The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 27-24 defeat in Indianapolis on Sunday shouldn’t necessarily be an occasion for overreaction. It was a game in which the offense had ample opportunity to turn the tide but ultimately was unable to outstrip the 27 points scored by the Colts offense, including the 17 unanswered points that Indy had scored by the latter part of the second quarter.

While the Steelers’ offense hardly deserves a pass for generating only 3 points during the first half, it was the defense which largely failed to provide the support which had enabled victory in Weeks 1-3. Before he departed the game with a hip injury, Colts QB Anthony Richardson was carving up the Steelers defense like Swiss cheese. The vaunted Steelers pass rush was strangely absent, giving Richardson ample time to find his talented receivers. Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs compiled 195 yards with nine receptions each. The fact that Cam Heyward led the Steelers defense with the team’s only sack and three QB hits seems to be more of a troublesome sign because the players this team relies on to pressure QBs were largely invisible. In particular, T.J. Watt was handled very well by Indy’s OL, notching only two tackles and zero QB hits. Filling in for the injured Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig had no more success with his pass rush than Watt.

The 17-point eruption by the Colts offense in the first half ultimately proved to be a bridge too far for the Steelers to overcome, despite the offense generating 21 second-half points. It’s difficult to cast blame on an offense that made a spirited comeback and scored enough points to win the game. More obvious is that the Steelers defense had a bad day at the office and their inability to pressure either Richardson or Joe Flacco proved to be the decisive factor in this game. One caveat is that questionable officiating certainly didn’t do the team any favors.

Moving forward, there definitely are some positives to be taken away from this defeat. In particular, the play of Pittsburgh’s tight ends was impressive. While Pat Freiermuth’s performance certainly was not unexpected, Darnell Washington emerged as a potent offensive threat for the Steelers. Calvin Austin III made a key first-down reception and added a gutty 30-yard punt return after fielding a kick with a tackler bearing down on him. George Pickens led the Steelers receivers with 113 yards on seven receptions, but his fumble late in the second quarter — after catching the ball at the 5-yard line — likely cost the team seven points which might have flipped the game’s outcome.

Besides too many self-inflicted wounds, including two turnovers on fumbles, the offense finished the game with 404 yards including passing and rushing. Overall, the offense demonstrated it continues to improve and Arthur Smith’s offensive approach appears substantially better than what we had witnessed from Matt Canada. Furthermore, Justin Fields once again avoided interceptions. Given his 282-yard passing performance, there’s certainly no basis for anyone to be calling for Russell Wilson to take the reins. Overall, the Steelers were 3-4 on Red Zone attempts and nearly hit the 50% mark in converting third down opportunities (6 of 13).

While there’s some reason to be concerned about the defense falling down in this outing, the offense appears to be continuing its steady improvement. The biggest question needing answered in the weeks ahead is how this 2024 edition of the Black-and-gold will measure up against some of the league’s best quarterbacks. Prior to the defensive performance we saw on Sunday in Indianapolis, Steelers Nation might have approached October football with a higher level of confidence, but the Colts definitely demonstrated to the NFL world what happens when Pittsburgh’s defense fails to pressure the opposing quarterback. It seems evident that the performance of the Steelers defense will continue to represent the difference between victory and defeat for a team with an improving-but-still-developing offense.