VIEW FROM PITTSBURGH: How the Steelers lost to the Colts

INDIANAPOLIS (93.7 The Fan) – It was another slow start by the Steelers, the plays that Indy made, what the Steelers did to get back in it. All of the big plays from the Steelers 27-24 loss at Indianapolis

1^st quarter

·      It was on the first place of the game as Anthony Richardson had all day to throw and launched a rocket across the middle to Michael Pittman for a 32-yard gain to immediately put the Colts in Steelers territory

·      3^rd and 6 after Richardson missed a wide-open receiver, a called QB sneak gained 9 yards and set Indy up at the 11-yard line

·      TD-On 3^rd and 1, Jonathan Taylor followed the push of the middle of the offensive line for a two-yard score, 7-0 Indy

·      After a five-yard pass play that put the Steelers in field goal position following penalty help from Indy, Broderick Jones and Spencer Anderson each committed a personal foul late hit, the call officially on Anderson. It made it 3^rd and 23 and turned likely three points into a punt

·      2^nd Indy possession, again Richardson finds Pittman for a big gainer in the middle of the Steelers D, 28 yards

·      Richardson ran 16 yards up the middle, DeShon Elliott forced a fumble and Colts offensive lineman Tanor Bortolini was able to dig the ball out of the pile to retain possession

·      TD-Joe Flacco (who earlier threw a 10-yard completion as Richardson came out) hit Josh Downs for a one-yard TD, 14-0 Indy

·      Next possession, Steelers on 4^th and inches went from shotgun and lost a few inches on a Fields run

2^nd quarter

·      Flacco threw it where only Downs could catch it on 3^rd and 6. It gained six yards, Mike Tomlin challenged it and lost a time out.

·      Great eye recognition by Joey Porter, Junior to adjust and breakup a TD from Flacco to Pittman, Indy would settle for a FG, 17-0 Indy

·      Larry Ogunjobi and Elandon Roberts stopped Taylor for a loss of two on third and one getting the ball back

·      It looked like the Steelers were turning the game, Cordarrelle Patterson put the team on his back, Darnell Washington stiff armed one Colts defender and jumped over another for a 20-yard gain, but after a catch at the Indy 5, Pickens was trying to get extra yardage and fumbled, Colts recovered at their own 4-yard line.

·      With just over a minute to play, after being sacked, Fields scrambles and finds Pat Freiermuth for 29 yards. The drive would end in a 50-yard field goal by Chris Boswell (5 of 5 of field goals from 50-59 yards), 17-3

3^rd quarter

·     Calvin Austin with another jolt for the Steelers offense as he returned a punt 30 yards to set the Steelers up on the 33-yard-line. On third-and six, back to pass and in trouble, Fields reverses field and not only slips down for a 22-yard loss, but fumbled. Second time in the game, a potential field goal taken off the board

·      Sack by Cam Heyward and Beanie Bishop on the first play after the turnover caused a three-and-out and an eventual miss of a 54-yard FG

·      Fields scrambled in the pocket, was able to buy time for George Pickens to get over cutting across the middle, a beautiful pass for a 38-yard gain

·      TD-on 3^rd and 5 from the Indy 5, Fields back to pass and scrambled right for the touchdown, 17-10 Indy

·      Indy converted a pair of 3^rd and 7s and the touchdown was a 3^rd and 10, plus Minkah Fitzpatrick hit a defenseless receiver on an incomplete pass on the Colts scoring drive

4^th quarter

·      TD-Joe Flacco 15-yard TD to Drew Ogletree on a 3^rd and 10, 24-10 Indy

·      Fields finds Harris who make a cut and runs through a few tacklers for a 32-yard gain, plus a roughing the passer penalty to the Indy 12

·      On 3^rd and 1, Harris able to jump enough over the line for a 1^st down

·      TD-Fields scrambles for a 2-yard score the play after Pickens dropped a score, 24-17 Indy

·      Indy OC Jim Bob Cooter gets a wide receiver on a linebacker, Flacco finds Downs for a 13-yard gain (beat Payton Wilson).

·      Taylor with a  21 yard run, then on 3^rd and 7, Flacco throws short to Downs, who stops and makes Donte Jackson miss for a 1^st down, Gay would kick 35-yard FG, 27-17, Indy with 6:03 left

·      Fields with a really good back shoulder throw to Pickens for 37 yards

·      TD-Fields finds Pat Freiermuth, who fights into the end zone for an 8-yard score on 3^rd and 5

·      A 58-yard punt by Rigoberto Sanchez pinned the Steelers at the 17-yard line

·      Fields said it was his fault for the early snap by Zach Frazier which led to a 12-yard loss and eventually a 4^th down incompletion and a first loss of the season