And then Gardner Minshew dropped back to pass and navigated a four-man rush by stepping up and then through the gap between outside linebacker T.J. Watt and defensive lineman Armon Watts on the way to the flat. Minshew stayed shy of the line of scrimmage and gradually retreated as he drifted toward the sideline, staying ahead of the pursuit of Watts and defensive tackle Cam Heyward. Minshew gestured with his left hand, presumably to redirect a route downfield, and finally let it fly just before Watts arrived.
The ball found its way over leaping defensive back Trenton Thompson at the 33 and into the hands of wide receiver Michael Pittman at the 28. Pittman wasn’t stopped until he was knocked out of bounds at the Steelers’ 7.
Two plays later the Colts were in the end zone and the game had changed.
That one, the Steelers could dismiss as happenstance, as what can take place when professionals are resourceful enough to improvise a play under pressure when one is necessary.
But the rest was all Indianapolis inflicting its will.
That became most apparent in the ground game. The Colts ended up running for 170 yards and averaging 5.0 yards per carry. Practice squad call-up Tyler Goodson provided 69 yards on 11 attempts, the first 11 carries of his NFL career. And Trey Sermon delivered 88 yards on 17 tries, 1 yard shy of his career high in a career that included stints with San Francisco and Philadelphia prior to landing in Indy.
The Colts ran the ball 13 straight times on a 15-play, 70-yard drive that resulted in a field goal and a 27-13 lead with 9:17 left in the fourth quarter.
The Colts’ third and fourth running backs were more productive than Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.
The Colts also registered four sacks to the Steelers’ three. Like the ground game, that was a matchup the Steelers needed to win going against second-year left tackle Bernhard Raimann and rookie fill-in right tackle Blake Freeland.
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