Steelers survive crapfest in Indianapolis, 23-20

Colts quarterback Kerry Collins was forced to leave last night's game with a concussion that was either caused by a hit from James Farrior, or the realization that he was 13 of 29  for 93 yards passing while his team was ahead 13-10 in the second half.

After the first quarter it looked as though the Steelers would beat a bad team like a bad team should be beaten. Big Ben threw for 171 yards and Mike Wallace already had 100+ yards receiving, including an amazing over-the-shoulder-grab that went for an 81-yard touchdown.  The Steelers were cruising 10-0.

And then, crapfest began when Pittsburgh turned the ball over on three straight possessions, which the Colts quickly converted into 13 points.  A sack/fumble led to Indianapolis' first points of the game, a field goal.  On the following possession with under two-minutes to go before the half, Ben was sacked from the blind side near midfield.  This time the fumble was scooped up and returned for a touchdown to tie the game at 10-10.  If that wasn't enough, on the NEXT possession a frustrated Roethlisberger went for the crap-trick and woefully overthrew his intended target, resulting in an interception that led to a Colts field goal and a 10-13 halftime deficit.

If the Steelers offensive line had played just a little better they would have stunk badly.  Every time Ben took the snap he was instantly swarmed by no less than five blue jerseys.  Jonathan Scott, who ostensibly is responsible for protecting Ben's blind side, was forced to leave the game due to an injury and Ben hardly would have known the difference if the Steelers played with no line at all.  Bruce Arians, Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator, might consider drawing up a 9-wide receiver offense to at least give Ben four more targets while he's being chased.

Inexplicably, Wallace (who was unstoppable in the first quarter) was virtually ignored the rest of the game as the Steelers suddenly became committed to the ground game no matter how incredibly futile it was.  Rashard Mendenhall ran every direction on the field except north or south and finished with a mere 37 yards on about 180 carries.

Mewelde Moore replaced Mendenhall on Pittsburgh's final drive and gained 33 all-purpose yards on just three touches, including a 22-yard catch with 1:24 to go that moved the ball from the Steelers' own 36-yard line to inside Colt's territory.  That play helped set up Shaun Suisham's game-winning 38-yard field goal with 04 seconds to go.

Suisham hit two other field goals, both from 40+ yards out, but wasn't completely left out of the crap festivities as he missed a 38-yarder that would have tied the game in the third quarter and saved Steeler Nation from temporary convulsive shock.

 

The Steeler defense held its streak of 11 consecutive quarters without a turnover until James Harrison managed Pittsburgh's only sack of the game, which caused Colts quarterback Curtis "Goldilocks" Painter to fumble the ball and allowed Polamalu, Troy Polamalu to snatch it up and run 16-yards for a touchdown.  

That score put the Steelers ahead 20-13 with just over five minutes left in the game, and looked like it would be the game-winner.  But, no, not for crapfest.

"Goldilocks," who single-handedly kept the Colts from a perfect season in 2009 led Indianapolis on a 10 play, 80-yard touchdown drive to tie the game!  Painter, who replaced the concussed Kerry Collins, completed only 5 of 11 passes, bouncing most of them three-to-five yards in front of wide-open receivers.

Suffice it to say, this Steeler team has issues.

There were, however, a few bright spots.  Big Ben finished 25 of 37 passing for 364 yards.  Imagine what he could with a line that could actually pass block . . . say for . . . three seconds?  Heath Miller (remember him?) caught five passes for 71 yards, and Antonio Brown shined again with 75 yards receiving and another 65 yards on punt returns.