Behind the Steel Curtain
The Pittsburgh Steelers bounced back in a massive way with a 27-20 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts came into the contest with the best record in football with a 7-1 overall mark. The Indianapolis offense was scoring 33.8 points per game going into Sunday, and looked likely to feast on a depleted Steelers defense that showed little to no signs of life over their previous two games. However, it was exactly the opposite. The Steelers defense responded to the tune of six turnovers as they carried the Steelers to their fifth win of the season.
Let’s take a look at where the Steelers fall across the power rankings of various media outlets after nine weeks of football.
“Though the Steelers continue to lead the division, every AFC North game is important. At the top of that list is their first meeting with Baltimore. With quarterback Lamar Jackson back from a hamstring injury, the Ravens are poised to make a run in the division, and Pittsburgh needs to keep them at bay. It lost both games in Baltimore a season ago, including a 28-14 playoff defeat in which running back Derrick Henry ran all over the Steelers’ defense.” – Brooke Pryor
“The defense showed up big in the victory over the Colts. Where has that been? The pass rush impressed as they turned Daniel Jones into a turnover machine.” – Pete Prisco
“The Steelers needed that defensive get-well game against a great offense at home. That made Aaron Rodgers’ job so much easier and bodes well for their push to win the AFC North.” – Vinnie Iyer
“That dude came in here, man, and gave us some quality work,” coach Mike Tomlin said of recently acquired S Kyle Dugger. The question now is whether GM Omar Khan will bring in anyone else for a team that could still use help at receiver and in the secondary.” – Nate Davis
“Who could have seen this defensive performance coming? After back-to-back humbling outings on that side of the ball against the Bengals and Packers, the Steelers were lights out versus the Colts, not allowing Indianapolis’ run game to develop while disrupting the timing of the pass attack. With the defense racking up five sacks and five takeaways (Indy nabbed a sixth TO on special teams), this was the unit’s best showing of the season, stifling an offense that had averaged 36.8 ppg in its previous four outings. It wasn’t a banner day for Pittsburgh’s offense, but the defense picked up the slack in a major way. After Baltimore won on Thursday, the Steelers could have seen their division lead fall to a mere game. This was a massive victory when they needed it most.” – Eric Edholm...
