For the first time this season, the Indianapolis Colts took a beating. The Colts committed 6 turnovers and took the loss in Pittsburgh by the final score of 27-20. The final score did not reflect how poorly this offense played. It seemed worse than it actually was, and the defense was able to keep them in this game. This has been a change of pace for this football team, to say the least.
This season has seen the explosion of offense and a rebalance of defense. The offense has carried this team from the first game. This time around, it was the defense that brought this team. The defense held the Steelers to 225 yards of total offense. The Steelers were able to take advantage of the short fields that the plethora of turnovers created for them.
When you commit that amount of turnovers, there are consequences. Short fields and momentum shifts, just to mention a couple. Those led to easy points for the Steelers. Let’s dive into what we saw this week in Pittsburgh and look ahead to next week against the Falcons in Berlin.
Turnovers, turnovers, and more turnovers
Obviously, the key aspect of this game was the number of turnovers committed by the Colts. Whether it was committed by Colts QB Daniel Jones or the Steelers simply creating them, the Colts finished with 6 turnovers on the day. For those keeping track, they have had only four so far this entire season. It had been a strength of this football team this season.
Was this a comeback to earth type of game for the Colts? Potentially, but sometimes you just don’t have it, and when the momentum constantly shifts, you cannot get a rhythm going on offense. We know Jones was one of the main culprits of the turnovers, but let’s not put all of this on him.
The Colts’ offensive line was the main reason for the loss this week. As a result of the OL putting on its worst collective effort so far this season, MVP candidates Daniel Jones and Jonathan Taylor also had season-worst showings. The line could not get many holes for Taylor, as we have been accustomed to seeing, and Jones was pressured all day long. The Steelers’ pass rush, led by T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, helped get Jones on the ground with 5 sacks.
What stood out the most with the Steelers’ defense was the number of pass deflections they got on the Colts’ offense. If you dive into the box score, they had 13 pass deflections. They were constantly either getting their hands on the ball or on Daniel Jones. They were dominating the line of scrimmage like the Colts had not seen so far this season.
The return of Jaylon Jones and the defensive performance
Through the poor performances of the offense, it was the defense that (all things considered) played well this week. We knew there would be some growing pains this season from learning a new scheme and the inevitable injuries, and both have been true. The team has dealt with the adaptation of a new scheme, and the Colts’ secondary has been decimated with injuries.
The Colts are still missing Jaylon Carlies in the linebacker room, but got some needed relief this week with the return of cornerback Jaylon Jones to the starting lineup. With Charvarius Ward on IR, we believed that Jones would have a chance to reclaim his old starting spot.
He not only reclaimed it, but he also likely cemented it. The tandem of Mekhi Blackmon and Jaylon Jones on the outside was (arguably) the best secondary performance we have seen all season. Jones was assigned to DK Metcalf and held him to 2 receptions for 6 yards. He kept a focal point of the Steelers’ offense in check the entire game. Jones also played 55 of 62 defensive snaps, so the staff obviously believes he was ready to handle the playing time.
Final thoughts and looking ahead to Berlin
I think you will find a multitude of opinions about this week’s game on social media. Many will say this was coming, and Daniel Jones is back to being the quarterback he was in New York. Many will also say this is a blip, and you cannot expect any football to be nearly flawless every single week. The culture of media has ingrained this into our brains that one loss means the sky is falling on us.
They did it when the defending Super Bowl champions Philadelphia Eagles, lost two in a row this season, questioning everything from play calling and game plans from coaches, and whether this star player should be traded? Unfortunately, the Colts will likely get the same treatment from the media and other pundits this coming week.
You will not hear that from me this week, and hopefully this article will make that abundantly clear. We are halfway through the season now, and the Colts are 7-2. It doesn’t matter how you got to 7-2; the fact is, you have achieved it. I would venture to say that every single fan of this football team would be happy to be told in the preseason to be where this franchise is now. If they expected this team to be 9-0, then you are not living in reality.
This team made an abundance of mistakes on Sunday, but we all knew they were not going to finish 16-1 and win out. Professional football is too unpredictable week in and week out for that to happen. The Colts played badly; they made plenty of mistakes, and now they must correct them. Plain and simple.
The Colts head to Berlin next week for the NFL International Games as they take on the up-and-down Atlanta Falcons. The schedule is only going to get more difficult as the season goes on, and this week will be a great measure of how this team and coaching staff can correct the mistakes against Pittsburgh.
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