, the Broncos have scored just two field goals and two touchdowns, along with 11 punts, three interceptions and two turnovers on downs.

Injuries

Broncos: DE John Franklin-Myers (concussion), OLB Baron Browning (foot) and special teams ace JL Skinner (ankle) are all gone. … RT Mike McGlinchey walked to the medical tent after colliding with LT Garett Bolles at the 2-minute warning.

Steelers: Their only injury came in the fourth quarter when LB Tyler Matakevich suffered a hamstring injury.

Next

Steelers: Host the Los Angeles Chargers next Sunday.

Broncos: Visit Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl