The Pittsburgh Steelers snapped their two-game losing streak in impressive fashion, upsetting the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. For the second time this season, the Steelers forced at least five turnovers, which was obviously a massive reason for the win.
However, The 33rd Team’s Sam Monson thinks those were more about Colts mistakes than what the Steelers did.
“The Colts are a better football team than the Steelers. But, to offset that, they turned the ball over six times. Some of which were farcical, some of which were really good Steelers plays,” Monson said Monday on his Check The Mic podcast. “It’s a tough game to evaluate. Because, by most measures, the Colts were still better. I’m serious, they had more yards. Pittsburgh averaged 3.7 yards [a play] on offense. You have to at least acknowledge that this Colts team was a huge part of this game going Pittsburgh’s way, not Pittsburgh.”
The Steelers did get a major lifeline from the Colts early in the game. They went three and out, allowed an opening-drive touchdown and then went three and out again. However, Corliss Waitman’s punt was muffed, and the Steelers recovered the ball just outside the Colts’ 10-yard line. You could call it a lucky break for the Steelers, and it’s one they didn’t even take advantage of, turning the ball over on downs.
However, the other five were forced in one way or another. While the Colts certainly made plenty of mistakes, the Steelers still deserve credit for both forcing the turnovers and then capitalizing on them. T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith each had strip-sacks, and Payton Wilson made a beautiful adjustment on this play to intercept Daniel Jones, reading the quarterback’s eyes after Wilson’s first assignment, Jonathan Taylor, never emerged.
The Steelers did get a couple interceptions off batted balls. On these, they were lucky that the ball bounced straight up into the air. However, the execution was still there defensively. Like on this Jack Sawyer interception.
It’s an unlucky bounce for the Colts. But Payton Wilson reads this play perfectly and makes a nice play to knock the ball into the air. It goes straight to Sawyer, who’s in position because he also beats his man around the edge. The point is, you can recognize the Colts’ mistakes while realizing they mostly happened because the Steelers forced them.
Of course, benefitting from six turnovers every week isn’t likely. And there are some areas where the Steelers need to be better. They started the game poor defensively and also allowed some Colts points in garbage time. Offensively, the Steelers weren’t efficient enough either, something Aaron Rodgers mentioned after the game.
However, this defense expects to make splash plays. And it was due for some turnovers after not forcing any in several weeks. The unit can’t count on six takeaways every week, and the team was helped by some ugly moments from the Colts. Yet, it was a promising performance from the Steelers as well, one worthy of recognition.
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