A Tale of Two Halves in Steelers Loss to Colts

If there is any truth to having a “good” loss, then last Sunday’s Pittsburgh Steelers defeat to the Indianapolis Colts with a final score of 27-24, would be an excellent example of that. While many are critical of the Steelers for losing on the road as favorites, in my opinion this was not a game that the Colts won but a game the Steelers lost because of mistakes and failures on defense.

We all know the Steelers were not going to go undefeated this season. For those who want to be critical of the team in losing this game, does anyone really believe the defense was going to continue to play as well as they did in the first three games for every game this season? The performance by the defense against the Colts was bound to happen. While the Steelers made multiple mistakes; failed to get Indianapolis off the field on third down too many times; allowed the Colts to march down field early in the game several times and put points on the board; and had some dumb penalties and a few questionable coaching calls; this game was certainly a tale of two halves.

With Indianapolis jumping out to a 17-3 lead, the Steelers were up against something that they have not been good at in most games since Ben Roethlisberger retired and that is coming back from a large deficit. The way the offense was playing through the first two quarters and how soft the defense was playing, heading into the locker room at halftime, Steelers fans were not feeling confident. Tale of two halves? The Colts won the first half 17-3 but the second half? Pittsburgh outscored the Colts 21-10. Obviously, they fell short by three points. 

Let’s talk about Justin Fields. The Steelers have found their starting quarterback for this season and beyond. His name is not Russell Wilson. While Fields had been playing outstanding football through the first three games, despite his one fumble lost and one ridiculous muffed snap, he showed Steelers Nation last Sunday that he will not get rattled, he can keep his composure, and most importantly, he can bring the team back from a deficit.

Justin Fields did in fact fumble the ball over to Indianapolis. Costly mistake. With time running out in the game, he was looking right when Zach Frazier snapped the ball, and it bounded off Fields’ facemask, but he was able to recover. Unfortunately, he lost major yardage in his recovery of the ball. Take those mistakes away and look at his numbers. A 104.0 quarterback rating. Excellent. 312 yards passing and 22 completions on 34 attempts including one passing touchdown. Zero interceptions and while he was sacked four times, those were not completely all on him.

Additionally, there was George Pickens who made a great catch but tried to add extra yardage and lost the ball in the process where the Colts recovered. Had he not fumbled there certainly would have been a score by Pittsburgh, whether it would have been a field goal or a touchdown. Another kick by Chris Boswell would have ended up being the difference in a tie game at the end.

When was the last time a quarterback for the Steelers threw 300 or more yards? Had we not signed Russell Wilson or traded for Fields, Kenny Pickett would have been the starter. Pickett did not have one 300-yard game last season. When he lost his job to Mason Rudolph, Mason failed to hit that mark in the four games he played. A season before, Pickett did have one 300-yard game, which came in a 38-3 loss to Buffalo where the now backup Eagles quarterback threw the ball 52 times without a touchdown pass and threw one interception.

Justin Fields is proving he can do it all. Pass, manage, and run. He was the leading rusher against the Colts with 55 yards on 10 carries for a nice 5.5 yards per carry average and he also scored on his feet twice. There is no argument anymore and should not be. Justin Fields is the starter from here on out unless he is either injured or simply cannot perform to a point where the Steelers are not competitive offensively.

When I mentioned a good loss above let me explain. Naturally, a loss hurts. But it’s going to happen. No team finishes undefeated anymore. What you can take from a loss is what makes it a bad loss or a good loss. Had the 17-3 halftime lead got worse and the Steelers blown out in the end, which would have been a bad loss. But the fact that Justin Fields was able to bring the offense back for three touchdowns and a chance to tie or win the game at the end, that makes this a “good” loss.

There are many positives to take from losing in Indianapolis and that starts with the play of Justin Fields. Head Coach Mike Tomlin should put any controversy to rest and let it be known that Fields is now QB1. If Russell Wilson does not like that, he can take a hike. Wilson is not the future, Fields is. He’s done enough to prove himself. Secondly, we know what our defense is capable of. Sure, they missed tackles last Sunday, they allowed too many third down conversions, and to put it in simple terms, they had a bad day at the office. This happens to every team, but you know they are going to bounce back and correct the mistakes. Unlike other teams that just are not that good because of a lack of talent, that is not the case with the Steelers. 

Pittsburgh will learn from this and next up are the Dallas Cowboys on a nationally televised Sunday night game in week five. “America’s Team” is underachieving early this year, usually their collapse does not happen until the playoffs. But through the first four games Dallas is 2-2 and coming off a lackluster performance in narrowly defeating the New York Giants. The game with Dallas is in Pittsburgh, it’s a prime-time game, and that favors the Steelers. Mike Tomlin loves the prime-time games.

Looking back at the performance of the defense, uncharacteristically, T.J. Watt was not playing as well as expected. He made only two tackles and failed to register a sack. DeShon Elliott was the lead tackler with 12, eight of which were solo. The only sack of the game came at the hands of Larry Ogunjobi and Beanie Bishop. The unsportsmanlike conduct on Minkah Fitzpatrick was a terrible call as agreed upon by the announcers.

A further look at the final team figures reveals much. The Steelers had 23 first downs, Indianapolis 22. Pittsburgh won the time of possession (31:07 to 28:53). While the Steelers only rushed for 122 yards, the Colts managed just 133. What hurt the defense was allowing Joe Flacco and Anthony Richardson to convert eight of 15 third down conversions. The Steelers committed six penalties. Mike Tomlin had his offense try a fourth down conversion in his own territory and perhaps the play call for that was poor as Justin Fields took the ball himself only to be stuffed. 

Speaking of Anthony Richardson, my opinion is that I wish he would not have suffered an injury forcing him from the game. I believe the Steelers’ defense would have been more successful facing him rather than the savvy veteran Flacco. Flacco has been in the league for a long time. He knows how to win. His experience far outweighs that of Richardson. Flacco comes into the game and throws 26 times completing 16 and tosses two touchdown passes. That and he converted on some crucial third downs that if failed would have had influence in the game.

The bottom line? It’s bothersome that writers, fans, and anyone else are being so critical of the Steelers because they lost. This is just one loss folks! Pittsburgh is still atop the AFC North at 3-1 a game ahead of the Baltimore Ravens. In ESPN’s rankings last week, the Steelers were placed seventh overall jumping up from 12th position the week before. I’m anxious to see this week’s rankings and how far down ESPN will drop Pittsburgh because of their first loss. 

Ahead of them last week were the Eagles who lost for the second time. The Lions were fifth and as of this writing, are playing on Monday Night Football hosting the undefeated Seahawks. Seattle was fourth on last week’s list. The Vikings were third and are now 4-0. Buffalo laid an egg in Baltimore getting whooped and will drop from their second-place position for sure. Then you have the Kansas City Chiefs still undefeated at 4-0 but seeing more injuries. 

One thing worth mentioning, if you listen to the ESPN radio show in the mornings, “Unsportsmanlike” then you have heard co-host Chris Canty a former NFL player ranting about many things. This morning, they were doing a segment naming teams that were either for real or a fraud. He put the Steelers in the fraud class. To him I would use the words, “say what?” Come on man. He saying things like, “you have the best defense in the NFL, and you allow Joe Flacco to come in and perform like he did?” 

Does Chris Canty who played in this league really expect a defense to play lights out every game in a 17-game season? Come on man. The Pittsburgh defense had a bad day at the office. Just look at the makeup of the defense as far as talented players go and then tell me this team is a fraud. Ridiculous. Offensively, we are missing players due to injuries. Troy Fautanu is sidelined. Jaylen Warren is too. Alex Highsmith missed the Colts game. Isaac Seumalo out. James Daniels had to leave the game last Sunday. Mason McCormick filled in and did a decent job. 

This team will bounce back, believe you me. I had the Steelers winning 30-13 and had the defense played as we expected in the first half, perhaps I would have been more accurate. I think everyone who is getting upset with this loss needs to settle down. There are winnable games just ahead starting with Dallas at home. Following that a trip out west to the Raiders. Does that game scare anyone? Then back-to-back games against the New York teams first with the Jets who just lost a low scoring game to Denver who we manhandled. Aaron Rodgers and company managed only nine points. The Giants are 1-3 and are facing Seattle, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia before coming to Pittsburgh. They easily might be 1-6 by that time.



Aaron Rodgers takes his team to Minnesota next who is 4-0. Then they get a shot at Buffalo before also coming to the ‘Burgh. It’s not the end of the world. This is one loss and plenty of games left. Justin Fields is a bright spot and when we get some players back from injuries, they will make a significant difference. Come Sunday the pressure is more on Dallas to win, and the Steelers should feel extremely comfortable at home in front of their fans and have a chance to correct the mistakes from their first loss of the season.