Steelers Rally Late to Earn Primetime Win Over Colts
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Pittsburgh Steelers jumped out in front early, but had to survive a furious second half rally from the Indianapolis Colts to secure their first road win since the season opener. Despite an injury to Najee Harris, the Steelers ran for 116 yards and scored twice on the ground.
Chunk plays came early and often for the Steelers on their first possession. Najee Harris got off to a fast start with runs of seven and eight yards, which complimented two first down throws to Diontae Johnson from Kenny Pickett. But a holding penalty from Dan Moore put them behind the sticks after a holding penalty and the Steelers couldn't recover. On fourth and two, Matt Wright knocked a 45-yard field goal to put the Steelers up 3-0 with 9:32 left in the first quarter.
The defense quickly got the ball back thanks to a James Pierre interception of Matt Ryan, but the Steelers could only manage one first down before punting for the first time of the night.
They forced another stop, this time by way of a three-and-out, before driving into Colts territory with a nine-yard reception from George Pickens and a 14-yard run from Anthony McFarland, but another third and long pass went behind the sticks from Pickett to Harris, who got just four yards. Wright came on to attempt his second field goal from 52 yards out and he snuck it in off the right upright to put the Steelers up 6-0 with 14:14 left in the second quarter.
After another quick three-and-out for the lifeless Colts offense, the Steelers embarked on an impressive scoring drive. Sparked by a 35-yard completion to Pickens, Pickett moved the Steelers within range of the endzone with his arm and legs - a nine-yard quarterback draw, McFarland and Harris combined to rush for the final nine yards. Harris got the score and the Steelers led 13-0 with 7:51 to go until halftime.
With their next possession, the Colts turned more seriously toward the ground game with greater success. All-world running back Jonathan Taylor picked up 30 total yards on three rushes and a catch but the drive stalled again. They still got three points off a 51-yard field goal from Chase McLaughlin to cut the deficit to 13-3 with 3:51 left before intermission.
The Steelers responded with a 12-play, 68-yard drive that ended in a field goal for Wright. Pickett hit on his first three passes and Benny Snell ripped off a 16-yard rush to get them within range of the 25-yarder. Pickett narrowly missed Pickens while he was wide open in the endzone on third and seven.
With just 57 second left, the Colts got close enough for McLaughlin to attempt a 59-yard field goal, but Isaiahh Loudermilk blocked the attempt to send Pittsburgh to the half with a 16-3 lead.
The Colts came out firing, however. An 89-yard kickoff return from Dallis Flowers meant the offense needed to cover just 19 yards to score their first touchdown of the game. Taylor ran it in from two yards out to bring his team within a score at 16-10 less than two minutes in to the second half.
After a three-and-out, Taylor was right back on the field and knifing through the Steelers' front seven. He ran for three first downs and it opened up easy throws for Ryan while the Colts marched for 18 plays into the redzone. They stalled once there, but an offsides penalty called on Cam Sutton prior to a field goal attempt gave the offense a fresh set of downs, which Ryan and Taylor used to fumble an exchange.
Chris Wormley fell on the ball but his offense couldn't do anything with the gifted possession. They went three-and-out and Pressley Harvin shanked a punt to set the Colts up with a short field.
Ryan completed all four of his passes for 50 yards, the last of which was a four-yard touchdown toss to Michael Pittman that gave the home team a 17-16 lead with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.
All it took was a roughing the passer penalty to get the Steelers restarted on their next possession. It moved the offense up from their own 26 yard line across midfield. Snell ate up 13 yards on the ground and Freiermuth picked up 17 through the air to put the offense on the two yard line. Snell punched in the score to put the Steelers back up 22-17 with 9:58 left to play. On the two-point conversion, Pickett rolled out and laid out a rope to Pickens, who made the catch while sliding on his knees in the back of the endzone.
Both sides exchanged punts and the Colts got the ball back with 3:52 left trailing by seven. He hit Pittman for 28-yard first down and they continued to move the ball up the field on Taylor's legs until the two minute warning hit.
With 1:35 remaining, Alex Highsmith came up with a devastating sack to set the Colts back seven yards but they didn't use one of their three timeouts as the clock rolled. It took two more runs before Jeff Saturday used his first timeout of the half, but by then it was too late. Ryan missed on his fourth down throw and the Steelers took over to kneel out their fourth win of the season.
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