2024 Steelers Season Recall: Steelers suffer first setback with road loss to Colts

Steel City Underground presents our 2024 Steelers Recall: a look back at Pittsburgh Steelers games and storylines from last season.

After going 3-0 over the course of the first three weeks of the 2024 NFL regular season, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a golden opportunity against a statistically inferior Indianapolis Colts team at Lucas Oil Stadium to move to 4-0. Instead, sluggish play on both sides of the ball culminated in a comeback riddled with errors.

If you had asked most casual observers is 24 points would’ve been enough for Pittsburgh to defeat Indy, the safe answer would be yes. Heading into Sunday’s game, the Steelers defense allowed a combined 26 points total in their first three games. Every online casino you looked at had the Steelers as favorites, with at least a -1 advantage before kickoff.

However, the Colts jumped out to an early 17-0 lead and never looked back as Pittsburgh’s defense looked helpless at times to stop backup QB Joe Flacco.

A league-leading Steelers defense allowed themselves to be dominated in both the run and pass game despite playing one of the worst-rated offenses as of Week 3. The Colts were allowed to convert 8-of-15 third-down conversions. The inability to hold continually set Pittsburgh back, especially with running back Jonathan Taylor and quarterback Anthony Richardson chewing up 70 yards in just the first quarter alone.

After Richardson was forced out of the game, due to a hip injury suffered in a play with Minkah Fitzpatrick, the Steelers defense tightened but didn’t suffocate the Colts. Veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, no stranger to the Steelers, surgically dissected them through the passing game.

Flacco would carve up the Steelers from the jump, extending the ongoing drive and finishing with a touchdown pass to WR Josh Downs that put the Colts up 14-0. Indianapolis would never fall behind in the game as Flacco finished 16-of-26 for 168 yards and two touchdowns to cap off the Colts victory.

By halftime, the Steelers were down 17-3 and looked perplexed and gassed.

The offense got off to a very slow start. It didn’t help that offensive guard James Daniels was injured, requiring Spencer Anderson to play right guard. The run game couldn’t get rolling initially and the receiving game was unable to open up due to pressure the Colts applied by stacking the box.

In the end, the Steelers offense scored a season-high 24 points.

It could have been more had receiver George Pickens not lost his hold on the ball on a great reception that the Colts recovered; that play would have put Pittsburgh in the red zone for a touchdown opportunity.

Mistakes were deadly. For a team that had taken care of the ball through three games, they didn’t appear as able to do so against the Colts. They might have scored a game-tying field goal or a winning touchdown had Zach Frazier not snapped the football into the side of Justin Fields’ helmet during a final-minutes drive. And Fields, himself, lost a ball while being sacked by not falling on it as he went to the turf.

The Steelers did have fight left in them. In the second half of the game, both the offense and defense found ways to be more successful. Fields struggled throughout the first half of the game but turned in a historic performance for Steelers quarterbacks before it was all said and done.

By completing 22 of his 34 passes for 312 yards, and rushing for a team-high 55 yards, Fields became the first Steelers quarterback to have over 300 yards passing, 50 yards rushing, and both a passing and rushing touchdown in the same game.

Despite clawing their way back into the game, they ultimately fell to the Colts, 27-24. Despite the loss, a 3-1 record found the Steelers still top the AFC North as they prepared for a showdown with the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5.