Stampede Blue
In Week 9 of 2025 our Indianapolis Colts will travel to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Knowing the party was hitting the road, I sat down with Ryan Parish of Behind the Steel Curtain, SB Nation’s Steelers blog. You can find him on Twitter @RyanParishmedia. We swapped questions and answers about both the Steelers and the Colts and what follows is what I’ve learned about this week’s enemy.
You can find my answers to his questions here.
Chris Shepherd: This year we’ve heard about the predictability of the Steelers defense and since Shane Steichen got to town Gardner Minshew, Joe Flacco and Anthony Richardson have combined to go 37 for 58 (64%) for 454 yards, 5 touchdowns and zero interceptions, perhaps lending some credibility to the allegations of predictability. How can the Steelers change things up for this matchup against the NFL’s best offense through 8 weeks, how do Steelers fans think they’ll slow down the Indy offense?
Ryan Parish: One big change could be new safety Kyle Dugger whom the Steelers acquired in a trade on Tuesday. While I don’t expect Dugger to boost the Steelers’ woeful secondary against the pass, he is a plus-defender against the run and could hopefully help slow down Taylor and his MVP aspirations.
Beyond that, I’m not sure what the Steelers can do. The majority of the secondary has looked old and slow. It’s been no help that the Steelers typically show defenses the exact coverage scheme they are going to run pre-snap, allowing savvy quarterbacks and playcallers to pick apart the soft spots in zone looks and hunt matchups in man coverage. The pass rush is creating pressure at a fairly high rate, but even that has been bland and unimaginative, allowing good offenses to get the ball out quickly to nullify some of the heat Pittsburgh is able to generate. The Steelers are also blitzing at a high rate, which again gives savvy quarterbacks the ability to throw where there is a weakness in coverage.
I would like the Steelers to play Darius Slay significantly less, give more reps to Brandin Echols, and press more at the line with their corners. But truthfully, the Colts seem like a matchup nightmare for this year’s defense.
CS: Aaron Rodgers has looked much better this season than last, how has playing in Arthur Smith’s offense helped Rodgers get some of that magic back and in what ways do you expect to see him test a very beat-up Colts secondary?
*RP: To a certain extent, it’s all been smoke and mirrors. When given adequate time to stand in the pocket and read the defense, Rodgers is still among the best. All those years of experience haven’t faded from his mind. That said, if you’re able to move him off his spot at all, things quickly fall apart. Rodgers rarely throws deep, likely due to diminishing arm strength and accuracy, but also because the Steelers’ offensive line struggles to block for long-developing routes, and...
