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The 6-5 Indianapolis Colts hit the road to face the 6-5 Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday evening. The Colts are currently tied on top of the AFC South division with the Houston Texans. Meanwhile, the Steelers are currently tied with three other teams for two Wild Card spots. With this game having playoff implications for both sides, it will be interesting to see which team comes away with a victory.
The Colts have been on a roll of late. They are currently riding a three-game winning streak and just beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-12 last Sunday. For the second straight game, the Indy staged a second-half comeback by outscoring the Buccaneers 19-0 in the final two quarters. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck threw for 312 passing yards and two touchdowns in his fourth start of the season. In addition to Hasselbeck’s solid performance, the team’s defense was very good. After allowing the Buccaneers to score on all their drives in the first half, the Colts shut them out in the second half. They need another performance like this in order to beat the Steelers.
The Steelers have had a rocky 2015 season. The team has struggled with consistency because of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s injuries. It seems like Roethlisberger suffers an injury every week. Recently, he suffered a concussion in his team’s 39-30 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. While he has been cleared to play against the Colts, the Steelers are still concerned about him because their success is dependent on his health, and he has already missed four games this season. Also, the Steelers need to be better on pass defense. Their defense surrendered 336 passing yards and five touchdowns against the Seahawks. The unit has to play much better in the upcoming matchup against the Colts.
After seeing the success the Seahawks had against the Steelers’ struggling secondary, the Colts will most likely try to exploit that same weakness this weekend. Wideouts T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief are more than capable of using their speed and agility to get open consistently. At the same time, the Colts’ defense has forced seven turnovers in the past three games, and the Steelers just had four turnovers against the Seahawks. The Colts are going to take some chances on defense to try to force the Steelers into some mistakes. If the Colts can create a couple of turnovers, they have a very good chance of pushing their record to 7-5.
The Steelers are confident they can pass the ball at will against the Colts’ secondary. Their talented receivers should win any matchup against the Colts’ defensive backs. While the Steelers try to exploit the Colts’ weakness, thy will probably try running game much more too. Running back DeAngelo Williams has been very productive for them this season, so the Steelers should use their physical run game to test the Colts’ lack of depth on defense. If they can wear down the Colts’ defense with their run game, Pittsburgh will have more chances to break big gains with their passing game.
Overall, the Colts are at a disadvantage against the Steelers. The Colts have been winning games with strong defensive performances and just enough offensive production. Against the Steelers, they will need the offense to lead the way. The Steelers’ offense has the potential to score at least 30 points every game. The Colts have never scored more than 30 points with Hasselbeck at quarterback this season. It will be an entertaining game, but the Steelers should come away with the win.
Prediction: Steelers 31, Colts 24
Kyle Nishida is an Indianapolis Colts beat writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kyle_Nishida, “Like him” on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
