By MATT BEARDMORE
STATS Writer

The Pittsburgh Steelers didn't get off to a strong start this
season, but the defending Super Bowl champions are now playing
at a high level.

Pittsburgh goes for its fifth straight victory Monday night,
when it looks to snap a three-game losing streak to a Denver
Broncos club trying to bounce back from its first defeat of the
season.

Since opening the season 1-2, the Steelers (5-2) have gone
undefeated to give themselves a legitimate shot to win a third
straight AFC North title. They own the same record as
Cincinnati, although the Bengals currently own the tiebreaker by
virtue of a home win over Pittsburgh in Week 3.

"We've put ourselves in a good position to go into this bye, but
November, December, that's where the real teams start to
separate themselves," Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel said.
"Hopefully, if we're a real team around here, we can continue
this win streak."

Pittsburgh will attempt to continue its surge in Denver, where
it hasn't won a regular-season game since a 34-17 victory on
Oct. 14, 1990.

The Steelers, though, defeated the host Broncos by the same
score in the 2005 AFC title game en route to their Super Bowl 40
victory.

Coming off its bye week, Pittsburgh looks to build off a 27-17
home win over Minnesota on Oct. 25.

Ben Roethlisberger, third in the NFL with 2,062 passing yards,
threw his 11th touchdown of the season, while the Steelers'
defense scored twice in the fourth quarter - a 77-yard fumble
return by linebacker LaMarr Woodley and Keyaron Fox's 82-yard
interception return with one minute remaining.

Pittsburgh had four sacks - with James Harrison recording two to
increase his team-leading total to eight - while holding the
Vikings' Adrian Peterson-led running game to 89 yards.

The Steelers, who haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher in their
last 25 regular-season contests, lead the league in run defense
at 76.6 yards per game.

Pittsburgh, though, will have a patchwork defensive line when it
faces rookie running back Knowshon Moreno, Correll Buckhalter
and the Broncos' 11th-ranked rushing offense.

Defensive end Travis Kirschke, who was replacing the injured
Aaron Smith (torn right rotator cuff), suffered a torn left calf
muscle in the victory over Minnesota.

Nick Eason - Keisel's backup at right defensive end - will move
to the left side, while rookies Ziggy Hood and Sunny Harris are
expected to get plenty of playing time as the Steelers rotate
linemen in Denver's Mile High altitude.

"I was released (by Pittsburgh) the fourth game and the next
thing you know I'm playing," Eason said Wednesday. "Now I'll be
playing a lot more. My snaps have doubled in three weeks. It's
amazing, but that's the life story in the NFL."

The Steelers' makeshift line will not have to contend with
Broncos third-year right tackle Ryan Harris, who suffered a toe
injury in last Sunday's 30-7 loss at Baltimore. Tyler Polumbus
will likely make his first NFL start in Harris' place.

"We always give (Tyler) plenty of reps in practice. He handled
himself well in the preseason," Broncos first-year coach Josh
McDaniels said. "We'll expect him to go in there and play well."

McDaniels' team did not play well last week, dropping its first
game of the season following a 6-0 start.

"Anytime you have a game like this, it forces you to look in a
mirror," he said. "Hopefully we can find out just as much about
one another ... through the adversity of a loss as you can
through six wins."

The Broncos' defense is looking to rebound from its worst effort
of the season. Denver ranks third in the NFL in rushing defense
at 86.1 yards per game, but surrendered a season-high 125 to the
Ravens.

"Last week was last week," Broncos safety Brian Dawkins said.
"We did some things in the second half that were not like us
defensively. Getting out of our gaps -- I think we were trying
to do too much towards the end -- and we gave up some scores
that we usually don't give up."

Denver will try to slow a Steelers running game led by Rashard
Mendenhall - who has a team-high 418 yards and four scores - and
veteran Willie Parker.

Parker, who rushed for 93 yards on 21 carries in the teams' last
meeting - a 31-28 Steelers loss at Denver on Oct. 21, 2007 -
missed practice time this week due to a fever, but is expected
to play.

"Pittsburgh is going to pound the ball," Broncos defensive
lineman Kenny Peterson said. "They have a physical offensive
line. Their mentality has been the same for decades, which is
physical play."

Denver's offense looks for a better effort after posting a
season-low 200 yards last week, when they went scoreless in the
first half for the first time this season.

"Yeah, they beat us up pretty good, no question about it,"
quarterback Kyle Orton said. "We feel like we've got a physical
football team and certainly Pittsburgh prides themselves on
that, too. So, it'll be a hard-hitting game and whoever can win
that battle is going to have a good chance to win."

Denver, which leads the all-time series 13-6-1, has won nine of
12 overall versus Pittsburgh.