With the 2024 NFL schedule announced, I want to go through each of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ opponents and dive deep into the makeup of each team, including a recap of their offseason moves, key storylines to watch, and their series history against the Steelers. Today we will be looking at Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts.
After narrowly missing out on the playoffs with a 9-8 record last year, the Colts have a lot to be optimistic about in 2024. QB Anthony Richardson flashed a lot of potential as a rookie before suffering a season-ending injury, and the team held up well in his absence with Gardner Minshew starting.
Here is a summary of their most significant additions and departures from this offseason:
Additions:
– QB Joe Flacco
– DL Raekwon Davis
Departures:
– QB Gardner Minshew
– EDGE Jacob Martin
– RB Zack Moss
– WR Isaiah McKenzie
Draft Class:
– EDGE Laiatu Latu
– WR Adonai Mitchell
– OT Matt Goncalves
– G Tanor Bortolini
– WR Anthony Gould
– LB Jaylon Carlies
– CB Jaylin Simpson
– CB Micah Abraham
– DT Jonah Laulu
They weren’t super active in free agency, as they really just swapped out backup quarterbacks and added some help along the interior of their defensive line. They had a couple minor departures with Moss and McKenzie, but still have RB Jonathan Taylor on the roster to serve as their top running back.
In the draft, they found a couple great bargains with Latu and Mitchell where they got them. Latu has injury concerns, but has a chance to be a huge impact player for them as early as year one, and Mitchell should make for a solid addition alongside Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs to give Richardson plenty of weapons.
They also found some solid mid-round prospects along the offensive line that could find their way onto the field at some point in 2024.
In terms of individual matchups, I am looking forward to seeing Richardson versus the Steelers’ defense. They have some highly-athletic quarterbacks of their own to simulate Richardson in practice. It will be a huge litmus test for him early in the season to see if he can build off the flashes from his rookie year.
Colts 2023 record: 9-8
Colts three-year split: 22-28-1
Colts-Steelers series record: 27-7-0 (Steelers)
Series record in Indianapolis: 5-10-0 (Steelers)
Most recent matchup: 30-13 Colts (2023)
Colts 2023 by the numbers:
Offense–
Scoring: 23.3 PPG (11th)
Passing: 228.4 Yds/G (20th)
Rushing: 121.1 Yds/G (10th)
Defense–
Scoring: 23.8 PPG (30th)
Passing: 226.0 Yds/G (16th)
Rushing: 123.8 Yds/G (24th)
The Colts capped off the three-game losing streak for the Steelers last year, but they also forced a change at quarterback with Mason Rudolph entering for the last drive or two before winning three-straight games to qualify the Steelers for the playoffs. This was at the height of the injury issues at both inside linebacker and safety, so the defense was playing at much less than 100-percent. Despite the Colts allowing the third-most points per game last season, the Steelers were only able to score 13. This early in the season, both teams should be pretty healthy and the game should look much different this time around. Their coaching staff remained mostly intact, so the Steelers should have a minor leg up on the Colts since they played last year. The Colts will be preparing to play against a completely new offensive system with Arthur Smith calling the plays in Pittsburgh.
