Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts Monday Night Football Preview

Table – Injury report

Player	Position	Injury	Thu	Fri	Sat	Game Status
Miles Boykin	WR	Oblique	DNP	LP	LP	Questionable
Ahkello Witherspoon	CB	Hamstring	DNP	DNP	DNP	Out
Jaylen Warren	RB	Hamstring	DNP	DNP	DNP	Out
Mason Cole	C	Foot	DNP	LP	FP	(-)
T.J. Watt	OLB	Not Injury Related/Resting Player	DNP	FP	FP	(-)
Cameron Heyward	NT	Not Injury Related/Resting Player	DNP	FP	FP	(-)
Larry Ogunjobi	DT	Not Injury Related/Resting Player/Toe		FP	FP	(-)
James Daniels	G	Groin		LP	FP	(-)
Connor Heyward	TE	Illness		DNP	FP	(-)
Robert Spillane	LB	Ba		LP	LP	Questionable

Colts and Steelers, an age old AFC rivalry, both teams were home to Johnny Unitas at one point in his career, it’s not much of a rivalry since the Steelers own the all time series 26-6, the last time the Colts have beat the Steelers was in 2006 in Pittsburgh. They have met 5 times in the playoffs, 2 divisional games in 1975, 1976 and 2006, 1 wild card game in 1996 and the 1995 AFC Championship game, the Steelers are 5-0 in the playoff vs the Colts. This is the weirdest game in the history of their matchup history because both teams are, well, average. For years the AFC representation in the Super Bowl was either Ben Roethlisberger or Peyton Manning, well, and that pretty boy in New England (He lost to the Browns by the way lmao, L+Ratio). Although the Colts have struggled historically against the Steelers, this game is a chance to keep their playoff hopes alive, they need to win out to have a true chance at the playoffs, some games this past week didn’t go their way, the Bengals won, the Chargers won and the Browns won and the Jets won I think they are giving up on the 5th seed because it’ll go to either the Dolphins or the Bills, the division is all but gone, the Titans are 7-4 while the Colts are 4-6-1, 3.5 games back with 5 games to go, they have a 5% chance at a playoff spot right now and with each win, those odds can climb higher, so lets see how they can win.

Offensive Keys to the Game

1. Hold the Line: It’s been the story of the season and it’s going to be the leading story against a highly potent Steeler pass rush. T.J. Watt is back from his torn pectoral muscle and Cameron Heyward is one of the best interior defensive linemen in the game. Look to hear Alex Highsmith’s name tomorrow if the line falls apart. If the line can hold up and give Ryan time for the play to develop, they can actually win the game.
2. Tight Ends in the RedZone: The Colts have struggled in the RedZone all season, they lost to Philadelphia as a direct result of those struggles but they refuse to use their best weapons, their almost 7 foot former basketball stars who can jump really high and have pretty good hands, inside the 10, toss the ball up to them because they are just bigger than everyone, the defense may know it’s coming but they can’t stop it.
3. Get Your Receivers Involved: The Steelers are bottom of the league in yards allowed to receivers with 2,075 and you have extremely talented players who have been held back by the line’s inability to give time for them to run their routs. Taking shots down the field are going to be the main way to get the ball moving down the field, use your big receivers for deep shots and try to draw PI’s like they did last season with Wentz.

Defensive Keys to the Game

1. Make Pickett Win the Game: A rookie quarterback is bound to make mistakes and Pickett hasn’t shown he is able to be a superstar and win a game, they are 2-4 when Pickett starts without scoring over 20 points.
2. One Dimension: The Steelers have leaned on Najee Harris while the Colts defense is one of the best against the run. Getting Harris to become a non-threat is the true main objective of the offense, last week they proved they can make any offense look bad when they stop the run as effectively as they can and that was against Jalen Hurts.
3. Turnovers: Kenny Pickett is a young quarterback and you have to expect him to make some mistakes and the defense needs to capitalize on it. Last week, the PI against Bobby Okereke easily could have an interceptions if he just turned for the ball to make a play on it, the Colts would have won. You can’t give mistakes away to the offense, especially an offense this young.

Player of the Game Prediction

The Steelers have been bad against the pass and Micheal Pittman Jr has been quiet for a while, he has had 3 100 yard reception games this season, I could see him going on a run assuming the line play improves

12 REC, 109 YDS, 2 TD

Score Prediction

If the Colts win this game, this would be the score, I honestly have no faith in them at this point 

Colts: 23

Steelers: 13