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Steel City Demands Mettle to Survive, and Colts Suffer Second-Half Iron Deficiency

The Indianapolis Colts had the Pittsburgh Steelers on the ropes with a 17-point lead before faltering down the stretch in a 28-24 loss that could cost the team an AFC playoff spot.

When playing football in December at Pittsburgh, where the Black & Gold have built a tradition for toughness, the challenge requires taking some shots to the mouth and fighting back.

The Indianapolis Colts delivered some punishing blows early on Sunday at Heinz Field. But when the Steelers staggered them in the second half, the Colts couldn’t recover in a 28-24 loss that clinched the AFC North Division title for the home team and could keep the visitors out of the playoffs.

Colts quarterback Philip Rivers refers to the season as a 16-round boxing match. But this outcome sure seemed like more than one fight.

The Colts (10-5) had a 24-7 lead after the opening drive of the third quarter. They were in position to prove their legitimacy as a tough playoff-caliber team.

Then everything fell apart.

It wasn’t just any one thing. It truly was everything.

Steelers quarterback and future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger will always go down swinging. His comatose offense that had failed to score 20 points in the previous four games put up 21 in the second half as “Big” Ben threw three touchdown passes.

A Colts defense that had allowed just two touchdowns in the second half of the previous six games wilted. Yes, there were some questionable pass-interference penalties, but blaming the officials for losing is for the guys who lose after they don’t measure up. Be strong, or go home.

Look at the game-winning touchdown pass, when Roethlisberger hit JuJu Smith-Schuster for a 25-yard score. The quarterback pump-faked once, which froze safety Tavon Wilson and enabled Smith-Schuster to get wide open down the middle. Colts safety Julian Blackmon couldn’t make up enough ground to get there in time.

When the game was on the line and still in doubt, the Steelers made a play and the Colts didn’t.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster catches a game-winning, 25-yard touchdown pass in a 28-24 home win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at Heinz Field.

JuJu Smith-Schuster hauls in a game-winning, 25-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter.

That’s what playoff teams do. This is also what happens to teams who don’t qualify for the playoffs, something the Colts have accomplished only once in five years, lest anyone need reminded.

Penalty flags don’t explain how a Colts offense failed to score again after building that 17-point lead. Running back Jonathan Taylor had rushed for two touchdowns, but his 74 rushing yards included just 25 on five carries after halftime, when the Steelers took control.

“Yeah, wasn’t good enough play calling on my part,” Colts head coach Frank Reich said.

A Colts offensive line missing tackles Anthony Castonzo and Braden Smith couldn’t hold off a Steelers pass rush that sacked Rivers five times. The Colts had allowed just 16 sacks in 14 previous games.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers takes one of five sacks in a 28-24 road loss Sunday to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.

Colts quarterback Philip Rivers takes one of five sacks allowed.

The Colts led the league in turnover ratio, but didn't come up with one. The Steelers had two, including a Rivers fumble on a T.J. Watt sack that was returned to the Colts' 3 and set up the Steelers' first score.

Push come to shove, without that mistake, the Colts would have led 21-0 at halftime. That's how dominant the visitors were early on.

And that's why stomaching this loss should be maddening.

Rivers was asked why the Colts have often struggled to score in the second half of games this season.

“I don’t know,” he said, “and this is as respectful as I can say it — I think if we knew, we wouldn’t do it.”

The only Colts sack of Roethlisberger came on a safety blitz when Khari Willis got to him in the first half. If you’re going to give this guy time to throw, suffer the consequences. And the Colts did.

“I don’t know exactly what went wrong,” Colts linebacker Darius Leonard said.

Again, the guys unable to measure up in this test of wills are the ones saying, “I don’t know” a lot.

What we do know now is that the Colts need help to make the playoffs. They’re tied with the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, and Baltimore Ravens at 10-5, but don’t have a tiebreaker edge. The Colts' playoff hopes rely on beating the Jaguars and then needing one of those aforementioned AFC teams to lose.

The Colts lost to the Steelers (12-3) for the seventh straight time, four of those at Heinz Field. The Steelers own the Colts 26-6 in the series.

The Colts also lost to the Browns and Ravens, too. If you don't beat the teams you're competing with for a playoff spot, you're probably behind them.

But the Colts beat the Green Bay Packers (11-3), who enter Sunday night with the NFC's best record. And the Colts split the season series with the AFC South Division-leading Tennessee Titans.

That's what makes the Colts kind of perplexing. They beat the Packers, but they also lost in Week 1 to the Jaguars, who have dropped 14 in a row since.

That's why the Colts deserve to be on the bubble. They've been good at times, but also inexplicably inconsistent. Just like on Sunday, when they should have finished off the Steelers but didn't.

So don’t buy into the excuses for what's gone wrong. It’s the time of year for NFL teams to prove they are tough enough — physically and mentally — to qualify for the playoffs.

And the Colts reminded us this day why they might not make it.