Pittsburgh Steelers squeak past Indianapolis Colts 20-17
The Pittsburgh Steelers came off the bye week and traveled to Indianapolis this week to face the Colts. The Steelers saw two key players return to play in the game in Stephon Tuitt and Marcus Gilbert.
The Pittsburgh Steelers came into Indianapolis at 6-2 and the top seed in the AFC. They face a 3-6 Colts team that is still without quarterback Andrew Luck.
Pittsburgh got the ball first and it did not start well. Ben Roethlisberger threw a deep ball to Martavis Bryant and Pierre Desir intercepted it deep down field.
The Colts nor the Steelers could get much going for much of the beginning of this game. That was until the Colts got a deep pass play for a touchdown.
Jacoby Brissett fooled Artie Burns on a pump fake and Donte Moncrief was wide open. He dropped a dime to the streaking Moncrief and he walked into the end zone.
The Steelers offense was very anemic in the first half gaining just 100 total yards. The running game was slow and the pass game could not get anything moving.
Big Ben took some hits and the Colts sacked him once. For all the offensive woes, the defense was not much better.
The missed tackles continued to rack up in the first half as time after time the defense continued to play undisciplined. Because of this, the Colts offense picked up first downs on third down.
With a 10-3 lead, the Colts stormed out of the gates after halftime and scored on another long TD pass from Brissett. This time he exploited a hole keying T.Y. Hilton and hit Chester Rogers for a 61-yard score.
The Steelers finally got things rolling after that going on a drive that ended with Big Ben connecting with JuJu Smith-Schuster for the TD. The kick was blocked and returned but Jesse James saved the day avoiding two points for Indianapolis.
The Steelers defense stepped up their game and began to play like the defense they have been all season. They pressured Brissett and played better against the run.
Ryan Shazier got an interception deep in Colts territory that lead to another Steelers touchdown. This time to Vance McDonald wide open in the end zone.
The Steelers botched the two point play twice calling a timeout and getting delay of game penalty. The third time worked, however, as Big Ben connected with Bryant in the end zone to tie it at 17-17.
The Steelers drove down the field after a Colts punt and got into field goal range. Chris Boswell trotted on the field only to see his kick clank off the upright and bounce out.
Pittsburgh forced the Colts into a three and out and got the ball with 3:10 left in regulation. They marched down the field with a good passing attack completing long passes to Bryant and Antonio Brown.
Pittsburgh called a run with 35 seconds left and the Colts called their last timeout with 27 seconds. Pittsburgh ran one more play and ran the clock down to 4 seconds left.
Boswell came back on the field for a redemption kick from 33 yards out. He proceeded to drill the kick and send Pittsburgh home the victors 20-17.
The game did not go as planned but it was a win. With a quick turn around this week, they need to kick the offense into gear and work on the missed tackles.
Next: Early 2018 NFL Draft needs for the Steelers
Pittsburgh will head home to face Tennessee on Thursday Night Football. They head into that game at 7-2 and remain the top seed in the AFC at the moment.