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Sack Breakdown: Steelers Vs. Colts

By Joe Clark

Posted on October 5, 2024 at 2:00 pm

Breaking down the four sacks the Pittsburgh Steelers allowed in their 27-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 4

1ST AND 10, 1:14 2ND, 11 PERSONNEL, FIVE BLOCK VS. FOUR-MAN RUSH

This one was fairly cut and dry. Spencer Anderson just gets beat by a bull rush, and Justin Fields goes down. Broderick Jones initially gets beat off the edge, but the rusher goes past the pocket, and Jones re-engages. While he may have sensed that pressure, he didn’t move much in the pocket before Dayo Odeyingbo brought him down. Anderson simply got beat here 1v1.

Blame: Spencer Anderson

1ST AND 10, 0:23 2ND, 11 PERSONNEL, FIVE BLOCK VS. FOUR-MAN RUSH

Steelers were trying to get points at the end of the half here, and the Colts sent a stunt on the right side of the line. Broderick Jones doesn’t make a great block on Odeyingbo shifting outside, but Fields has time to get rid of it here and holds on for too long. He has both Van Jefferson and George Pickens open downfield and instead tries to scramble but gets grabbed by Tyquan Lewis with Odeyingbo on the backside for a split sack.

I think Jones did his job well here initially, but he just can’t get a punch on Odeyingbo late in the play. Meanwhile, Fields keeps looking for his check down, which isn’t there. I’ll give 50/50 blame to Jones and Fields since the pressure from Odeyingbo caused Fields to bail out of the collapsing pocket, but this is a situation where Fields needs to rip it to either Pickens or Jefferson and get the Steelers in a better position to score.

The Steelers had a timeout, which they burned after the sack. They eventually ended up with a field goal to end the half, but it would’ve been a lot better had they used the timeout after the gain downfield.

Blame: Half Broderick Jones, Half Justin Fields

2ND AND 2, 13:59 3RD, 12 PERSONNEL, SIX BLOCK VS. FIVE-MAN RUSH

The Colts bring some pressure here, sending Julian Blackmon late on a blitz. It gets picked up fairly well, although Najee Harris ends up 1v1 on Blackmon. Spencer Anderson initially doesn’t have anyone to block but does a good job looking to help. Zach Frazier gets backed up a little bit by Grover Stewart, and Fields looks to bail out of the pocket but is caught from behind by Blackmon and brought down by him and Stewart.

Again, Fields has an open man here, as Connor Heyward is open up the seam, but he gets open a second before Fields sees Stewart in his line of vision and tries to escape. Fields probably could’ve hung in for another second as Frazier looked like he was pretty sturdy against Stewart, although, at the moment, that’s a tough decision to make. Still, I’d like to see Fields wait just a split second here and try to hit Heyward for what would’ve been a big gain. But Frazier deserves some blame for getting walked back in the pocket.

Blame: Half Zach Frazier, Half Justin Fields

3RD AND 10, 7:48 3RD, 11 PERSONNEL, FIVE BLOCK VS. SEVEN-MAN RUSH

The most impactful sack of the game, a strip-sack of Fields. It’s a tough one here as the Colts bring more pressure than the Steelers can account for, but Fields has to know he’s hot and just hit Najee Harris for a check-down. Even if it might not have gone for a first down, he has to get it out quickly there, and Harris is immediately open. It would’ve likely been a drive that resulted in three points had he done that, and with the Steelers losing by three, those were important points.

After this fumble, Fields took over the game, but it was undoubtedly a play that contributed to Pittsburgh’s failure.

Blame: Justin Fields