If the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) want to stay in control of the AFC home field race, they must avoid a stumble Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts (3-6) at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The game will be brought to you by the fine folks at CBS at 1 p.m. EST.
The Game: Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts (+10)
O/U: 45.0
The History
The Steelers and Colts have played 29 times since 1950 with Pittsburgh holding a commanding 23-6 lead in the all time series.
Pittsburgh has won the last four match ups between the two teams dating back to September 25, 2011. Last season the Steelers won 28-7 at Lucas Oil Stadium, with Ben Roethlisberger facing off against perennial pariah Scott Tolzien. Roethlisberger finished 14 of 20 for 221 yards and three touchdowns. Tolzien was 22 of 36 for 205 yards, one touchdown and two picks.
Indianapolis and Pittsburgh have met five times in the playoffs with the Steelers holding a 5-0 edge there. Their last postseason match up was on January 15, 2006, a 21-18 Pittsburgh victory. That time it was Roethlisberger vs Peyton Manning. Roethlisberger was 14 of 24 for 197 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. Manning was 22 of 38 for 290 yards and a touchdown.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS (6-2)
The Steelers bounced back from what looked like a season ruining performance in a 30-9 beat down at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars to win three straight games, two over 2016 playoff teams. They followed that with a 19-13 win over the then unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs, a 29-14 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals and then a 20-15 win over the Detroit Lions two weeks ago.
Ben Roethlisberger had his best statistical game of the season, completing 17 of 31 for 317 yards and a touchdown. A lot of that came on a 97 yard touchdown pass to rookie wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster. Smith-Schuster finished with seven catches for 193 yards and that crazy long touchdown.
While the defense held the Lions to five field goals, they surrendered a ton of yards. Matthew Stafford threw for 423 yards and Marvin Jones Jr. caught six passes for 128 yards. Defensively, the Steelers sacked Stafford twice and got seven stops in the backfield. And, regardless of the yardage total, they kept Detroit out of the end zone.
Pittsburgh’s injury report just has two names on it. Back up outside linebacker James Harrison is out with a back injury. Safety Mike Mitchell practiced all week and should play.
Le’Veon Bell had light work (for him) against the Lions, carrying the ball 25 times for 76 yards and a touchdown. He’ll get plenty of opportunities early against the Colts, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him sitting out this game if it’s out of hand in the fourth.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (3-6)
Indianapolis pulled out of a three game losing streak with a 20-14 victory over the Deshaun Watson-less Houston Texans last Sunday. Jacoby Brissett carved up the Texans defense to the tune of 20 for 30 for 308 yards and two touchdowns.
Brissett connected early and often with T.Y. Hilton. Hilton had five catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns. Jack Doyle caught eight passes for 63 yards. Frank Gore plugged away for 51 yards on 17 carries.
While the Colts can definitely say they’ve improved their defense this season, it’s difficult to take the stats from last week’s game as part of that progress. Tom Savage was starting for Houston and that’s just going to skew the data. He was 19 of 44 for 219 yards and a touchdown. If nothing else, the fact that this game was close should worry Indianapolis on their prospects for winning another game.
The defense won’t be helped by the absence of linebacker John Simon again. Wide receiver Kamar Aiken won’t play either. Hilton and Quincy Wilson are both listed as questionable, but should suit up.
The Pick
The Colts are going to finish this season with a losing record and get a new head coach for their troubles. That’s the bright side. Brissett has maxed out what he can do as a starting quarterback, so there’s another positive. Roethlisberger hasn’t yet come close this season to performing up to his abilities. Maybe he does Sunday. I like the points. Steelers 31, Colts 20
This week
Straight up: 1-0
Against the spread: 1-0
Last week
Straight up: 9-4
Against the spread: 11-2
Season
Straight up: 78-54
Against the spread: 69-62
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