Steelers Offense Stumbles as Pittsburgh Trails Indianapolis Colts 17-3 at Half
The Pittsburgh Steelers head to Indianapolis to play the Colts in Week 5 in a battle of young quarterbacks at Lucas Oil Stadium. At halftime, the Colts lead the Steelers 17-03.
Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson was injured last season and missed most of the year. He’s hoping to redeem himself in 2024, but the Colts have played to just a 1-2 record. Meanwhile, Steelers quarterback Justin Fields has his team off to a fast start at 3-0 and hopes to keep the starting job and resurrect his career even after Russell Wilson is healthy.
It was Richardson & Co. that got the fast start on Sunday by marching 70 yards in eight plays for a two-yard Jonathan Taylor touchdown run that gave the Colts a 7-0 lead early. Taylor carried five times for 29 yards on the drive including the scoring run.
The Steelers offense couldn’t answer and was forced to punt after eight plays and 29 yards.
Indy put together another impressive drive that resulted in a score after Richardson exited the game with an injury. Joe Flacco came on in relief and threw a four-yard touchdown pass to wideout Josh Downs for a 14-0 lead over the Steelers with 2:34 left in the first quarter.
Down 14 points, the Steelers tried to get aggressive on the next series but failed to convert a 4th and 1 from their own 39-yard line giving Flacco and the Colts a short field to work with at the beginning of the second quarter.
Indy added to its lead with a 33-yard Matt Gay field goal that pushed the score to 17-0 and put Pittsburgh’s unblemished record in jeopardy.
A George Pickens fumble extinguished a Steelers scoring threat late in the second quarter as the Steelers’ No. 1 wideout coughed up the ball at the Indy 10-yard line to be recovered by Colts safety Nick Cross.
Fields is just 10-of-13 for 120 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions, while Cordarrelle Patterson has six carries for 43 yards. Darnell Washington leads the team with one catch for 20 yards.
Chris Boswell added a 50-yard field goal as time expired in the half to put the first points for the Steelers on the board.
The Steelers’ offense has managed 180 total yards in the first half and will take the ball first in the second half.
