Steelers Head Into Season Opener Against Denver For Manning's Broncos Debut

Some call Denver a mecca of happiness, but for the Steelers, The Mile High City has been anything but friendly.

Pittsburgh has a record of 5-10-1 in Denver, including last year's 29-23 surreal overtime loss in the playoffs.

While Tim Tebow destroyed the Steeler secondary in that game, he is no longer at the helm. Instead, it is a player the Steelers know all too well––Peyton Manning, and he'll be gunning for them on Sunday night in the nationally-televised season opener for both teams.

"We have to deal with him, but we also have to realize they are a playoff football team without him," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said during his press conference on Tuesday.

Making the game even rougher is the fact the Broncos perform pretty well during home openers, boasting a 38-10-1 slate.

The Steelers had a key cog missing last year in the playoff loss––safety Ryan Clark. Unless one has been under a rock, Clark's absence was no secret.

Clark suffers from a sickle cell trait that nearly killed him after playing in a game there in 2007. He sat on the sidelines, and will not play again in the opener.

"It's a terrible week for me every time the Denver game comes around. It's the first game, Sunday night, I would like to play against Peyton Manning and his comeback, but I wont," Clark said.  "But I'm trying to turn a terrible week and turn it into something positive."

That something positive is Ryan Clark's Cure League, which will work with UPMC and two other entities to help find a cure for the disease, something he announced this week.

Ryan Mundy will take Clark's place at safety. Mundy, who played in all 16 games as a reserve/special teams guy last season, tied for a team high seven tackles during the playoff loss. He also forced two fumbles in the contest.