The Pittsburgh Steelers knew they had a golden opportunity to secure a key road win today playing against a Luckless Colts team, and they relied upon the Killer Bs on offense to put up all of their 28 points. Running back Le’Veon Bell kicked off the scoring with a rushing touchdown on the Steelers’ opening drive.
The team’s final three scores all went to Antonio Brown on throws from Ben Roethlisberger, which was his first three-touchdown game of his career when all of them came through the air. Last season, he scored two receiving touchdowns and a punt return touchdown against the Colts.
Roethlisberger really didn’t have to do a whole lot during the game, seemingly, as he only threw 20 passes over the course of the entire game. He did complete 14 of them for 221 yards, averaging 11.05 yards per pass attempt. That included four passes that went for at least 30 yards.
He also, of course, had the three touchdown passes, which gives him 23 for the season. Despite missing a game, that currently place him in fourth in the league for total touchdown passes on the season. He also did not take a sack for the second straight game.
Bell also rushed for over 100 yards for the second straight game, although he came up short of the 200-yard mark. He put up 120 yards on the ground on 23 carries, averaging 5.2 yards per carry, and scored a rushing touchdown for the third consecutive game, and four total touchdowns in those three games.
As for Brown, he only caught five passes, but, as mentioned, three of them went for touchdowns. All three of them were explosive plays, the first going for 25 yards, while both the second and third throws yielded 33-yard receptions.
Roethlisberger also hit on passing plays of 30 yards or more to both Eli Rogers and tight end Ladarius Green. Rogers had two receptions during the game, but one of them went for exactly 30 yards. While Green had just two receptions as well, they went for 32 yards and 35 yards on two beautiful arcing passes.
The Steelers only ran 50 plays on offense throughout the entire game, but the Killer Bs accounted for 32 of them. Bell’s 23 carries and four receptions, plus Brown’s five receptions, represent a total of 64 percent of the touches the team had on offense.
The triplets are so valuable that once the Steelers secured a 21-point lead with over four minutes to play, the coaching staff took Roethlisberger, Brown, and Bell all out of the game. Fitzgerald Toussaint accounted for six carries, which I believe is a season-high for any back not named Bell in a game in which he played.
