6 Steelers surprises in Saturday’s loss against the Colts

Each week our SCU staff and contributors picks the “surprises” from the Pittsburgh Steelers latest matchup. Check out more below to see which plays and situations surprised us the most!

On Saturday the Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to face the Indianapolis Colts for their Week 15 matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Steelers dropped to a 7-7 record with a 30-13 loss. Here are some of the surprises from that game.

Third-straight loss

As is becoming customary these days, the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to drop winnable games. This time, it was against the Colts, who also started a backup quarterback (Gardner Minshew) much like their previous opponents.

The Colts were also without key playmakers, such as Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman Jr. (Who was was injured ruing the game.) Even Taylor’s backup, Zach Moss, was lost on the opponent’s side in-game.

Unable to stop the run

Despite the Colts not having Taylor or Moss, their backups were able to rack up big yards.

Trey Sermon (88 yards), who is on his third NFL team in as many years, and practice squad elevation Tyler Goodson (69 yards) helped Indy combine for 170 total rushing yards.

That’s unacceptable for any defense let alone one that is as lauded as the Steelers.

Lack of run game

At one point this fall the Steelers were averaging 165.5 yards-per-game running the ball.

That figure has fallen off of a cliff as of late, with teams stacking the box and forcing the quarterback to beat them.

This game was no different, as Jaylen Warren (40 yards) and Najee Harris (33 yards) combined for only 73 yards. QB Mitchell Trubisky finished with only one yard as well.

Not going for a field goal

Want to know the Steelers felt beaten into the second half of this game? Look no further than an 8-play 65 yard drive near the end of the third quarter.

Rather than have K Chris Boswell attempt a 56-yard field goal, indoors, Pittsburgh opted to punt the football from the Indianapolis 39-yard-line.

The 22-yard punt was field at the Colts 17-yard line, and after converting a first down, Indy had already reached the Steelers line of scrimmage. The play didn’t flip the field and didn’t pin the Colts as the result…

15-play drive

…culminated in a 15-play drive. This drive consumed 70 yards and nearly nine minutes of game clock, as the Steelers defense was unable to stop the Colts, who ran the ball all but once on this series. Surprisingly, the Steelers held the Colts to only three points on a 3rd-and-6 where Minshew was finally forced to attempt to throw, which ultimately fell incomplete.

In all, Indianapolis would run the ball 20 times in the second half and 34 times in this game.

Benching Trubisky

Down 14 points with nine minutes remaining in the game, head coach Mike Tomlin stuck with his veteran backup Mitchell Trubisky rather than make a change at the quarterback position.

Trubisky would take his third sack of the evening (all in the second half) before throwing his second interception of the game with 6:05 left on the clock.

The Steelers would get the ball back with 2:08 to go, as they made the switch to QB Mason Rudolph: benching Trubisky for the evening. The move was too late and I question the idea wholeheartedly. Rudolph is coming in cold, playing from behind (14 points) with only two timeouts and the two minute warning to work with.

What message was really sent here? Was this a good message for Trubisky? For Rudolph? For the offense?

If Trubisky was benched to no longer hurt the team, the damage was already done. If Rudolph was brought in to score points, the game was already too far gone at this juncture.

The move was awkward to say the least, especially in a must-win situation with postseason implications on the line. Going forward, does Rudolph finishing the game now mean he will start Saturday against the Bengals? Or will the team force Kenny Pickett onto the field too early from his ankle surgery and risk further damage – physically or mentally – to their developing second-year quarterback?

For all intents and purposes it appeared the coaching staff has run out of answers and is grasping at the straws of a lost season.