Good enough to get a win
IINDIANAPOLIS — t wasn’t, in the fabled words of Bill Cowher after a long-ago ugly win by the Steelers, “a Mozart.” But there was a lot to like about the 24-17 win against the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
You know the truth, right? There is no such thing as an ugly win for these Steelers, now 4-7.
Yes, it came against a lousy Colts team, coached by newbie Jeff Saturday and quarterbacked by ancient Matt Ryan, who makes Ben Roethlisberger seem like a track star.
But the Steelers played their best two quarters of the season in the first half, dominating the Colts as they built a 16-3 lead. They outgained the Colts 232-71 and possessed
the ball for 21:58 of the 30 minutes.
The Steelers also were good in the fourth quarter after they went three-and-out on their first two series of the second half and fell behind 17-16. Kenny Pickett led an 11play, 75-yard touchdown drive for his first fourth-quarter comeback win, converting three third downs.
The defense was stout down the stretch.
Mozart or not, the Steelers weren’t ready to give this one back.
“We’ve got a lot to work on, but we were good enough tonight to secure victory,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “We’re thankful for that.
“There was a lot of good. There were a lot of things to grow from.”
The Steelers’ success the rest of the season will be measured by Pickett’s development. This was a step forward. He didn’t turn the ball over for the third consecutive game.
His stats — 20-for-28 for 174 yards with an 87.5 passer rating — would have been better if not for a couple of drops by George Pickens and one in the end zone by Diontae Johnson on a perfect pass.
He made another good throw to Pickens on a twopoint conversion after Benny Snell scored on a 2yard run to give the Steelers a 22-17 lead with 9:55 remaining.
No, Pickett wasn’t perfect. He took a 12-yard sack in the first quarter that knocked the Steelers out of field goal range. He also missed a wide-open Pickens in the end zone on a 3rd-and-goal play from the Colts 7.
But the winning drive covered a lot of warts for the Steelers and their quarterback.
Pickett loved that drive, during which the Steelers converted three third downs. "Everyone was locked
in,” he said. “Everyone
knew what we had to do. It
was just business. It was an unbelievable drive and then to get the two-point conversion ... ” Tomlin wasn’t surprised Pickett played well in the fourth quarter. He even seemed a bit irritated when asked about it. “You guys ask me that every week,” Tomlin said. “He’s getting better every week in a very natural way because of experience. He’s a competitor. He’s smart. There’s still a lot of meat on the bone. It’s a process. We acknowledge that he’s very much in development. You can ask me next week and I’ll tell you he got better in all areas again.” You read correctly that Snell scored the go-ahead touchdown. He got his first carries of the season — 12 of ’em for 62 yards — because of a second-quarter abdominal injury to Najee Harris. Anthony McFarland played for the first time this season and added 30 yards for six carries. Pickett also showed his mobility by running/ scrambling six times for 32 yards. He gave future opponents something to think about with a couple of quarterback draws. The Steelers finished with 172 rushing yards. The Steelers defense played even better than the final score indicates. It was sabotaged by an 89-yard kickoff return by Dallis Flowers from 8 yards in his end zone to the Steelers 19 to start the third quarter. That set up the Colts' first touchdown. A 40-yard punt by Presley Harvin III gave the Colts possession at their 45, setting up another short-field touchdown.
Arthur Maulet had 10 tackles and a sack. Alex Highsmith picked up another sack, giving him 10 for the season. Devin Bush had eight tackles.
Ryan acknowledged the Steelers defense was a handful.
“Mike has been in the league a long time,” he said of Tomlin. “He’s a hell of coach. He’s awesome on the defensive side.”
Tomlin was clearly irked by Flowers’ return and another 45-yard kickoff return by Isiah Rodgers earlier in the game.
“I thought our kickoff unit has got to be better,” Tomlin said. “I thought that was a catalyst for whatever got started for them in the second half. The field-possession component was a big negative. We’ve got to get better there.”
The Steelers don’t have a lot of time to fix their shortcomings. Next up is another road game Sunday at Atlanta. It’s going to be a short week.
“We’ve got to sleep fast,” Tomlin said.
At least that will be a little easier after a win, even if it wasn’t a Mozart.