Heinz Field - Pittsburgh, PA
| Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers | |||||
| Oct 26, 2014 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Indianapolis Colts (3-5, 2-2 Away) | 7 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers (4-4, 2-2 Home) | 3 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 34 |
Top Performers
Passing : B. Roethlisberger (PIT) - 358YDS, 4TD
Rushing : T. Richardson (IND) - 22CAR, 82YDS
Receiving : A. Brown (PIT) - 7REC, 196YDS, 2TD
PITTSBURGH - The Colts took the field tonight under some of the worst weather conditions, heavy rain and driving winds. The rain started before the game and did not let up at any point, the wind was a steady 11MPH that didn't make things easier, but the muddy field would make everything an adventure.
The Colts passing defense has been a serious issue once again this year, and the Steelers passing attack wouldn't allow them much room for improvement. Luckily for Coach Pagano, things would go their way through the first half and victory looked assured.
Through the start of the second quarter Andrew Luck had two TD passes, one to Da'Rick Rogers (19) and one to Reggie Wayne (10), to hold a 14-3 lead over a Shaun Suisham FG. The Colts defense would completely shut down the Pittsburgh running game, and a 21-3 lead was negated on a Wayne clipping call after a 23 yard TD pass to Dwayne Allen was called back and ended up as a 35 yard Adam Vinatieri FG.
With the half nearing a close Rogers burned Ike Taylor for a back-breaking 63 yard TD and a 24-3 lead. Ben Roethlisberger gave the Steelers' fans hope with a 57 yard bomb to Antonio Brown as the half expired. Down 24-10 the Steelers were being routed, managing only 14 rushing yards and 134 yard of offense compared to the Colts 313.
Rogers has stepped up in the absence of Hilton and Nicks.
Things didn't get much better in the 3rd quarter, even after Rogers was stripped of the ball (ruled an INT) to put Pittsburgh on the Indianapolis 25 they allowed three straight sacks to knock them out of FG range. The Steelers' punt was perfect, pinning Luck and the Colts offense on the 1. A short drive and a punt allowed the Steelers to kick a FG before the end of the quarter and make it 24-13.
With the game apparently in hand, the Colts defense went into some serious lapses and the final quarter became a waking nightmare. Roethlisberger took them down and found Orson Charles for an 11 yard TD, but they failed on a 2-PT conversion. Luck answered right back with a 4 yard strike to Donte Moncrief to go up 31-19, but the defense just couldn't hold. Pittsburgh used a 4 play 81 yard drive to score on a pass to Darrius Heyward-Bey, and the Steelers defense came up big time to force a punt. With just under 2:00 left the Steelers marched back down and used a defensive lapse to get Brown in the endzone again on a 24 yard TD. This time they converted the 2-PT attempt and found themselves up 34-31.
Antonio Brown has his way with the Colts secondary.
The Colts had less than 20 seconds to score, and couldn't get close enough for a Vinatieri FG. A truly disappointing loss after victory seemed assured. Luck and Pagano were visibly frustrated after the game, and with a Week 9 BYE on the schedule there was some concern that Pagano might not be around on Monday.
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