The Colts’ last “real” test will come this weekend. They will be in Pittsburgh on Sunday Nigh Football to see if they can keep the train rolling on their three game win streak. This game isn’t going to be easy and it very well could turn into a blowout like last season. Last year the Colts flew into Pittsburgh after ripping off five wins in a row only to get stomped by Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers air attack weapons. Especially when Vontae Davis left early with an injury. Roethlisberger threw for over 500 yards 
and 6 touchdowns against the Colts last season in what seemed to be an effortless win for the Steelers. This season is a little different though as Big Ben has been banged up throughout the season and pulled himself from the game last week due to concussion-like symptoms. He has been cleared to practice and more than likely will suit up and play this Sunday. The Colts secondary this season hasn’t been up to snuff for the most part and this game coming up will more than likely be the best wide receiver corps they have faced all season. Antonio Brown is a top three wide receiver in the NFL and it’s debatable that he could be considered the outright best. He had a 100+ yard game last year against the Colts to go along with his two touchdowns. Add the ever emerging Martavius Bryant to the mix and that is a deadly one-two punch from Pittsburgh before we even mention the explosiveness of Marcus Wheaton, the out of nowhere good again Darius Heyward-Bey, and the always reliable Heath Miller.
I do think the Colts have a chance to beat Pittsburgh, but it will have to be another great defensive game much like the second half of last week’s win against Tampa Bay. I have a few keys to this game for a Colts victory. If the Colts can do these few things then a win should be in the cards.
1. Sack Ben Roethlisberger
Last week in the second half of the Bucs game the Colts were able to get a good amount of pressure on Jameis Winston and ended the game with 5 sacks. The Steelers offensive line hasn’t given up a ton of sacks and Ben is difficult to bring down even when you do hit him, but they have allowed pressure on the quarterback. If the Colts are able to get pressure on Big Ben they will need to be bring their lunch to get him to the ground. He is a big, strong, and very savvy when it comes to feeling pressure coming up on him. If the Colts get to him they will have to bring him down because he can still make great throws in the face of pressure. Pressure alone will not do much to rattle this veteran signal caller. Fortunately our tackling has been drastically improved over the past few seasons.
2. Limit Antonio Brown
Normally I would say “shut down Player X”, but that just isn’t the case here. You cannot shut down Antonio Brown. Containing the damage he does is something that can happen. Vontae isn’t having the pro-bowl season he had last year, but still has it in him to turn in a good game. Brown moves all over the field so Greg Toler and Darius Butler (who was burned tons last years after Davis went out) will also have their shot at covering Brown. Neither of the three can shut him down though limiting yards after the catch and not allowing him to blow the top off the defense are things they can do and will have to do. If the Colts secondary allows Brown to do his thing it’s going to be a long day. We have all seen Brown end games with 200+ yards receiving and that could happen this Sunday night if the Colts don’t limit him. Mike Adams appears to be back in the lineup for this game and should really help limit the homerun bombs from the scary duo.
3. Get The Running Game Going Early
Getting the running game going early is going to be the best thing for this Colts offense. Matt Hasselbeck has played out of his mind. He has been great for the Colts this season while Andrew Luck is healing, however, he took more hits last week than I have seen him take in all the other games he has played. If Luck is going to need a few more weeks to heal then they should be trying to preserve Hasselbeck as much as possible. Frank Gore didn’t get his game going much last week and that will need to change this week. Chalk that up to an offensive line shake up and a very good linebacking core from Tampa if you want. Ahmad Bradshaw was placed on IR again so it’s going to be up to Gore, a returning Daniel “Boom” Herron, and Zurlon Tipton this week. Gore has been dealing a small injury, but from all reports it’s going to take a tank to keep down Frank. Thankfully Boom still knows our system and Tipton can give some relief in the least.
4. Use The Tight Ends
I feel like a broken record on this topic, but I still haven’t seen a ton of use of the tight ends. We have two of the best young tight ends in the NFL and they haven’t seen much action lately and that needs to change. The Steelers defense cannot keep up with Coby Fleener and cannot handle Walter Payton Man of the Year Award finalist Dwayne Allen if they are open in the middle of the field. I know that Donte Moncrief and T.Y.Hilton are turning up big for the team, but by utilizing the tight ends in the middle of the field that will open the deep routes because the safeties will have to come down to help the linebackers in coverage. Rob Chudzinski has done a great job of play calling since taking over. He hasn’t done much of the one thing I thought he would do more of and that is to find Allen, Fleener or Jack Doyle in the middle or in the seam down the middle deep. This can really help blow this game open and should be used to get the offense going early.
As I said before, I think the Colts have a chance this week. This isn’t a game that I’m already chalking up as a loss. If they can go to Pittsburgh and win then there isn’t much stopping them from running the table and ending up 11-5 at the end of the season. However, if the Colts do lose this weekend that isn’t the end all be all for this season (especially with the Texans playing the Patriots). This team can still get to 10-6 and win the AFC South. This week is just another big test to see where this team really is and if they are for real or if they are ready to give up. I don’t think they are ready to give up and sure haven’t shown that they are ready to pick it in for this season.
