Dopey Report Card: Colts vs. Steelers

The game was pretty self-explanatory -- six turnovers, you don't have a ghost of a chance.

RUN OFFENSE

It was the first dud of the season in the running game. Jonathan Taylor rushed 14 times for 45 yards and as a group, the Colts ran 19 times for 55 yards, a 2.5 average. Could Steichen have given Taylor more carries? Maybe slightly, but the Colts consistently have thrown a lot in the first half to open up the run game. And for a good portion of the second half, the Colts were desperately behind, so they had no choice but to throw. This will be a recurring theme in today’s Report Card: The offensive line, so great all season, got its butt whipped.

Grade: D

RUN DEFENSE

As bad as they were running the ball, that’s how great they were in stopping the run. The Steelers got nothing, 23 rushes for 38 yards, a 1.7 yard-per-carry average. People will look at the final score and assume the Colts defense got lit up. Truth is, they played a terrific game. This was all on the offense, which turned the ball over six times and forced the defense to consistently defend on short fields.

Grade: A

PASS OFFENSE

This is what Daniel Jones and virtually every other NFL quarterback looks like when they’re under siege all day. This wasn’t a return to the mean; this was simply a system breakdown. Jones finished 31-of-50 for 342 yards, but he got sacked five times, lost a fumble on a T.J. Watt strip sack and was intercepted three times, . The Colts had previously gone all season without a 100-yard receiver, but had two of them Sunday, Michael Pittman (9 catches for 115 yards) and Alec Pierce (6 for 115). Again, this was largely on the O-line, which got worked by Watt, Alex Highsmith and friends.

Grade: D

PASS DEFENSE

Yeah, Jaylon Jones committed a bad penalty in the second half when he tried to defend teammate Kenny Moore II after he’d been trucked by Pittsburgh receiver D.K. Metcalf. But after missing more than a month with injury, he played extremely well, allowing Metcalf just two catches for six yards. Aaron Rodgers was just pedestrian, throwing for 203 yards, but he and the Steelers had so many short fields, it was almost impossible to keep them off the board. Remember, those six turnovers resulted in 24 of the Steelers’ 27 points. So not a bad day for the pass defense, and here, we must note that Laiatu Latu had a monster game -- maybe, the Colts hope, a breakout game -- with a career-high six tackles, four solo, three tackles for loss and 2 1/2 sacks.

Grade: B

SPECIAL TEAMS

Well, I liked the not-so-fake fake punt conversion on fourth down early. The Colts were 5-of-5 in fourth-down conversions, by the way. But special teams struggled because Josh Downs, filling in at punt returner for the injured Anthony Gould, muffed one punt and completely misplayed another, failing to catch a deep punt that eventually left the Colts in terrible field position.

Grade: D

COACHING

It really wasn’t a surprise that Shane Steichen went for it on fourth down five times, twice in the Colts’ own end -- not if you’ve been watching them all year. Now we find out if him and his coaching staff can manage a rare loss and not let it dovetail into yet another in Berlin against the Falcons. This is an important stretch of the season.

Grade: C

INTANGIBLES

Must be something in the Pittsburgh water. The Colts can’t win there. They’re now 2-16 lifetime at what used to be known as Heinz Field. Even when Indy is on a roll and playing well, they always play out of character when they come to Pittsburgh. I’m willing to give them a mulligan on this one. At the start of the season, who wouldn’t have taken 7-2 and leading the AFC in a heartbeat? Shoot, most of us (hand up) thought this was going to be a disaster. Instead, we’re getting this. Not complaining.

Grade: F