Steelers defense answers questions by getting 5 sacks, 5 turnovers in win over Colts

It was a result that defied logic.

How else to explain a defense that was torched for 68 points and 924 yards the previous two games not only slowing down the NFL’s hottest offense but also responding with its most dominating performance of the season?

Rebounding from consecutive losses that raised questions about their legitimacy as a contender, the Steelers got their season back on track Sunday with a 27-20 victory against the Indianapolis Colts at Acrisure Stadium.

Perhaps the Steelers were inspired by presence of players from the 2005 Super Bowl XL team that brought the franchise its fifth Lombardi trophy.

Leading the way was a defense that not only gave up points and yards in bunches in losses to Cincinnati and Green Bay, but it was also starting a new-look safety group. A defense that had gone three consecutive games without a turnover forced five that the offense turned into 24 points — three touchdowns and a field goal — while special teams added a sixth takeaway.

The six takeaways were the most for the Steelers since 2010, and their 24 points off turnovers were the most since 2007.

“Everybody can enjoy Sunday night a little bit rather than trying to figure out how we can fix every single thing that we’ve done wrong like we did the last two weeks,” inside linebacker Payton Wilson said. “This is a good one.”

Wilson had a hand in two of the turnovers with an interception and a tipped pass that resulted in a pick by rookie Jack Sawyer. T.J. Watt had a strip sack and fumble recovery that led to the Steelers’ first touchdown. Alex Highsmith forced a fumble with another strip sack, and he totaled two of the Steelers’ five sacks.

Rookie defensive lineman Derrick Harmon recovered a fumble, and cornerback Joey Porter Jr., whose father played on that 2005 championship team, had an interception and a sack.

“This is a statement game for us as a defense,” Porter said. “We didn’t like what we put on film the last two weeks, and we had to come out and make a point. I think we did today.”

The Colts (7-2) entered the game averaging 33.8 points and 385 yards — both NFL bests — and they had turned the ball over just four times in eight games. But they didn’t score on five consecutive positions, which allowed the Steelers to reel off 24 unanswered points. The Colts had seven points, 195 yards and trailed by 17 early in the fourth quarter.

The Colts converted five times on fourth down and totaled 368 yards — getting a bunch in garbage time — but couldn’t overcome the barrage of interceptions and lost fumbles.

The Steelers totaled just 225 yards, but they never needed to go more than 56 on any of their three touchdown drives thanks to the play of the defense.

“That’s what happens when you take the ball away from people,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “It feeds itself, and that’s probably one of the most disappointing things about the stretch we were on. We weren’t taking the ball away. That’s the lifeblood for us not only as a defense, but as a football team. It’s a catalyst for how we engineer victory.”

Colts quarterback Daniel Jones finished with 342 yards passing, but he threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles on strip sacks. With the Colts forced to play catch-up, they had to alter the game plan of keying on running back Jonathan Taylor, the NFL’s leading rusher.

Taylor finished with a season-low 45 yards on 14 carries.

“They were trying to run early,” Harmon said, “but they got into a situation as far as passing the ball that they weren’t used to.”

With injuries depleting their secondary, the Steelers started Jalen Ramsey at free safety and Kyle Dugger, acquired Tuesday from New England, at strong safety. In the early stages, Jones picked apart the secondary and scored on a 1-yard sneak for a 7-0 lead.

Watt’s strip sack early in the second quarter swung momentum in the Steelers’ favor. The Steelers were trailing 7-0 and had turned the ball over following a fourth-down incompletion at the Colts 4. Jones had the Colts positioned at the Steelers 38 when Watt swooped in, dislodged the ball and recovered it.

“That was the turning point in the game,” Rodgers said.

Jaylen Warren ended a 12-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to tie the score.

Two plays later, Wilson intercepted Jones and returned the ball 14 yards to the Colts 17. Two plays after that, Rodgers and tight end Pat Freiermuth hooked up on a 14-yard touchdown pass that put the Steelers in front for good with 4:22 left in the half.

Chris Boswell’s 25-yard field goal on the final play of the half — the only score not set up by a turnover — gave the Steelers a 17-7 lead. In the third quarter, Wilson batted a pass in the air, and Sawyer intercepted, ending another drive in which the Colts had ventured into Steelers territory.

“Tips and cultures. It’s the culture that is instilled,” Wilson said. “It’s from the top down. Every day we walk into the building, coach Tomlin is talking about our culture, ball searching and tipping.”

Warren scored on a 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter to hike the lead to 24-7. After the Colts cut the deficit to 14 points, Highsmith’s strip sack and Harmon’s recovery led to Boswell’s 46-yard field goal that restored the three-score margin.

The Colts scored the final 10 points, but DK Metcalf recovered an onside kick with 0:09 left to end the drama.

“We’ve got to stack these performances,” Watt said. “It felt like we were dominant a good part of the game. We didn’t want to let them back in the game at the end, but there were a lot of good things to take from it.”