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DENVER -- Two yards separated LenDale White from the end zone when he took a handoff and met James Farrior in the hole, blasting off the two-time Pro Bowler's helmet and sending him to the sideline with a facial laceration. White didn't gain a yard, but he sent a message when he scored an opening-drive touchdown on an identical play the next snap.

In their first victory of the 2010 preseason, a 34-17 win over the Steelers, the Broncos matched the run-imposing, pass-rushing style of football that brought two Lombardi trophies to Pittsburgh over the last five seasons.

"They're physical," Head Coach Josh McDaniels said. "They play kind of the same style that we're trying to play, and I thought our guys kind of stood up there to the challenge and fought them toe-to-toe."

In Cincinnati, the Broncos posted a 14-0 first quarter lead and then faded in the last three to lose the game. Against Detroit, Denver gave up an early lead and never recovered. But with Pittsburgh in town, the Broncos posted a dominant first quarter and fired back whenever Pittsburgh threatened to gain momentum.

When Kyle Orton threw an interception to William Gay with less than two minutes left in the first half, Andre' Goodman stuck up for his quarterback. Dennis Dixon led the Steelers offense down to Denver's 18-yard line, but Goodman jumped rookie Emmanuel Sanders' route and returned an interception 77 yards for a touchdown on the seventh play of the drive.

"Certainly in the two-minute situation we wanted to have the last shot at scoring, and I gave the ball back to them in a bad situation," Orton said. "The defense really bailed me out."

Goodman's timely pick came with 11 seconds left in the half. Instead of allowing Dixon to complete the two-minute drill and potentially tie the game 10-10, Goodman's pick gave his team a 17-3 lead going into the locker room.

Perrish Cox took his turn dragging the defense out of a tough situation earlier in the half when he snatched an acrobatic interception in the end zone, dragging both feet on the edge of the sideline to seal possession.

Orton responded by directing a 72-yard drive to set up field goal by Matt Prater. On that scoring drive Orton converted a third-and-10 by hitting Eddie Royal with a 17-yard strike.

This preseason, Orton is the third-down passing leader among starting quarterbacks, going 10-of-13 for 97 yards, throwing two touchdowns and no interceptions and posting a 136.9 passer rating. On Sunday night, Orton went 9-of-14 for the game, completing 64 percent of his passes.

He proved his toughness to the team when he came back into the game after suffering a brutal hit when he tried to tackle James Harrison on a fumble-return that was eventually ruled to be an incomplete pass.

"Minus that one (interception), I saw the field well, threw the ball accurately and had a good time in the pocket," Orton said.

For the first time this preseason, the Broncos rallied without Orton in the game, overcoming a 14-point fourth-quarter campaign by the Steelers by responding to each with their own touchdowns, including a scoring pass from Tim Tebow to Eric Decker and another pick-six courtesy of Syd'Quan Thompson.

Lance Ball rushed for 75 yards on 10 carries, bleeding the clock in the fourth quarter and contributing to a ground game that topped 100 yards for the first time this preseason. The coaches dialed up two more running plays than passing plays in the game -- 17 of those 28 run calls came on first down.

"That was just our game plan," Orton said. "It was good to win first down, put us in second-and-medium, keep the whole playbook open and be able to do what we wanted."

An attacking defense that accounted for three interceptions and three sacks allowed the offense to stay balanced and stick to the game plan. Robert Ayers continued his production in opposing teams' backfields. He accounted for two of the defense's three sacks, including a crucial take-down of Dixon on fourth-and-1 in the third quarter.

"We wouldn't want to be a bend-but-don't-break defense," Ayers said. "But the past three weeks we've done a good job in the red zone. We just want to keep building on that and do a better job of not letting people get down there."

The Steelers had their bright spots, like a 40-yard run contributing to Jonathan Dwyer's 89-yard day, but the Broncos never let the Steelers gain any steam.

Ultimately the victory can be attributed to both units rising up and countering in the crucial moments of the game, whether that meant a third-down conversion, a sack to change possession or an interception for a touchdown.

"It's always great to answer," Mario Haggan said. "You never want to get outpunched in a boxing match. Playing against a team like the Steelers who are a physical team, a traditional team that's known for winning, you have to come out and throw a punch."