As the now blue-clad Joe Flacco kneeled down to end Sunday’s game, waves of frustration and disappointment fell over myself—and, I would imagine, loads of other members of Steeler Nation who watched their team lose in painful fashion in the fourth week of the 2024 NFL season.

The Steelers were undefeated no longer, as they fell 27-24 to the Colts in Indianapolis. It was…an ugly game, to say the least. Was it winnable? Yes, as Justin Fields and the offense possessed the ball down by 3 with over two minutes left in the game, but it is extremely difficult to climb out of a 17-0 hole when you dig one for yourself, and that ultimately cost them the chance to go 4-0 and continue to be two games clear at the top of the AFC North. 

I had a bad feeling from the first snap, as the Colts received the opening kickoff and started at their own 30 after a touchback. Second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson, who has struggled immensely with his accuracy and decision-making early in the season, coming into the game with a completion percentage below 50%, threw a pass that was just beyond the outstretched paw of the defensive back, and was caught by wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. for a 32-yard gain. That play alone was a harbinger of what was to come for the defense, which struggled all game long. 

The Colts drove the field in eight plays, matching 70 yards in 2:51, and scoring a touchdown with a short Jonathan Taylor run. It was, by far, the easiest touchdown drive that the Steelers’ defense had given up in the first 12+ quarters of the young season. 

The Steelers’ offense had a decent drive of their own, but an unnecessary roughness penalty on guard Spencer Anderson—who replaced James Daniels, who is now out for the season with a torn Achilles—took them out of field goal range, and Corliss Waitman punted a mere 27 yards to the Indianapolis 14, where the Colts would commence their second drive. 86 yards (and an Anthony Richardson injury) later, it was 14-0, following Joe Flacco’s touchdown pass—his first in a Colts’ uniform—to Josh Downs. This was already the high-water mark for points allowed by the Steelers in a game this season…and it was only the first quarter.

Needing an offensive spark, the Steelers went for it on 4th and 1 on their own 39 after they could not get a first. Incredibly, they did not attempt a quarterback sneak, despite having Justin Fields’ 6’3”, 227 lbs frame. Arthur Smith opted to put Fields in the shotgun instead, allowing the Colts’ defensive line to generate a push against a Steelers’ offensive line composed of mainly backups. A quarterback draw was the call, and the play, expectedly, did not gain the necessary yardage to extend the drive. Now, there is an argument to be made that Najee Harris got the first down on 3rd and 2, but Coach Tomlin decided not to challenge the spot, likely thinking that they could pick up the first on fourth down. That, obviously, did not happen.

The Steelers did end up holding the Colts to a field goal after the sudden change, although not without incident. Tomlin challenged a catch made by Josh Downs that resulted in a 3rd-down conversion that was never close to hitting the ground, which somewhat underscores the lack of challenge on the Harris carry. Yes, the spot of the ball is hard to definitively prove, but it was certainly more in-doubt than Downs’ catch. 

Down 17-0, the Steelers went three-and-out, punting the ball immediately back to a Colts’ offense that the Pittsburgh defense could not stop. This time, however, they did, forcing a punt and getting the ball back on their own 4.

The offense, needing a jolt, brought Cordarrelle Patterson into the game for some snaps at running back in lieu of Najee Harris, and he gained good yardage. He had carries of 4 and 12 yards, a reception for 14, and another carry for 11. The Steelers worked their way from their own 4 to the Colts’ 15 and looked like they were going to put their first points on the board. A 10-yard pass to George Pickens put them in goal-to-go…until Pickens, who was holding the ball like a loaf of bread, fumbled the ball, and Colts’ defensive back Julian Blackmon fell on it at his own 3-yard line. 

The Steelers did put 3 points on the board before halftime, as Chris Boswell drilled a 50-yarder with no time left on the clock. A 17-3 deficit would be difficult to overcome, although not impossible.

The first drive of the second half was a Steelers’ punt, and the first Colts’ drive saw the same result, although their punt was returned 30 yards to the Colts’ 33 by Calvin Austin III, setting the Steelers up to, hopefully, close the deficit some more. I say hopefully, of course, because that did not happen. After two plays that netted no yards, a bad snap turned into a disaster, as Justin Fields tried to make the play better, but instead made it worse, fumbling the ball 22 yards behind the line of scrimmage, where it was recovered and returned to the Steelers 42.

The Colts were not able to capitalize on the good field position, missing a 54-yard field goal. The Steelers would take the ball from the spot of the missed kick (their own 44) and march 56 yards in 6 plays, accelerated by a 38-yard catch by George Pickens, and score a touchdown on a 5-yard Justin Fields run. It was now 17-10.

The Colts’ next possession started very well for the Steelers’ defense—they forced two straight incompletions, both of which could have been (and one of which should have been) flagged for intentional grounding. Regardless, referees are who they are—if they decide the outcome of the game, you do not deserve to win. It was third and ten, and all Pittsburgh needed to do was get off the field on third-and-long for once…and they gave up a 12-yard catch to Michael Pittman. Two plays later, Minkah Fitzpatrick was penalized for a questionable unnecessary roughness call. Three plays after that, they gave up a conversion on third and seven. Three plays after that? The Colts scored a touchdown on third and ten.

The Colts went 8 for 15 on third down in yesterday’s game. They were 6 of 10 on third downs of 6 yards or longer. That is absolutely inexcusable for the league’s highest-paid defense (statistic from Alex Kozora of Steelers’ Depot). 

Despite the defensive deficiencies, the offense did not concede. The Steelers drove 70 yards in 3:14, with a Najee Harris 32-yard screen pass being the big play on the drive, capped off by a Fields 2-yard rushing touchdown.

And then the Colts got the ball back and put together a nice drive, this one culminating in a 35-yard field goal to put them up 27-17 with 6:06 left. Was there enough time for the Steelers to score twice without giving up any more points?

The first order of business: scoring once. Another 70 yard drive, with a 37-yard pass to Pickens in the buildup, ending in a Pat Freiermuth 8-yard touchdown catch, got the Steelers within 3 with 3:45 left. They would kick the ball back to Indy, who went three-and-out. The Steelers got the ball back on their own 17 with 2:46 left.

Two positive plays before the two-minute warning were run—a 12-yard Justin Fields rush and a 9-yard completion to Van Jefferson. The Steelers were at their own 38, with a 2nd and 1, with two minutes to go and one timeout. They only needed a field goal to tie. Najee Harris ran for four yards to pick up the first on the first play after the break, but there was no real sense of urgency after.

Then, disaster struck. A disastrous snap from rookie center Zach Frazier—who has been awesome as a blocker, but prone to lapses in snap accuracy—caused an 11-yard loss. The Steelers would use their timeout to regroup…or so you would think. Instead, they let 25 seconds run off the clock. The 2nd and 21 play was fruitless, as they opted to go for it all instead of trying to get some of the yardage back. It was now 3rd and 21 with 1:07 left. Fields through the ball to Najee Harris on the sideline, who inexplicably allowed himself to be pushed backwards out-of-bounds instead of stepping out himself, thus allowing the clock to keep running. Tomlin would use the last timeout to regroup and come up with a play for 4th and 10…or so you would think. Instead, they rushed to the line, snapped the ball with 42 seconds left, and threw and incompletion that ended the game. 

While the Colts technically beat us, I think it is a fair assessment to say that we beat ourselves. Journalist Michael Beck recapped the Steelers’ mistakes (some of which I did not even get into), and the full list is below:

• Missed interception on the first play
• Patrick Queen not recovering the fumble on the play during which Richardson sustained his injury
• Joey Porter Jr. dropped interception in the end zone
• Failed 4th and 1 attempt
• George Pickens fumble
• Justin Fields fumble
• Snap miscue on the final drive
• Najee Harris not getting out-of-bounds on the final drive
• Mike Tomlin never calling his last timeout

Justin Fields himself agreed, stating, “First and foremost, you can tip your caps to the other team, but I think at the end of the day, we beat ourselves”. 

And then you have Patrick Queen admitting to a lot of defensive miscommunications causing breakdowns in coverage. The $41 million man said, “It’s unacceptable on our part, starting with me. I gotta do a better job of just getting [the calls] out to everybody. I’ll take the blame for all that stuff.”

I suppose it is nice to see the players taking some accountability for the loss, especially when the coaching staff is not. Mike Tomlin attributed the loss, in part, to not being prepared for…Joe Flacco? The former quarterback of the Ravens that he has faced probably 25 times? The exact quote is, “When you work all week to defend Richardson and then you get Flacco, it’s a little bit different. It probably took us a little too long to adapt and adjust in some areas.”

Give me a break! I know that Flacco and Richardson are different archetypes, but to use that as an excuse for allowing third-down conversion after third-down conversion, letting Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman Jr. cut through your defense like a hot knife through butter is absurd! Meanwhile, I wonder where that last timeout is right now. 

Believe it or not, there are some positives to take away from the game. After a, frankly, dreadful first half, Justin Fields was remarkable in the second 30. His final stat line for the box score analysts? 22/34 for 312 yards and 1 passing touchdown, 10 carries for 55 yards and two rushing touchdowns. His passer rating was 104.0, his highest of the season.

Of course, football analysis goes well-beyond the stats. What we saw yesterday was Fields continue to improve in his distribution as far as the areas of the field that he targets. He appears to be more comfortable throwing over the middle of the field with each passing week, which unlocks a lot more for the offense. Is he still missing receivers? Yes. Is he still lacking a bit of awareness as to when he should and should not escape the pocket? Yes. However, he seems to be making tangible strides in these areas, enough so that the offense was able to put up 21 points in a half for the first time in recent memory. 

Ultimately, the Steelers beat themselves with a ton of self-inflicted wounds. “Big mistakes”, as Kramer would say. The fact that they still had a shot to win that game with the way they shit the bed at every turn should be more of an encouragement, though, as should Fields’ second-half play. Granted, the slow starts need to be remedied, as Dallas on Sunday night will be a tough test in keeping pace with a good offense. 

Have a good week!