Behind the Steel Curtain
All it takes is one big win to rinse a lot of stink off of a two-game losing streak, and that’s what the Steelers did on Sunday when they defeated the No. 1 offense in the NFL.
Pittsburgh handed the Indianapolis Colts a 27-20 loss and remains two games ahead of the Baltimore Ravens for first place in the AFC North. This might be the biggest week in terms of top performers, so let’s get into it.
Ever since he returned from injury, I’ve said Highsmith needs to be the No. 3 guy behind T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig. And while I still feel that way, he had arguably the best game of his career on Sunday. Highsmith had two sacks, three tackles for loss, and a forced fumble. A tremendous performance from a guy who really needed one.
Wilson has struggled throughout most of this season, which has led to Cole Holcomb getting a larger role. But much like Highsmith, he had a huge day. Wilson picked off Daniel Jones to set up the Steelers’ go-ahead touchdown to take a lead that they would not give back. He also batted a Jones pass in the air that was picked off by Jack Sawyer and led the team with 14 tackles.
The Steelers acquired Dugger less than a week ago, and he played 72 snaps alongside Jalen Ramsey at safety. Considering how well he played, as well as how poor Chuck Clark and Juan Thornhill have looked through the first half of the season, Dugger has to be the guy to hold that spot for the remainder of the year.
Ramsey played safety alongside Dugger, moving back from his usual spot at cornerback, and he played great. He allowed just 38 yards as the nearest defender, per Next Gen Stats, and he had five tackles. The Steelers did a good job of preventing big splash plays, and Ramsey is a big reason why. He’ll be the next name to join the likes of Ronde Barber and Rod Woodson as guys who moved from cornerback to safety and did so at a high level to elongate their careers.
This was Watt’s most impactful game of the season. With the Colts up 7-0 and driving down the field looking poised to take an early two-score lead, Watt sacked, stripped, and recovered the fumble on Daniel Jones. The Steelers drove down the field to tie the game, and the Colts wouldn’t score again until the fourth quarter.
Heyward was constantly disrupting Jones, as well as the run game. He had three run stops, per Next Gen Stats, and had four pressures on Jones, as well as two batted passes.
Porter had by far his best game of the season. He allowed a passer rating of just 20.8 and a 40 percent completion...
