Dismal Steelers suffer first loss of the season to Flacco-led Colts

The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered their first loss of the season to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, dropping to a 3-1 record.

The final score of the game was 27-24 and Pittsburgh actually had the ball in the last two minutes to try and tie or win the game. But given the first quarter the Steelers had; it was a miracle they ever got to that position.

The first quarter was disastrous for Mike Tomlin’s team. Anthony Richardson, who started the game at quarterback for the Colts, led his team on a 70-yard touchdown drive in under three minutes. Then, the Steelers were forced to punt on offense as they couldn’t get any run game going. After that, the Colts marched down the field, this time with an 86-yard drive. Midway through that drive, Richardson left the game for Joe Flacco, then the second-year quarterback returned for just one play, in which he reinjured himself, putting Flacco back in the game. Flacco threw a touchdown on 3rd and goal from four yards out to complete the drive, and Indianapolis was cutting Pittsburgh’s defense open with ease.

The next offensive drive that followed for the Steelers made no improvements to the day. After the first play went for seven yards to Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh impressively managed to run the ball three times for two yards, resulting in a 4th down stop for the Colts. That gave Flacco the ball back in Steelers territory to end a disastrous first quarter at 14-0 to Indianapolis.

The defense finally got a stop on a 3rd and 7 pass from Flacco that fell incomplete, but Matt Gay knocked through a 33-yard field goal to make it 17-0. The teams then exchanged punts before Justin Fields and the offense finally came to play. Starting from their own four-yard line after a good Colts punt, the offense put together one of their best drives of the season, with Cordarrelle Patterson accounting for 60 of the 91 yards on the drive, before leaving with an injury. Darnell Washington also had a sensational twenty-yard catch and run with a stiff arm and a hurdle. But, after Geroge Pickens made a ten-yard catch, he reached out for the first down marker at the five-yard line, and lost the ball, with the Colts recovering. All signs of life from the Steelers seemed to fade away as Pickens, one of the most talented receivers in the league, made a rookie error by reaching for the first down. This may sound harsh, but when the result of the play is going to be second down and less than a yard if Pickens simply steps out of bounds, there is far more risk in reaching for the first down.

That turnover was one of two easily avoidable ones for the Steelers. Luckily, the defense was able to force a punt after, giving Fields and the offense enough time to get Boswell into field goal range. From fifty yards out, Boswell made the kick and the score at halftime was 17-3.

The second half started sloppy for both teams. Receiving the ball to start the half, Pittsburgh had a chance to continue any sort of momentum they salvaged in the second quarter. But the Colts defense continued to control the line of scrimmage and the game as they stopped Najee Harris for no gain on 1st and 15 which left Pittsburgh behind the sticks partly thanks to questionable play calling.

The defense needed to dominate in the second half given their disappointing first half performance, and they started strong, forcing a three and out. Then, on the punt, Pittsburgh got a spark, with Calvin Austin breaking free after almost being tackled for no gain, to make a thirty-yard return to help the offense. But what followed was a disaster. After an incompletion and a second and long run to Harris for no gain, the Steelers once again left themselves with a lot to do on 3rd and 10 (the play calling didn’t help here either). Then on third down, Fields found himself under pressure and fleeing from Colts defenders, only to stumble and lose the ball, resulting in an Indianapolis recovery.

Thankfully, Gay missed the field goal from fifty-four yards out that Flacco and the offense got him in range for, leaving the score at 17-3. That gave Pittsburgh good field position and on the second play of the next drive, Fields found Pickens downfield for a thirty-eight-yard gain into the redzone. A few plays later, Fields was running into the endzone from five yards out and it was a one score game.

But the number one defense coming into week four was unable to stop Joe Flacco as he led a seventy-yard touchdown drive, throwing his second touchdown of the game. Fields and the offense responded again with a seventy-yard drive of their own, ending in another touchdown run by Pittsburgh’s quarterback. Harris had a catch and run of thirty-two on this drive to help the offensive. Flacco, though, kept the game at two scores when he took his team down into the redzone, resulting in a thirty-five-yard field goal from Gay. The score was now 27-17 to the Colts with just over six minutes left.

The offense continued their second half resurgence with another touchdown drive, ending in an eight-yard touchdown pass to Freiermuth. The big play of that drive was a thirty-seven-yard pass deep left to Pickens, who had done more than enough to make up for his mistake earlier. This was a perfect throw from Fields on a day where he made some strong plays to show he is more than capable as a starter in this league and may be good enough to be the signal caller for a contender.

The Colts needed a few first downs to end the game, and couldn’t do so, punting after three plays.

So, Pittsburgh had a chance to win it somehow, but a disastrous snap left them with a 2nd and 22 and they never recovered, with the game ending on a 4th and 11 incompletion.

This was such a frustrating loss for Pittsburgh. It was a loss that at this point is a Mike Tomlin staple, unprepared for a game against an ‘inferior’ opponent, which is why it isn’t too surprising. The Steelers were lucky to have a chance to win the game at the end. They started incredibly slow, a big sign of a lack of preparation. Then, in key moments, big mistakes were made. The Pickens fumble, the Fields fumble, the botched snap on the final drive, and to sum it up, Harris failing to get out of bounds on third down, meaning the Steelers had to rush on fourth down to save the game. Even with so many costly mistakes, Pittsburgh had a chance to win, but the lack of preparation left them in too deep of a hole to get out of.

The defensive unit of this team now needs to step up. Coming into week four, many were calling them the best group in the league, but after week four, few will dare to crown them with that title. They were cut apart by Richardson, and when it mattered most, they couldn’t stop Flacco. This is not meant to be disrespectful to either of those two quarterbacks. It is more to say that the best defense in the league would never allow their offense to score three straight touchdowns in the second half and still be defeated against a 1-2 team playing with a backup quarterback.

The offense wasn’t without its faults. A poor first half didn’t help, and Arthur Smith’s insistence on running with Harris in several questionable situations such as 1st and 15 and 2nd and 10, cost Pittsburgh. Harris averaged just 1.5 yards per carry, but Smith still insisted on handing him the ball. Patterson did leave with an injury, but thirteen attempts for Harris was too many given his lack of success.

The fun part of the season is over for Pittsburgh. The Ravens are 2-2, the Bengals have their first win, and no matter how bad the Browns seem to be playing, they will test the Steelers when they eventually face off. Pittsburgh needs to win as many games as possible in the first half of the season, because they face a gauntlet in November and December. Winning the AFC North is going to be a monstrous task but one of the few positives is that it can’t get much worse than the first quarter we saw in Indianapolis.