DENVER -- Ben Roethlisberger gave way to his backups after a quick night's work. Now, he can get ready to make his case for a shortened suspension, too.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed during Denver's 34-17 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday night that commissioner Roger Goodell and the Steelers quarterback will meet soon, but he declined to say when or where the meeting would take place.
Roethlisberger was suspended for six games after being accused of sexually assaulting a Georgia college student in March. He was not criminally charged in the case.
If Roethlisberger's suspension is reduced to four games, he'll be back for their game against Cleveland on Oct. 17. Otherwise, he'll be out until the Steelers visit New Orleans on Halloween night.
After Roethlisberger was pulled, Dennis Dixon got his first significant playing time with the starters. Dixon has started only one NFL game, and he is expected to be Byron Leftwich's backup when the season starts and Roethlisberger's suspension begins.
Dixon didn't make a good impression Sunday night, throwing two costly interceptions.
Rookie cornerback Perrish Cox picked off the first one in the end zone, a pass that Dixon should have thrown away. Andre' Goodman returned Dixon's second interception 77 yards for a touchdown with 11 seconds left in the second quarter that gave Denver a 17-3 halftime lead.
Dixon finished 9-of-16 for 94 yards, two interceptions and a pair of sacks by Robert Ayers.
Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton was shaken up in the first half and left the game briefly after taking a hit from linebacker James Harrison.
Orton tried to make the tackle after Harrison picked up a loose ball and rumbled toward the end zone in the second quarter. Orton tried to tackle him low but Harrison put his helmet down and hit Orton on the back of the head and his left shoulder as he fell out of bounds.
While Orton was down, the officials huddled and ruled the play was an incomplete pass. Brady Quinn replaced Orton and was sacked on the next snap. Orton returned to the game on the Broncos' next series.
Orton finished 9-for-14 for 80 yards with one interception, by William Gay.
Rookie Tim Tebow made his home debut for Denver. He missed last week's game with bruised ribs he sustained on a 7-yard dart into the end zone on the game's final play in his pro debut at Cincinnati. He had mixed results, throwing an interception that set up a touchdown and then throwing a touchdown pass to fellow rookie Eric Decker.
Although Tebow saved the touchdown with a tackle at the 5 on Crezdon Butler's 40-yard interception return, Jonathan Dwyer (89 yards on 13 carries) took it in from there to cut it to 20-10 in the fourth quarter.
Tebow quickly atoned, driving Denver 74 yards in five plays, capped by a 3-yard TD strike to Decker.
And Charlie Batch responded to that with a TD drive that made it 27-17 on Antonio Brown's 7-yard scoring grab. But Batch's next drive resulted in a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown by rookie Syd'Quan Thompson that gave Denver a 34-17 lead.
Minutes later, Thompson returned a punt 62 yards.
Pittsburgh linebacker James Farrior left the game after suffering a head laceration in the first quarter. Farrior's helmet went flying when he helped stuff running back LenDale White for no gain on second-and-goal at the 2.
Farrior was led off the field with a towel pressed against the right side of his head, although he wasn't gushing blood like New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was after losing his helmet on a hard hit earlier in the preseason.
White scored a touchdown on the next play, his first for his hometown team that brought him into camp after injuries to Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter, neither of whom has played in the preseason.
The Broncos' bottled-up ground game finally found some traction with Lance Ball gaining 75 yards on 10 carries.
The Steelers committed four personal fouls in the first half.
Punter Daniel Sepulveda's experiment at kicking off, something kicker Jeff Reed has done since 2002, didn't go well Sunday night. His opening kickoff went out of bounds for the first of six first-half flags on Pittsburgh.
Notes: Sitting this one out for Pittsburgh were starting DBs Bryant McFadden (pectoral muscle) and Ryan Clark. Keenan Lewis started at cornerback for McFadden and Will Allen replaced Clark at safety. Clark also sat out last year's regular season game in Denver because playing at a high altitude can trigger a red blood cell condition that caused him to lose his spleen and gall bladder after a 2007 game at Invesco Field. ... Steelers S Da'mon Cromartie-Smith injured a shoulder in the second half and didn't return.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
