Coming off a frustrating loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Pittsburgh Steelers looked to bounce back and keep pace in the crowded AFC Wild Card race last night against the Indianapolis Colts.
The result was an inspired effort where the Steelers overcame early mistakes and a 10-6 deficit midway through the second quarter to score 39 straight points in a 45-10 drubbing of the visiting Colts.
In this week’s installment of three up, three down, let’s take a look at the best and worst from last night’s crucial win.
Three up:
*Fresh off a drama-filled week regarding Ben Roethlisberger’s latest injury, Roethlisberger put together a fabulous effort in torching the hapless Colts defense for a second consecutive year. Roethlisberger showed no lingering effects from his head injury in Seattle, passing for 364 yards and four touchdowns.
Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton were each able to find the endzone and Brown added a dazzling 71-yard punt return in the fourth quarter to provide more evidence of being as good as it gets. Bryant’s 68-yard touchdown grab was vintage Bryant, as he streaked down the sidelines untouched to give the Steelers a commanding 28-10 lead early in the third quarter.
*It was another outstanding performance for the offensive line. No sacks allowed on the night and Roethlisberger had ample time to carve up a Colts secondary that needed all the help they could get. Add 158 net rushing yards, including DeAngelo Williams 134 yards for the game, and it’s hard not to love the effort of the line.
Let’s hand out a gold star to right tackle Marcus Gilbert, who has not given up a sack all season and quietly is having a tremendous year worthy of Pro-Bowl consideration.
*The Steelers defense was looking to put last week’s tough performance in the rear view mirror and that is just what they did. Jarvis Jones provided one of the biggest plays of the game, intercepting Matt Hasselbeck on the third play of the contest from the Steelers 10-yard line after a fumble on the opening kickoff. The interception not only thwarted a prime opportunity for the Colts to take an early 7-0 lead, it set the tone for a defense that would sack Hasselbeck five times and forced three turnovers.
James Harrison had three of those sacks, one of which forced a Hasselbeck fumble. Maybe Harrison is heating up for the stretch run? Not only would that be huge for the Steelers defense, it could help Harrison surpass Jason Gildon for the franchise lead in all-time sacks. Harrison needs three more over the final four games to overtake Gildon.
Maybe Brandon Boykin should have been playing after all? It did not take Boykin long to make his presence known against the Colts, as the seldom-used cornerback was able to secure a William Gay deflection for his first pick of the year. Boykin got by far the most reps of this season against the Colts, as he was part of a three-man rotation that included Antwon Blake and Ross Cockrell.
The combination was effective and it will be interesting to see if Boykin’s individual performance will earn him more playing time for the stretch run.
Three down:
*Maybe it’s the number 13? Whatever it is, Jacoby Jones looks like the second return specialist to wear the number who will be getting his walking papers this season. Jones was flat out awful last night, first fumbling the opening kickoff and then putting the ball on the ground a second time on a muffed punt.
Jones was replaced by Brown after the fumbled punt and it’s hard to see any scenario where Jones is on the active roster by the end of the day.
*Jones is certainly front and center as the biggest loser from an otherwise banner night for the Steelers, but you can add the special teams unit to the list. Outside of Brown’s touchdown return, the special teams group was poor once again last night. Yes, the kick-off return unit has be truly abysmal all season, but kickoff coverage has not been all that much better and gave up a 60-yard return to the Colts.
You’ll give Chris Boswell a mulligan on his missed 47-yard field goal attempt and punter Jordan Berry shows promise, but man, there’s a lot of issues with the special teams otherwise. It’s been a glaring weakness all season long and at this point, how much will improve?
*Lastly, the Steelers might have got a big win last night, but very little went right for them during the day, making the uphill climb for a playoff berth a little bit steeper. Both the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets looked to be down and out late but stormed back to get wins. The Houston Texans did lose yesterday, but the Steelers are still going to need help to overtake the Chiefs and Jets for one of the two Wild Card spots.
It’s not going to be easy. Both the Chiefs and Jets have an easier path based on remaining schedules, so the Steelers may have no room for error in their last four games. Ten wins will likely be enough, but that means running the table starting with a tough road test next week in Cincinnati.
