Following each game in the 2025 Steelers season, I will once again be giving you my 10 takes. These aren’t going to be hot takes that are meant to shock the world. This will be instant reactions to the game written while still in that period just following the game when the emotions are high, and the ideas are fresh. Included will be thoughts, observations, queries and reasons that caused me to yell at the television. Here are 10 takes from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 27-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Regular Season Week 9 vs Indianapolis Colts
1. Can They Capitalize? – Following the failure to score after the muffed punt, I had my doubts. After each subsequent turnover, I wrote that question in my notes. They answered with a resounding yes. Twenty-four points off of their turnovers. Six in total from a team that only had thrown two interceptions and had three fumbles on offense coming in.
Pittsburgh is a vastly different team when they create turnovers. I wish they would spread them out a bit throughout all the games.
2. Situational Awareness – Some people have it, some don’t. For some, it’s saying something inappropriate in the wrong situation. On the football field, it’s knowing what to do on a particular play. Especially when you have a lead and want to control the clock. First it was Kenneth Gainwell. He caught a short pass where Aaron Rodgers led him right into a running lane where he could get the first down.
Instead, he broke outside and was three yards short. Then it was Roman Wilson. Ugh, Roman. I thought you had turned the corner last week. And today, you try to hurdle a guy when all you need to do is dive forward. Teaching moments, I suppose, but man, it’s frustrating.
3. Premo Pressure – The pass rush had been mostly quiet in recent weeks. The prospects of that improving prior to this game did not look good. The Colts had given up just nine sacks on the season. But three of those were last week. The Steelers were able to get to Daniel Jones five times in this game. And it came from all directions. Alex Highsmith led the way with two, and it looked like the left tackle had hooked or held him and Nick Herbig multiple other times. Similar to getting turnovers, this defense is simply different when they get pressure.
I’m sure it made Dick LeBeau happy.
4. Speed Thinker – Aaron Rodgers’ brain is on another level than most players. His ability to identify, digest and make decisions in a split second is fascinating to watch. Sometimes, the Steelers receivers are on the same level, and you see those quick passes that go for good gains. Other times, they aren’t. And you see the pass catchers with confused looks on their faces as the ball tumbles on the ground behind them. He has been a stark difference for this offense compared to last year. He has 17 touchdown passes in eight games. Last year, the team had a total of 23 in 18 games.
5. Chewing Gum Makes You Smarter – A penalty on an extra point gave special teams coach Danny Smith a chance to flex his brain. He made a Belichick-ian decision that made the game announcers confused. The penalty had Chris Boswell kicking off from the 50. In past years, kickers would just drill it out of the back of the end zone. Now a team would get the ball at the 35.
Normally, a kick out of bounds gives the team the ball at the 40-yard line. Twenty-five yards from where they kicked off. Kicking it out of bounds from the 50 gives them the ball at the 25-yard line or where the ball when out of bounds. Impressive knowledge of the rules.
6. Fourth Down Follies – We’ve talked about this teams struggles to get off the field on third down. Have you met fourth down? Coming into the game, the Steelers had allowed the third most conversions on fourth down. Twelve made attempts in 18 opportunities. Not particularly good. The Colts were 5-for-5 on fourth down today. And quite honestly, none of them were even close to being stopped.
The defense did a lot of good things in this game, but there are so many things that still need to be better.
7. Like a Greased Pig – A substantial improvement by the run defense. With the league leader Jonathan Taylor coming in, on paper, it looked like it could be ugly. The front seven did an excellent job to clog the lanes and keep him just 45 yards. His season low by more than 20 yards. But I’ll tell you what: I bet about 2/3 of those yards came after contact. He had guys slip off him in every direction. Made subtle cuts or changes of speed to make defenders miss. That dude is hard to hit squarely and is impressive in tight quarters.
8. The Tape is Telling – The last few weeks, Pittsburgh’s opponents are not only finding a vulnerability in the passing defense, but exploiting it as well. Repeatedly. The Bengals ran a ton of slant routes, and they were easy completions. The Packers just dumped it off to their tight end and let him go to work.
This week, it was out routes. The majority of the completions were on out routes between the levels of zone coverage or straight up beating the corners in man. The vast majority were easy pitch-and-catch completions. It didn’t hurt them today, but we saw the effect in the previous two games.
9. JPJ and Who Else Can Play – The defensive backfield has been a revolving door. The safeties were banged up this week. Darius Slay has to come out of the game twice after getting dinged up. Brandin Echols was solid today with six tackles, a pass break up and a quarterback hit. Should James Pierre get another chance? He’s had some in the past and had his difficulties. He’s aggressive and has decent size. He only had 46 defensive snaps coming into this game, and he got his fourth pass break up in that limited duty.
Maybe they should mix him in a little more.
10. Benton is Close – At first look, I would say Keeanu Benton played well. He is now up to 3.5 sacks on the season. He is on pace to set a career high in tackles. What I see with him a lot is he is just missing or just slipping off plays. Particularly against the run. I think he is beating his man more frequently and close to being in the right spot more consistently. If he can continue this progress, he is on the verge of making a lot more impact plays. His time is coming.