The Steelers rebounded well from a Week 4 loss, defeating the Colts in Pittsburgh 34-22 to advance to 3-2 on the 2026 season.
As always, there are plenty of takeaways to be had:
1. The Steelers needed a star on offense — and they finally found one
When discussing the shortcomings of the Steelers’ offense in recent years, the biggest emphasis has usually been the team’s lack of franchise quarterback. In a league that’s still heavily passer-driven, that’s an accurate takeaway.
But recently, I’ve thought that the Steelers have also lacked a true “star” on offense at a skill
position over the years — a running back or pass-catcher who could elevate whoever else is on the offense, and single-handedly win a game from time to time.
Since the Steelers’ “Killer B” era, there have been some failed attempts to find that player: JuJu Smith-Schuster couldn’t handle the WR1 role, Najee Harris didn’t live up to first-round expectations, and George Pickens didn’t find consistency — something the Steelers’ latest attempt at a star, D.K. Metcalf, has arguably struggled with even more.
Some of the team’s struggles on offense over the years have not only been due to a rotating door of quarterbacks and offensive linemen, but also a supporting cast of skill position players who couldn’t be relied upon to consistently provide a spark.
And while he’s just had a handful games in a leading role so far this season, Warren has looked the part of that missing star in each one. Despite starting the year in a timeshare with Rico Dowdle, Warren still ranks third in the entire league this season in yards from scrimmage, with gains of at least 20 yards in each of his last four outings.
Against the Colts, Warren managed his best game of the season thus far, taking a short pass 80 yards for a score in the second quarter, and later breaking off a 50-yard run for another touchdown in the third. He finished Sunday with 15 carries for 101 yards rushing along with 87 yards and a touchdown as a receiver.
With Dowdle due for a return soon, Warren’s workload should decrease in coming weeks. But if the Steelers play their cards right, that could also be a boon for the offense. Warren has earned a clear RB1 workload going forward, but some more rest down the stretch might help his big-play ability stay fresh.
2. Keeanu Benton earns his paycheck
The Steelers signed defensive tackle Keeanu Benton to a four-year, $72 million extension this offseason after a breakout 5.5-sack season in 2025.
And although Benton certainly hasn’t been bad in 2026, he’s yet to record a single sack through five games in a middle-of-the-pack Steelers defense — failing to make the kind of impact you’d ideally like to see from an $18 million per year defensive tackle.
But against the Colts — facing a superstar runner in Jonathan Taylor and without Derrick Harmon on the defensive line — Benton had his best performance of the year. His stat line versus Indianapolis was good, with three tackles, one stuff, and one pass defensed, but the eye test showed a much larger impact. And Taylor was held to just 45 yards on 15 carries.
Benton was constantly involved in clogging up Taylor’s running lanes, being one of the biggest reasons why a second-quarter goal-line stand from the Pittsburgh defense nearly succeeded. Benton also recorded a quarterback hit and contributed to several other pressures of Colts quarterback Daniel Jones.
Benton gets double-teamed a lot more than most realize, but when he isn’t getting a heavy dose of defensive attention, he remains an above-average pass rusher for his position.
With Harmon on injured reserve and Cameron Heyward not getting any younger, Benton’s performance against the Colts was a promising one as his importance to the Steelers defense continues to increase.
3. Cornerback duo shows some fight
It’s fair to say this was not the 2026 the Steelers expected when it came to the secondary.
Joey Porter Jr. is in Dallas. DeShon Elliott is up to five games missed on injured reserve. And Jamel Dean has struggled with an ankle injury that kept him out against the Colts.
But on Sunday, the remaining defensive backs did just enough to secure the win.
It wasn’t always pretty. Daniel Jones completed 24 passes for 267 yards, with tight end Tyler Warren having a productive day with seven catches for 83 yards. Four Colts pass-catchers logged 20-plus yard gains.
Still, Pittsburgh’s starting duo of boundary cornerbacks in Daylen Everette and Asante Samuel Jr. — neither were supposed to start this year, for what it’s worth — combined for a whopping six passes defensed in a game where they were tested by Jones’ 44 passing attempts.
One of those pass deflections, a deep pass where the rookie Everette appeared to get beat badly but did an excellent job of recovering on a clearly underthrown pass, was a microcosm of the group’s performance on Sunday: An imperfect but promising group that won’t always get the Alec Pierce-less Colts as an opponent.
Samuel had a few more highlights, creating a whopping four pass breakups. He’s always been a playmaker at defensive back, with six interceptions and 35 passes defensed through his first three full NFL seasons with the Chargers. He can be a bit of feast or famine player at times, notably struggling with the Bengals’ Tee Higgins in Week 3, but continues to come more into his own after spinal fusion surgery and the resulting rehabilitation kept him off the field for much of 2024 and 2025.
Pittsburgh has been a zone-heavy team this season as a result of how shorthanded it is in the secondary — a style of coverage where chemistry and communication can make up for some shortcomings in athleticism and ability. But with Everette’s inexperience and the number of personnel changes so far this season, there have been some expected rough points.
With far more high-powered passing offenses looming on the Steelers’ later-season schedule, Pittsburgh certainly has some holes to fix. But Sunday’s performance showed some promise with the usual issues, and Elliott and Dean should return at some point.
4. The Steelers pulled away when it mattered
Entering the Steelers-Colts game, I wrote that both teams were fairly evenly-matched. The rosters have some similarities with both franchises straddling the line between flirting with contender status and rebuilding in recent seasons. And as expected, the two teams served up an entertaining game with a number of back and forths despite the two-possession margin at the end.
However, the Steelers were able to pull away in the fourth quarter. Pittsburgh outscored Indianapolis 10-3 in the final frame, with the defense forcing a red zone field goal and two turnovers on downs on the Colts’ final three drives.
We’ve been writing about how the Steelers need to embrace their “bully ball” potential to thrive this season, and to do so, they need to be able to bully teams at the end of games. And on Pittsburgh’s final drive, starting with 2:35 left in the game, Warren was able to log six- and five-yard runs to get the team to victory formation and run out the clock.
It might not be a performance that falls in the “clutch” category, but Pittsburgh consistently performed the best on Sunday when it mattered the most — including holding the Colts to four-of-15 on third downs. That’s a good sign with plenty of tight games likely on the way this season.
5. Odds and ends
- Yes, there was a rough drop on an excellent intermediate, middle-of-the-field pass from Aaron Rodgers, but rookie wide receiver Germie Bernard looked like the real deal on Sunday with both Michael Pittman Jr. and Roman Wilson missing time. While not a burner, Bernard has just enough wiggle to create separation against man coverage, and his toughness and contact balance in yards-after-catch situations continues to stand out. I’m excited to see what he does in a bigger role in upcoming games.
- A less flashy, but still impressive rookie in Week 5 was defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio, who made his Steelers debut with 14 defensive snaps against the Colts. The sixth-round pick looked every bit of the stout run-stuffer he was brought in to be.
- Cam Johnston logged three punts with a 52-yard average on Sunday, highlighted by a 59-yarder that bounced out of bounds on the Indianapolis four-yard line. The punter has been an underrated member of the team so far this season.
- On the negative side of special teams, the Colts averaged 33 yards on five kick returns Sunday, while Pittsburgh’s Kaden Wetjen averaged just 22 on his five returns, including a muffed catch that he did manage to recover. There’s still some work to do on kickoffs across the board.
- Aaron Rodgers had a strong game with 235 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Against an undermanned Colts pass rush, he unsurprisingly looked better than usual, but he has taken a bit of a gunslinger approach as of late this season, now with nine touchdowns and three interceptions over the last trio of games.
- Steelers defensive coordinator Patrick Graham called plays from the sideline instead of the box on Sunday. I’m curious to see if it’s a long-term switch or a brief changeup.
- Pending Monday Night Football, Daniel Jones had the 11th-longest time to throw in Week 5 among qualified passers. Still, the Steelers sacked him just once. I’m not as low on the Pittsburgh pass rush as some, but it would be nice to see some more production in recent weeks from such a highly-touted group.
- Jaquan Brisker logged two passes defensed against the Colts, but looked like he missed a number of opportunities at more — or even some interceptions. Watch the Daylen Everette pass breakup video again.
- Pat Freiermuth had five catches for 44 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday; I’d expect to see him playing a bigger role in the passing game moving forward with so many receiver injuries on the Steelers offense.
The Steelers will next take the field against the Buccaneers on Sunday at 1 p.m. EST.
What are your takeaways from Steelers vs. Colts? Agree/disagree with the ones above? Join the Behind the Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!
