Recapping the Steelers victory over the Indianapolis Colts

The Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9. Here is a recap of their dramatic win over Indianapolis.

The Pittsburgh Steelers recently defeated the Indianapolis Colts in what came down to a nail-biting finish. After Steven Nelson was called for an iffy 35-yard pass interference call on the Colts final drive of the game, Indianapolis was set up for a game-winning field goal. However, Adam Vinatieri could not capitalize on the opportunity, and the Steelers emerged victorious with a final score of 26-24.

The game started much like it did last week. Pittsburgh got off to a poor start early in the first quarter, as Mason Rudolph was intercepted off a dropped pass from JuJu Smith-Schuster that set the Colts up with great field position.

Offensively, the Steelers really struggled to move the ball in this contest. Mason Rudolph continually checked the ball down underneath as he finished the game with just 191 yards on 35 attempts (5.5 yards per attempt). Rudolph also pitched in one touchdown to Vance McDonald to go with his 84.3 passer rating.

Offensive coordinator Randy Fichter called a very conservative game to try to help his young quarterback in this contest, and it would have backfired on the Steelers had it not been for another excellent defensive performance from Keith Butler’s group.

T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree were dominant off the edge as they combined for 3.5 sacks and 6 quarterback hits. However, the star of the game was Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick made the play of the game – intercepting Bryan Hoyer near the endzone and returning the ball 96-yards for a touchdown. With the Steelers really struggling to get anything going on offense, Minkah’s key defensive play helped shape the outcome of the game for Pittsburgh.

It was a back and forth game with some poor officiating on both sides of the ball. The Steelers ultimately relied on a missed field goal to realistically stay in the playoff hunt, and luck was in their favor.

Pittsburgh has a lot of work to do on the offensive side of the ball, and they need to go back to the drawing board to strike up a better gameplan against the Rams next week if they want to advance to 5-4 on the season.

Still, a win is a win, and we will chalk it up any way that we can get it. While the defense has been thoroughly impressive, the offense continues to show major signs of concern. We will see if Mason Rudolph and company can pull things together as the Steelers face the Los Angeles Rams in Week 10.