The Steelers got off to a slow start Sunday night in their critical matchup with the Colts at Heinz Field, but as has been the case in recent history, the team got rolling in the second quarter, and went on for a dominating 45-10 win to move to 7-5 on the year.
The win puts them back in the final playoff spot, as they move ahead of the New York Jets for now as the 6th seed in the AFC with another big game next Sunday against the Bengals in Cincinnati.
The game was highlighted by a big night for the combo of Ben to Brown, as QB Ben Roethlisberger was 24-for-39 for 364 yards with four TD’s and no picks and a 126.4 QB rating.
As for Antonio Brown, all he did was catch eight passes for 118 yards and two TD’s, and then later on after replacing the fumbling Jacoby Jones as the punt returner, he took one back 71 yards for a score to make it a 45-10 final.
The offense had a tough time getting going, as they led the game 6-3 midway through the second quarter until the Colts put up their only touchdown of the night, a pass from Matt Hasselbeck to Frank Gore for 9 yards to make it 10-6 with 8:32 to play in the second quarter.
The Steelers offense got going, as Ben and company marched downfield and the QB hit Brown with a seven yard score to put the black and gold ahead for good at 12-10 with 4:08 to play in the half.
They got the two-point conversion to make it 14-10, and really never looked back.
Roethlisberger got back the team back on the board at the end of the half as the defense stopped the Colts on a three-and-out, and after a long pass play set them up, with 14 seconds left in the half Ben hit Markus Wheaton with a 5-yard TD to make it 21-10.
The Colts started the second half with the ball, but did little, and the Steelers put the game out of reach early in the half, with Ben firing deep to Martavis Bryant for an electric 68-yard score to make it 28-10.
With Hasslebeck having major issues doing much against the aggressive Steelers D, the offense was back in the fourth with 10 more points, another Brown TD, a Chris Boswell field goal, and the Brown punt return to close out the scoring at 45-10.
The Steelers outgained the Colts 522 to 240, and showed again why when they are playing like they did on Sunday, they are truly a force in the AFC.
DeAngelo Williams had a big night for the Steelers rushing the ball, running for 136 yards on 24 carries, and while he didn’t score, he was a big part of the offense for the Steelers.
The defense was paced by James Harrison, who had three of the five Steelers sacks. Jarvis Jones and a corner we haven’t seen Brandon Boykin each had picks for the Steelers.
Now two games over .500 at 7-5, the Steelers have a monster game Sunday in Cincinnati against the AFC North leading Bengals, a team that they had on the ropes the last time they played, but fell to.
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DaveB.
December 7, 2015 at 8:01 am
A great team win last night . Ben was Ben , Deangelo was Deangelo and Brown an Bryant looked great as usual . Defense looked good and playing Boykin produced immediate dividends . Gee , wonder where hes been the last 7 or 8 weeks ? That brings me to my next statement . Personnel Decisions . In my last post , I made the statement that Tomlin and Colbert are not on the same page on player evaluation . Another example of that was on display last night in one Jacoby Jones . After fumbling away one kick off and a punt , he was yanked from the game and did not return . He looks completely lost and has no idea what is taking place in front of him . Whos decision was it to sign this guy ? Who signed off on it and who was in agreement with it ? A major mistake was made and the special teams are a disaster because of it . Wonder why San Diego didnt even want him ? They stink and need tons of help and they dropped him like a dirty shirt . Along came the Steelers . Food for thought .
DrGeorge
December 7, 2015 at 9:55 am
Last night against the 6-5 Colts, Haley finally ran the ball consistently, proving once again that when you run the ball effectively good things happen. The run opened up the passing game, gave our D time to rest, and slowed down the pass rush. D. Williams got the game ball, and he deserved it. This is exactly the opposite of our pass-happy strategy against Seattle. Or maybe Haley lacks confidence in our ability to run against a better defense. Let’s face it: Indy has problems, lots of them, on both sides of the ball. In the first quarter, they couldn’t capitalize on two back to back turnovers. It was a splendid victory for us, but we didn’t exactly beat a SB contender. Note that Ben had only 345 yards passing, but the team performed much better.
Dave B., I wonder too who evaluated Jones as an upgrade over Archer. Jones’ history sounds good, and I expected him to be much better. Instead, he made the same bonehead decisions as Archer. I understand Tomlin has said Jones is done in Pgh. But that leaves AB as our return man. A risky alternative.
Tomlin and Butler made moves on defense that fans have been screaming for. 1. Playing Boykin for one, who played well and had an interception. 2. Running the ball more, which left the D less exposed. 3. Rotating men in the secondary, which kept them fresher and improved our gang tackling. All good moves. Sparing Harrison early in the season is now paying off, too; the guy is still a beast on the field at an age when most NFL veterans are writing their memoirs.
Even so, we played a mediocre offense at best, and our D still has problems stopping the run and certain pass routes (TEs running seam routes especially). But let’s rejoice in the improved D and hope it can be sustained against a much better team next week.