Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers came into the weekend as home underdogs but were able to pull off the 27-20 upset win over the Indianapolis Colts and extend their lead in the AFC North.
The defense turned in a vintage performance, forcing a half dozen turnovers and getting a bit of revenge on Colts play caller Shane Steichen, who has had their number for years now. Mike Tomlin’s club definitely made the city proud as the organization honored the 2005 Super Bowl XL team this weekend.
Let’s take a look at some winners and losers from Sunday’s contest.
The Steelers pass rush had been dormant during their two-game skid, but the front came alive today in a big way, with Highsmith leading the charge. He was charted with four pressures and two sacks per PFF and was consistently winning the corner against Colts left tackle Bernhard Raimann. His strip sack with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter was the dagger in Indy’s comeback hopes. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, he also forced an incompletion while dropping into coverage as well.
Pittsburgh’s offense wasn’t on point in this one, with the passing game limited to short throws underneath and a run game that accumulated just 38 yards on 23 carries. They finished this one with just a 33% rushing success rate. There just wasn’t much room for the backs to operate with the Colts controlling the line of scrimmage and getting a bunch of hats to the ball on every rep. Indianapolis had been susceptible to giving up explosive runs to the perimeter, but that didn’t feel like a huge part of the game plan this week for whatever reason.
That makes back-to-back strong performances for the NC State product, with Wilson forcing two turnovers off Daniel Jones in this one, one of which directly set up the offense with starting field position inside the red zone. He finished with four stops and was part of a front seven that kept Jonathan Taylor from breaking through for any explosive runs. The Steelers seem intent on platooning the second linebacker spot next to Patrick Queen, but with how he’s been playing lately, it doesn’t really seem necessary.
With his father in attendance, the second-generation Steeler certainly had an eventful day. He was targeted 10 times, gave up 63 yards, and was flagged twice in coverage. It wasn’t all bad, though. He did force a few incompletions, staying in phase and using his length at the catch point, and was given a freebie interception on an overthrow late in the fourth quarter. Three seasons in, it’s fair to describe Porter as a talented but frustrating player with a very incomplete skill set.
Truth be told, Fautanu’s tape in pass protection has been a bright spot for this young offensive line. He wasn’t tagged with any pressures allowed on first...
