Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 27-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts Sunday afternoon.
WINNERS
RB Cordarrelle Patterson
Patterson was one of the few bright spots of the first half, unfortunately knocked out of the game due to an ankle injury. Despite being 33, he shows a spark and burst and displays a downhill running ability to find the hole and hit it. Before exiting, he posted 7.2 yards per carry and chipped in a pair of receptions. Hopefully he can return next Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys.
TE Darnell Washington
Washington was the most active he has been in the passing game in his career and looked like his Georgia highlight reel on his 20-yard catch, stiff-arming and hurdling his way to the longest reception of his NFL career.
Largely a blocker to date, it’s nice to see him get involved in the passing game and make some plays after the catch.
QB Justin Fields
While it was far from perfect and his 20-yard sack/fumble/turnover was shades of the worst of his Chicago days, Fields was a gamer. Without really any running game for most of the contest and virtually nothing in the second half, Fields kept fighting. He ran the ball in twice himself, made big-time throws to WR George Pickens, and kept responding and answering as the defense couldn’t force punts and allowed points.
WR/PR Calvin Austin III
Austin has been a solid punt returner this season with penalties negated some of his better runbacks. But there were no flags on his 30-yard return in the second half, Austin keeping his balance after fielding the ball and finding a lane for a huge return. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh’s offense completely squandered it, and the ensuing drive ended with Justin Fields going backwards for a 20-yard sack and lost fumble, but Austin still made a nice play.
He also made a tough catch on third down in the first half.
LOSERS
CB Joey Porter Jr.
Ugly game for Porter. Colts weren’t scared going after him from the first play of the game, QB Anthony Richardson threading the ball above him for a 32-yard completion to WR Michael Pittman Jr. Porter dropped an end-zone interception later in the first half and allowed several other catches along the way as the Colts aggressively picked on him on first down.
HC Mike Tomlin
An ugly game overall for Tomlin. Pittsburgh came out flat on the road, allowing Indy’s crowd to set the tone early. His decision-making also was poor. He didn’t challenge a third-down run by RB Najee Harris where he appeared to pick up the first down. Though spot calls are difficult and often unsuccessful, Tomlin’s mantra is to challenge when there’s a clear line to gain. In this case, the 40-yard-line, making this an easier review he likely would’ve won. And he should have some responsibility in the ugly failed fourth-down call that followed.
Instead, he challenged an obvious Colts catch late in the game, losing a timeout that would’ve been useful late in the first half. Even taking a timeout with six minutes left in the game before a Colts field-goal attempt was a curious decision. Nothing there aided the team in winning against a team Pittsburgh was better against on paper.
RB Najee Harris
While Harris didn’t have much running room, his more plodding style isn’t working behind a line that can’t open up lanes. Patterson had far more success and showed more burst despite being seven years older and was the team’s source of a running game before leaving the game due to an ankle injury. Harris made more plays through the air and had a great catch and run on a rarely successful screen play. Even then, he couldn’t stop the clock by getting out of bounds. He was bottled up on virtually every handoff Sunday. This game was just tougher sledding than it needed to be.
Snap Issues
I don’t even know what to say. For the third time this year, once in the preseason and twice in the regular season, there’s been an issue with Fields not expecting the snap. New guards on the road are an issue but the end-of-game botched snap ended a promising drive that could’ve set up a Chris Boswell field-goal attempt. Instead, it essentially ended the game. Unacceptable and all the snap issues, including Fields getting stepped on early in the game, must stop.
OC Arthur Smith
Not a strong game for Smith. Play-action schemes didn’t work and there was little creativity in the run game, the Steelers too often running into walls the Colts were building up front. And the actual play call of a too-complex 4th and half-yard call in the first half, a gap scheme out of split back, wasn’t needed when Fields could sneak forward for a couple inches. A battered offensive line isn’t helping but Smith struggled to find fluidity and easy wins on early downs.
Third-Down Defense
Especially in the second half. The Colts repeatedly won not just on third down but third and long in the second half, including a 15-yard touchdown to TE Drew Ogletree early in the fourth quarter. On the next drive, Flacco found WR Josh Downs for a big 3rd and 6, CB Donte Jackson missing a tackle in space and allowing another conversion.
The Colts finished the game above 50 percent on third down, a stark contrast to the Steelers who came into this one with the NFL’s No.1-ranked third-down defense, allowing a conversion just 21.9 percent of the time.
