NFL sets kickoff for Steelers' Week 15 game against Colts
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 15 game at the Indianapolis Colts will be played on a Saturday with a 4:30 p.m. kickoff Dec. 16 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The NFL announced the schedule Thursday.
For the first time this season the league installed additional flexible scheduling for late-season games, allowing for Monday and Thursday night games to be swapped out. It also designated a pool of five possible Week 15 games to be played on the Saturday of that week in an effort to ensure quality matchups for the in-house network that would be televising a Saturday tripleheader.
The Steelers-Colts game is the middle of those three, scheduled to follow a 1 p.m. kickoff between the Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals and an 8:15 p.m. Denver Broncos-Detroit Lions nightcap.
The league chose those three for a Saturday showcase over Atlanta Falcons-Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears-Cleveland Browns games that now will be played 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17.
The Steelers (7-4) and Colts (6-5) are in the race for AFC wild-card spots (though each potentially could still win its respective division).
The NFL Network will televise the game nationally, though it will be available locally on CBS (KDKA-2).
The announcement means the Steelers will play each of their next three games on different days of the week. After Sunday’s home game against the Arizona Cardinals, four days later (Thursday, Dec. 7) they will host the New England Patriots.
The Steelers then will play two consecutive games on Saturdays. Their Week 16 game against the Bengals is set for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff Dec. 23.
The Steelers have won eight consecutive games against the Colts dating to 2008. They have not lost in 15-year-old Lucas Oil Stadium; their last defeat in Indianapolis was in 2005 at the now-razed RCA Dome. Counting a 5-0 record against the Colts in the playoffs, the Steelers lead the all-time series 26-6. The Steelers have won 22 of the past 25 meetings, including 24-17 last season in Indianapolis.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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