What a strange game. At times it looked like a boring affair, at times it had you on the edge of your seat. At times the Steelers looked like they were in cruise control, at times the Colts looked like they were going to pull off the upset. The Steelers looked like they played down to the level of an inferior opponent, a problem that has plagued them all too often in recent seasons. Despite a few late-game scares, the black and gold held on for the win. Recap after the jump.
FIRST QUARTER
Mike Wallace makes a couple big catches on the opening drive. Suisham pushes a 48-yard field goal through the uprights for the first points.
Not Peyton Manning hits a few receivers on quick routes. Ike Taylor gets Reggie Wayne duty for the night. The non-Manning gets pressured and underthrows Wayne, which is good because Ike Taylor just fell over trying to cover him. Punt.
Not intimidated by Kerry Collins.
Ben starts firing passes everywhere. Mike Wallace runs the wrong route on third down and the pass falls incomplete. Ben isn’t happy with him.
Troy almost picks off Collins. He misses the opportunity and the Colts start moving down the field. Collins tries to complete a slant to Dallas Clark on 3rd & 2 but Troy Polamalu’s hair eats the football or something. Punt.
Whenever Ben winds up as far back as he can, you know Mike Wallace is open. No one can catch him. 10-0.
Polamalu sprints across the line at the snap. Collins gets the pass to the dirt. Then Dallas Clark pretends like he can block. James Harrison walks through him to stuff a running play. The Colts punt. Great series by the stars on defense.
Mendenhall can get exactly nowhere on the ground. Not that it matters; the Colts aren’t doing anything to stop the pass yet.
SECOND QUARTER
Ben fumbles and the Colts recover. Can’t cover receivers? Just get to the QB. The Colts are defending the way the Steelers always have.
Polamalu is a force in the backfield and Collins’ pass is dropped by Pierre Garcon. Garcon kicks the ball in frustration, but they don’t bother flagging it even though that’s a penalty.
The Colts start moving the ball down the field. Cam Heyward makes a sick tackle to defend the goal line. Polamalu is at least three of the eleven players on defense. Collins tries to hit Dallas Clark in the end zone when Troy is covering him. No idea why you would try that. They settle for a field goal. 10-3.
Mendy has his best run of the day with a whole 4 yards on the ground. Then Ben starts making things happen, as he is wont to do. He steps up and drills a ball into Antonio Brown’s hands. Freeney sacks Ben and he fumbles the ball again. It gets returned for a touchdown. 10-10. Heath Miller got destroyed by a block trying to make a tackle on the return.
Ben throws an interception. Sanders doesn’t touch the guy down. Someone takes a penalty on the return and the Colts somehow get the ball inside the 15 yard line. They get a field goal for their trouble. 13-10.
Marcus Gilbert got hurt at some point. There has never been a sadder looking human on a sideline than Marcus Gilbert.
HALFTIME
Robert Mathis has a giant face.
Also what was going on with that Wendy’s commercial that went back in time?
THIRD QUARTER
Both teams go into some kind of remission to start and they refuse to do anything exciting. Collinsworth talks about how Kerry Collins can see there’s no blitz coming. James Farrior proceeds to blitz and lands a big hit on Collins. That hit would change the game.
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Mendenhall finally gets a few runs in, but the Colts run defense gets back to business. Weslye Saunders bats a pass into the air but gets back under it for a catch. It’s not enough for a first down. Suisham hits the post.
The Colts go three and out. The punt sails out of bounds.
Ben hits Heath for a billion yard completion. A Heath chant is audible from the invading Steeler fans. Ben rolls out and nearly gets Bledsoe’d on the sideline. He survives.
FOURTH QUARTER
Michele Tafoya informs us that Kerry Collins may have a concussion. James Farrior singlehandedly changed the entire complexion of the game. Doug Legursky gets hurt.
Suisham drills a 44 yard field goal. Tied at 13.
The guy from Nickelback replaces Kerry Collins at QB. Ike Taylor teases him by letting Pierre Garcon run free to the end zone. Overthrown. The Colts punt.
The Colts forget to cover a punt. Blood Type AB makes a nice return. Pat McAfee makes the tackle.
The first time anything named McAfee has stopped something.
Ben gets pressured, escapes, and forgets what comes next so he just waits to get sacked. Back out of field goal range, Sepulveda punts. He nets like 20 yards after the touchback. GOOD THING NO ONE KICKS COFFIN CORNER ANYMORE.
Keenan Lewis forgets how to cover receivers, but Curtis Painter just can’t do anything. Dick LeBeau is not pleased with his DBs.
Ben manages to get himself on Painter’s level and the Steelers have to punt. Despite the total non-entity at QB for the Colts, they still manage to run on the Steelers.
Next play, Troy and Harrison blitz from each side. A running back goes low to block Troy, he hurdles him and gets into Painter’s passing lane in midair. Confused, Painter stands still like a deer in the headlights. That’s when James Harrison strikes. He fumbles the ball and it bounces into Polamalu’s hands. Touchdown. 20-13.
Painter randomly starts completing everything down the field. Keenan Lewis sucks. Troy Polamalu breaks into the backfield but Joseph Addai gets away in time and scores. 20-20.
The Steelers set up at the 20 to try and drive down for the winning score. Mewelde Moore makes a solid catch and run. Ben scrambles for a first down.
Jon Scott goes down. There are no more backup linemen. Marcus Gilbert and his gimpy shoulder come back onto the field. If this keeps going, Heath Miller is going to have to play left tackle. Moore plows up the middle to start running the clock down as the Steelers get into field goal range.
Mysterious Stranger Isaac Redman gets a carry from the fullback position for a first down. Ben takes the ball and downs it at the right hash at Suisham’s request. Suisham delivers. 23-20.
Four seconds left, Curtis Painter heaves the ball down the field… and it hits the turf.
Game over, Nickelback.
- How good was Polamalu? Everywhere on defense.
- Anyone else getting really concerned about the O-line? Not just from a talent perspective, but these guys get hurt every game.
- This game should not have been close. Give the Colts credit for playing well, but the Steelers have some issues to work out.
- The defense will be tested next week against Houston. The Texans are trying to win the AFC South. This game could be more important than any of us realize.
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