The Indianapolis Colts hadn’t won in Pittsburgh since 2008, and after another sluggish road showing in ‘The Steel City on Sunday, that rather surprising franchise losing streak only continued—as the Horseshoe fell 34-22 as their late comeback attempts fell short.
Offensively, the Steelers once again bottled up Colts star running game Jonathan Taylor and the Indy ground game, as Taylor was held to just 45 total rushing yards on 15 carries (3.0 ypc. avg.).
Colts starting quarterback Daniel Jones and
the Colts passing attack, weren’t able to counter with a big afternoon on the other side, as despite Jones throwing the ball a whopping 44 times, it only amounted to 267 total passing yards and 0 passing touchdowns. Jones didn’t win the Colts the game (obviously) with 0 passing touchdowns, but he didn’t lose them the game either with 0 turnovers. His ball security was improved this go around.
That being said, Colts fans have been spoiled in the past with having starting quarterbacks such as franchise greats Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck elevate their teammates offensively and cover up glaring roster deficiencies, and right now, Jones is just a serviceable to average starting NFL quarterback. Nothing more, nothing less. He might be above average to good on one of his better passing days, but he’s not carrying Indy.
Perhaps most ‘dooming’ for the Colts offense was their inability to fully capitalize on their long or promising scoring drives, as while placekicker Spencer Shrader was individually great in this one, he kicked (and made) five field goal attempts. It doesn’t take a mathematician here to know that 3 points is less than 7 points, especially when multiplied a handful of times over the course of a game.
If there was a bright spot for Indianapolis offensively, it was tight end Tyler Warren, who led them with 7 receptions for 83 total receiving yards, as well as added a 1-yard rushing touchdown midway in the 2nd quarter.
Defensively, the Colts secondary really struggled, particularly regarding its linebackers’ coverage middle-of-the-field. Rodgers was perfect on his first 10 passing attempts, as the Indianapolis allowed the longtime veteran quarterback get in initial rhythm and really dissect them surgically early on. On the afternoon, Rodgers completed 22 of his 31 passing attempts for 235 total passing yards, 3 passing touchdowns, and 0 interceptions.
He was complemented very well by Steelers running back Jaylen Warren, who had a big afternoon against the Colts front seven, averaging an enormous 6.7 yards per carry on his 15 total carries and just eclipsed 100 yards.
Right now, the Colts seem like a mediocre football team, which has been the status quo for a while here.
Indianapolis will beat the teams they should on their schedule given the home/away matchup and lose to the NFL teams they should respectively. The Colts dip below .500 again to 2-3, but with an opportunistic home matchup against the winless Tennessee Titans next week (0-5), they have a great chance to reach .500 status again for at least another week (before traveling to the currently undefeated 5-0 Minnesota Vikings)
