With only an 11-point lead in the third quarter on Saturday, the Indianapolis Colts decided to make a statement about how much they feared the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And this was no time to mess around. Coming in with identical 7-6 records, the two teams were embroiled in the most consequential game of Week 15 in terms of the AFC playoff picture. Neither team could afford a loss, and the winner would increase its playoff hopes substantially.
Yet the Indianapolis Colts didn’t seem deterred by the game’s implications or fazed by the Steelers. After all, the Colts had just scored 24 straight unanswered points. They had watched the Steelers’ fumble, fizzle and fade after jumping to a 13-0 lead.
The Indianapolis Colts had seen the Steelers lose not one, not two, but three safeties to injuries in that game alone. And then came the onslaught of Steelers’ penalties — eight overall for 101 yards.
So, with the Steelers spiraling out of control, the Colts poured lemon juice on the Steelers’ wounds with one of the most demoralizing drives of the season on their way to a 30-13 drubbing.
Indianapolis Colts run over the Steelers
With 3:14 left in the third quarter and the ball on their own 17-yard line, the Indianapolis Colts resorted to smash-mouth football. It didn’t matter that they were playing without Jonathan Taylor, sidelined with a wrist injury, or that Zach Moss injured his arm while scoring a touchdown in the second quarter and was also out for the game.
And it didn’t matter that their third-string back, Trey Sermon, had only 11 carries all season, and that their fourth-string back, Tyler Goodson, had zero.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew, who threw three TD passes in the game, just turned and handed the ball to Sermon over and over and over again. And when they didn’t give it to Sermon, it was Goodson’s turn.
And as they ran the ball play after play, the Colts physically manhandled the Steelers all the way down the field. In all, the Colts called 13 consecutive running plays — and the Steelers could do nothing to stop it.
Behind Sermon’s 57 yards on 10 carries, the Indianapolis Colts went 70 yards in 15 plays, eating up nearly nine minutes on the clock. The end result on the scoreboard was only three points — a 31-yard field goal by Matt Gay to put the Colts up 27-13. But this was a beatdown, one team imposing its will on another. And Indianapolis effectively hammered its point home about which was the better team on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium.
With the victory, the Colts (8-6) improved its playoff probability from 47 to 65 percent and moved into the seventh and final spot in the AFC playoff race, at least for now.
Under first-year coach Shane Steichen, who’s in the Coach of the Year conversation, the Colts have now doubled their win total from a year ago. They control their own fate and have a manageable schedule, with games against the Falcons, Raiders and Texans.
For Steelers, it’s only getting worse
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh’s fourth straight loss dropped its playoff probability to 17 percent. The Steelers, facing all kinds of questions about their offense and their overall direction under Mike Tomlin, sit in the 11th position in the AFC with games remaining against the Bengals, Seahawks, and AFC-leading Ravens.
The Steelers’ offense only produced 216 yards and scored fewer than 20 points for the fifth straight week. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, starting again in place of Kenny Pickett, threw two interceptions and continued to prove he’s not the answer. He was pulled for third-string QB Mason Rudolph late in the fourth quarter.
The Steelers are hoping to get Pickett back as soon as next week from his ankle injury. But at this point, it might be too late to help salvage their season.