Most of the scoring came in the first half. Pittsburgh got an early scoring opportunity when Levon Kirkland intercepted a pass from Denver quarterback John Elway on the Broncos 43-yard line. The Steelers then moved the ball to the 20, only to have Norm Johnson miss a 38-yard field goal attempt. On the next play Denver running back Terrell Davis took off for a 43-yard run to the Steelers 29-yard line, and the team went on to score on Davis' 8-yard touchdown run. Will Blackwell returned the ensuing kickoff 18 yards to the 35-yard line, where Pittsburgh went on to move the ball 65 yards to tie the game. On the final two plays, Stewart completed a 20-yard pass to Yancey Thigpen and then ran the ball the final 33 yards to the end zone. Steelers defensive back Darren Perry ended Denver's next drive by forcing and recovering a fumble from Davis on the Pittsburgh 32-yard line. Pittsburgh then drove 68 yards in 11 plays to go up 14-7 on Jerome Bettis' 1-yard touchdown run a few minutes into the second quarter.