Playoff talk highlights 5 takeaways from Steelers' win over Colts

Five things we learned from Steelers 26, Colts 24:

1. Playoff talk isn’t so wild

When the Baltimore Ravens handed the New England Patriots their first loss of the season Sunday night, it kept the Steelers two games out of the lead in the AFC North. The way the 6-2 Ravens manhandled the Patriots has to be alarming to Steelers fans, but as anyone who followed the division last season can attest, nothing is a sure thing in the second half of the season.

Even if the Ravens don’t give back their two-game lead down the stretch – much like the Steelers did in 2018 – the wild-card route is a realistic option. At 4-4, the Steelers have the seventh-best record in the AFC and trail Indianapolis by one game. That’s advantageous, of course, since the Steelers just defeated the Colts and would own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Also sitting ahead of the Steelers in wild-card position is 6-2 Buffalo, which visits Heinz Field in December. The other four-win teams are the 4-4 Oakland Raiders and the 4-5 Los Angeles Chargers, another team the Steelers have beaten this year.

With a 4-2 conference record, the Steelers are in decent shape if that tiebreaker comes into play. It also means the Steelers could lose this weekend against the Los Angeles Rams and not have their wild-card hopes seriously dented.

With two games against the 2-6 Cleveland Browns and one against the 0-8 Cincinnati Bengals closing out November, the Steelers would be in good shape if they handle business against their AFC North opponents.

2. It helps to be lucky

Adam Vinatieri’s 43-yard missed field goal was the difference between a two-point win and a one-point loss, but it wasn’t the only fortuitous break the Steelers got against the Colts.

The Steelers got a lucky bounce in the end zone to prevent a five-point swing for the Colts, and a personal foul penalty on the final play of the first half led to a Chris Boswell field goal that pulled the Steelers within 16-13.

The Steelers were holding their first lead, 20-16, in the third quarter when a perfectly placed punt pinned them at their 1. On third down from the 8, Mason Rudolph was pressured into the end zone where the ball was stripped from his grasp by Justin Houston.

Players dived for the ball with left tackle Alejandro Villanueva emerging from the scrum with it. Instead of trailing 23-20 (provided Vinatieri made the extra point), the Steelers maintained a 20-18 advantage.

And Colts linebacker Darrius Leonard deserved an assist for the 51-yard field goal by Boswell on an untimed down at the end of the half. His needless penalty while the Colts gang-tackled Vance McDonald on the final offensive play of the half gave Boswell the 15-yards necessary for him to attempt the field goal.

Justin Houston with the strip-sack fumble.

The #Colts get a safety after the #Steelers recover. The Steelers lead 20-18. #INDvsPIT pic.twitter.com/8KoZQNsfbL

— Mark Bergin (@mdbergin) November 3, 2019

3. Special teams make contribution

Boswell’s four successful field goals improved his proficiency this season to 17 of 18, a vast improvement from 2018 when he connected on just 13 of 20 attempts.

Punter Jordan Berry was called upon just once, and he nailed a 48-yard punt with 2 minutes, 35 seconds remaining to pin the Colts at their 15.

The coverage unit produced a turnover when Trey Edmunds tackle, Ola Adeniyi’s forced fumble and Johnny Holton’s recovery led to Boswell’s third field goal, which increased the Steelers’ lead to 23-18 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Special teams coach Danny Smith’s units also had some faults. The Colts began first-half drives at the 35 and 37 after long returns, and the Steelers continue to hampered by poor field position on their kickoff returns.

4. What’s the catch?

Six days after JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson had the most productive game by a Steelers receiving tandem this season, they became afterthoughts in the dink-and-dunk approach taken against the Colts.

Smith-Schuster, whose dropped pass resulted in an interception on the first drive of the game, was held to three catches for 16 yards. Johnson fared worse, with one catch for three yards.

Picking up the slack was James Washington, who had been mostly silent in the first seven games. Washington had three catches for 69 yards, including a 40-yard grab on a post route that got the Steelers into position for Boswell to kick his fourth field goal. It was one of the few times Rudolph went deep, and the connection with Washington conjured memories of their college days at Oklahoma State.

Washington also pulled in a one-handed catch for a 16-yard gain in the second quarter.

Jaylen Samuels took advantage of the check-downs and caught 13 passes, the most by a running back in franchise history, for 73 yards. And Vance McDonald chipped in with his first touchdown since Week 2 and finished with five catches for 30 yards.

.@JamesWashington just showing off ? #INDvsPIT

?: CBS
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Watch free on mobile: https://t.co/GjhTr4sGG6 pic.twitter.com/BR0BI9gPTb

— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2019

5. Defense at early disadvantage

Minkah Fitzpatrick’s 96-yard interception return for a touchdown masked the defense’s deficiencies in the first half. Backup quarterback Brian Hoyer was driving the Colts for a potential 17-3 lead when Fitzpatrick stepped in front of Jack Doyle and took off on the second-longest interception return in franchise history.

On the Colts’ previous drive, Hoyer replaced an injured Jacoby Brissett and finished off a 63-yard touchdown drive with an 11-yard pass to Doyle in front of linebacker Devin Bush. And immediately following Fitzpatrick’s pick-6, Hoyer swiftly moved the Colts down the field and threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to punctuate a six-play, 75-yard drive.

The Steelers made the necessary adjustments at the break and held Indianapolis to 132 yards in the second half after yielding 196 in the opening 30 minutes. After not registering a sack in the first half, the Steelers finished with five.

Bud Dupree’s strip sack/fumble recovery and his tackle for loss on third-and-1 were the talking point, and a defensive stop on a 2-point conversion attempted loomed large. It was a far cry from the first half when Fitzpatrick’s interception was the only saving grace.