The Pittsburgh Steelers forced six turnovers, five coming on defense, and upset the Indianapolis Colts with a 27-20 win. It was a win that was buoyed by the efforts of the defense, a group that’s caught a lot of flak over the last two weeks after allowing 68 combined points in Weeks 7 and 8. In his postgame press conference, Aaron Rodgers said it was an important win for the Steelers for a few reasons, including that it took some of the pressure from “outside noise” off the defense.
“This was a really important win for us though, to not lose three in a row, to not go to 1-3 at home. And to kind of get the elephant that was trying to jump on the backs of the defense, which is made up of media and outside conversation about them. We’re all human, and I think those guys felt pretty upset, had little red ass about what’s going on. So I’m proud of ’em, the way they came back and responded,” Rodgers said via the Steelers’ YouTube channel.
The key for the Steelers was forcing turnovers. They hadn’t forced a turnover on defense since Week 4, and today, they got back to getting takeaways. Pittsburgh’s turnover culture is prevalent, and being able to take the ball away makes the defense and a better and more confident group and obviously gives the Steelers more opportunities offensively. It started today with a fumble recovery on a punt, then T.J. Watt did what he does better with a strip sack to end a Colts drive.
The Steelers poured it on from there with three interceptions and a strip-sack from Alex Highsmith. One of the keys to the turnover success was Pittsburgh’s ability to get after the passer. The team had struggled to generate consistent pressure over the last two weeks, but they sacked Daniel Jones five times today.
It was a good performance by the defense, but that unit needs to keep it up. The defense forced five turnovers in Week 3 against the New England Patriots, then regressed again a few weeks later. The performance today certainly takes a lot of pressure off the unit, and the Steelers won’t be as maligned through the media and the “outside noise.” They knew their performance over the last few weeks wasn’t up to snuff, and despite being down DeShon Elliott, Cole Holcomb, Jabrill Peppers and Chuck Clark, the Steelers stepped up. The defense was why they won today.
With the Los Angeles Chargers on tap in Week 10, the Steelers have a big opportunity to get to 6-3. If the defense can carry over their performance against Indianapolis and play like a top unit and continue to force turnovers, then the Steelers can be the contender we thought they might be after their 4-1 start.
The Steelers were rightly criticized for their performances over the past two weeks, but knocking off the Colts is the type of win that could give them a spark.
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