About an hour ago
A blown offense carried most of the blame for the collapse of the Pittsburgh Steelers in December, and deservedly so. But a once dominant defense was at fault during an 11-0 drop to three straight losses.
Eight games in the second half of Sunday’s game against Indianapolis, the Colts had already accumulated 288 yards of attack against the Steelers and were seconds away from scoring for the fourth time and taking the lead.
But a sack by Stephon Tuitt made it a field goal instead of a touchdown, and if that wasn’t the turning point for the Steelers’ defense in a 28-24 victory, it came minutes later when the unit forced a 3 -and-out after the Colts took over on their own 2-yard line.
Anyway, after the Colts had almost 300 yards, 24 points and 15 first runs in the first 36 minutes, they got only 77 yards, five first runs and no points in the last 24 minutes of the game.
“We started slowly,” said Tuitt, “but we recovered in the second half and made the moves we needed. And I think, in the second half, we played great team football. ”
The attack did its part with four long shots and three touchdowns after the break. But defense efforts should not be overlooked.
While allowing Indianapolis to drive for the Steelers’ 3-yard line in the first possession of the second half, Tuitt’s sack limited the Colts to a field goal. Three consecutive short drives – two three-and-outs and one with a first down – followed as the Steelers attack roared from a deficit of 24-7.
The first of those stops came after coach Mike Tomlin made the decision to go ahead with a fourth goal and a goal in the third period. Playback was unsuccessful, but the message was sent.
“We were very confident in our defense’s ability to leave them down there,” said Tomlin. “Now, it’s easier said than done.”
A busy race, forced incompleteness and harmless eviction later, however, was the mission accomplished.
“I appreciate the efforts in terms of making this real,” said Tomlin.
Prepared at Indianapolis 39 after a punt, the Steelers’ attack immediately hit the reception for Diontae Johnson’s touchdown. This gave them enough momentum to never look back.
“The defense leaves the field, the attack gets a quick touchdown,” said defense captain Cameron Heyward. “You could feel like, ‘OK, let’s get on this wave a little bit.’ And we keep fighting to get back. ”
The attack was scoring. The defense was shaking Philip Rivers, dismissing him in consecutive attempts. It also ended the Colts’ racing game, limiting running back rookie Jonathan Taylor to 25 yards in the second half.
“We didn’t have enough answers to fight what they were doing,” said Colts coach Frank Reich.
While the biggest defensive play of the game for the Steelers occurred in a Rivers strip-sack during the first quarter, which prepared a 3-yard Steelers push for a touchdown, the biggest impact of the second half was Mike Hilton’s interception with 6 minutes, 5 seconds remaining.
In all, the defense had two takeaways, five sacks, seven QB hits and two tackles for losing in run plays.
“I just can’t say enough about our defense in the second half,” said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, “kind of stopping them, giving us the ball, the guys making moves in the attack. It was very funny.”
Chris Adamski is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Chris by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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Sports | Steelers / NFL