5 Things Learned: Steelers Pressure Causes Rare Colts Loss

1. Watt Changes The Game

Go ahead and circle the T.J. Watt strip sack/recovery of Daniel Jones as where this game turned. After the Colts had successfully faked a punt, they were back across midfield early in the 2nd quarter, looking to add to their 7-0 lead. A score there, and it’s quite possible that breaks a teetering Steelers bunch. But instead Watt wrecked the game. He beat Braden Smith in a 1-on-1 rep on 1^st-and-10. With Daniel Jones not feeling the pressure, Watt made a tremendous play to get the strip, and also the recovery. Just like that, the Steelers had life. From there, this was an old fashioned Steelers whipping from their defensive front 7 against a Colts front that’s’ been so good this season. The Steelers forced 5 turnovers of Jones (3 interceptions, 2 fumbles) with 5 sacks leading that charge. And this was from a Pittsburgh defense that had been reeling immensely coming into Sunday, particularly in the secondary. The Steelers entered Sunday having gone 13 quarters without a turnover. It’s hard to say one play changed a 60-minute game, but this one by Watt led to an avalanche of Steelers pressure the rest of the way.

2. Not Enough Jonathan Taylor?

Throughout this 2025 season, Shane Steichen has fully embraced his mantra of “throw to score, run to win.” And, prior to Sunday, it’s been flawless. The Colts have built huge leads early in games behind mostly the air attack, and then Taylor has run away the rest of the game. On Sunday, many fans questioned the Taylor usage in the first half, but this was pretty right on cue for Steichen in 2025. For me, the issue wasn’t a lack of commitment in Taylor, but more the run game’s effectiveness. Taylor had 8 carries for 23 yards at halftime, held to a long rush of 6 yards. In the third quarter, with the game still in balance, Taylor had 6 carries or 22 yards, with a long of 9. Simply, credit to the Steelers for neutralizing the star running back unlike any team we’ve seen so far in 2025.

3. Daniel Jones Has Off Sunday

With the acknowledgement above on poor offensive line play and little to nothing from Jonathan Taylor, Sunday was also the rockiest afternoon we’ve seen from Daniel Jones in a Colts uniform. Jones finished 27-of-44 for 294 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 interceptions and 2 fumbles. In the drive following the T.J. Watt strip sack, Jones had his worst interception of the season. Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson read the eyes of Jones as the quarterback got to his second read of Josh Downs. Wilson stepped right in front of Downs for the INT deep in Indy territory. Later in the 3^rd, Jones’ third turnover of the game came with the Steelers getting yet another hand on his pass at the line of scrimmage with this one resulting in a deflected interception. That happened a few too many times on Sunday. With the offensive line not aiding, Jones also had his most erratic day, with the Steelers all over his first and second reads. What is most frustrating about the day for Jones is the turnovers detailed above didn’t come on 3^rd-and-longs. Two were 1^st down and another was on 2^nd-and-1, all with the Colts still very much in the game. The 2025 Daniel Jones has been nothing like what we saw on Sunday. While the offensive help around him via a run game and consistent protection wasn’t there, the quarterback also had his own poorest day of the season.

4. Trade Deadline Needs?

Will the Colts be a buyer? That’s now the question with the trade deadline 48 hours away. And while Sunday’s loss didn’t fall to the blame of the Colts defense, the trade deadline need remains on that side of the ball (the Steelers showed on Sunday what an effective edge rush can do). The Colts have had interest in adding to their middling defense. Will that lead to the old phrase of “deadlines spur action” in seeing the Colts execute just their 2^nd ever in-season trade under the 9 years of Chris Ballard. If you look at recent history, Super Bowl Champions have almost always been a top-flight pass rushing group. That can’t be said by the Colts right now, with a possible in-house improvement in that area not as possible as pass coverage (a return of Jaylon Jones on Sunday + Charvarius Ward). Again, the only in-season trade we’ve seen in the Ballard era was moving Nyheim Hines to the Bills in 2022. If this 2025 Colts defense can improve slightly, it could be the difference in going through an AFC that is still looking like a juggernaut at quarterback (current playoff QBs: Bo Nix, Drake Maye, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes).

5. Rare 2025 Colts Humbling

Anytime your second loss of the season comes in November you are a good football team. Now, these sorts of games (away from home/against improved competition) are going to show up a few more times on the schedule compared to the first half. What this loss does though is it creates a little mid-season angst as the Colts head to Berlin. The Falcons aren’t some great NFC team, but with a game at Kansas City waiting after the Colts bye, it’s important to get that one and avoid a potential 3-game losing streak, heading into a heavy AFC South close to the schedule. A 7-2 record is, obviously, a terrific mark. But the Jaguars are just one game back in the loss column at 4-3, and both meetings with them remain there. Again, just a little added pre-urgency bye week.

6. NFL: DEC 16 Steelers at Colts

QUICK HITTERS

-Injury Report: The following Colts were inactive on Sunday: DL-Tyquan Lewis (groin), DE-Samson Ebukam (knee), WR-Anthony Gould (knee), S-Reuben Lowery III, RB-D.J. Giddens, TE-Will Mallory, OT-Luke Tenuta. The following players got injured and did not return:

–Key Stat: The Steelers forced 6 turnovers on Sunday, the most for the franchise since 2010.

-What’s Next: The Colts (7-2) are heading to Berlin next week, giving up a home game to take on the Falcons (3-6). It’s a 9:30 AM Sunday kick in Week 10, with a bye to follow.