The Steelers lost to the Colts by a score of 27-24 at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

It was Pittsburgh’s first loss of the 2024 regular season, and who will we blame for it? Try everyone. That’s right, it was a total team effort.

Surely, we can’t blame the defense, though, right? Only if you’re in denial. The Steelers’ defense was never truly right against Indianapolis’ offense on Sunday afternoon. The Colts effortlessly drove down the field on their first three possessions. And when I say, effortlessly, I mean it. Quarterback Anthony Richardson looked like a top-five pick in the 2023 NFL Draft as he orchestrated the first drive that culminated in a two-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Taylor. Richardson got hurt during the second drive–safety Minkah Fitzpatrick whacked him real good at the end of a 14-yard run–but Joe Flacco, the old Ravens demon from the past, came on and finished off the drive like it was 2012; he ultimately connected with receiver Josh Downs for a four-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0. Indianapolis added another three points on its next drive. Of course, it only had to navigate 25 yards to get into range for a 33-yard field goal for kicker Matt Gay.

That brings me to another thing you can point to for Sunday’s loss: Coaching. The Colts started at the Pittsburgh 39 on their field goal drive. Why? Because Mike Tomlin decided to go for it on fourth and one from that very spot on his team’s previous possession. You may have liked the call, but I did not. And it wasn’t because it didn’t work (not totally, anyway). It was because the Colts’ defensive front spent a good bit of the first half kicking the crap out of the Steelers offensive line. The entire defense was crowding the line of scrimmage and not even considering the possibility of quarterback Justin Fields trying to beat it over the top.

Speaking of poor decisions, what about Tomlin challenging a catch by a Colts’ receiver that he obviously caught? That didn’t factor into the outcome of the game, but it was still a silly thing to do.

If you want to blame Tomlin for not having his offense and defense ready to play on Sunday, I will allow it because neither unit looked inspired for most of the first half.

If you want to blame the offense as much as or more than the defense (a Steelers fan tradition), you can do that, too. Like a lot of Steelers’ offenses in recent seasons, it once again got off to a painfully slow start against Indianapolis in Week 4.

Punt. Downs. Punt. Fumble. Those were the outcomes of Pittsburgh’s first four possessions of the first half.

Oh yeah, the Steelers’ mistakes and their failure to capitalize on the Colts’ miscues.

You want to blame receiver George Pickens for carrying the football like the proverbial loaf of bread after catching a pass, breaking a tackle and navigating his way inside the Colts’ five-yard line, I can’t say that I blame you. Pickens’s failure to carry the football like a proverbial pitcher of beer in a crowded bar resulted in him being stripped of it, and Pittsburgh had to settle for nothing on what was shaping up to be a 96-yard touchdown drive late in the second quarter.

Back to the Colts’ second drive, the one where Richardson injured his hip on a 14-yard run. Safety DeShon Elliott stripped him of the football right as Fitzpatrick was whacking his hip. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh failed to recover the live ball, and Flacco was allowed to re-live the past by finishing the possession with a touchdown pass.

Fast-forward to the third quarter. Pittsburgh’s defense had actually forced a punt–its second straight–and little Calvin Austin returned it 30 yards down to the Colts’ 33. The Steelers were only trailing by 14 points thanks to Chris Boswell’s 50-yard field goal at the end of the first half, and a touchdown there would be huge. Sadly, Pittsburgh’s offense went nowhere on the first two plays. And on third and 10, it went 20 yards backward and lost possession of the ball when Fields coughed it up while trying to escape several defenders.

However, following a 54-yard field goal miss by Gay, Pittsburgh’s offense began to move and didn’t stop moving until Fields scrambled into the end zone for a five-yard touchdown to make the deficit to 17-10. It was a ball game, again, baby!

Time to blame the defense again. That’s right, the Colts took the ensuing kickoff and marched 70 yards on 10 plays to regain their 14-point lead on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Flacco to tight end Drew Ogletree. Yes, you can blame the officials for giving the Colts prime real estate on an unnecessary roughness penalty on Fitzpatrick on an incomplete pass down the near sideline. But what about Cam Heyward’s inability to sack Flacco for a huge loss on second and 10 earlier in the drive? What about the defense’s failure to stop the Colts from picking up a first down one play after that?

Thankfully, Fields entered the zone near the end of the third period and couldn’t stop leading touchdown drives. He finished a second-straight possession with another touchdown run to again close the gap to seven points.

But that darn defense just didn’t know how to stop Flacco. Thankfully, he didn’t lead his offense on a touchdown drive this time. However, he did milk over five minutes off the clock and set Gay up for a 35-yard field goal to increase his team’s lead to 10 points with a little over six minutes remaining in the game.

Fields just wouldn’t be denied (at least while he was in the zone), and he led a third-straight touchdown drive, one that didn’t end with him scrambling into the end zone. No, he found tight end Pat Freiermuth at about the four, and the big man dived four more yards to reach paydirt and bring Pittsburgh to within three points with just 3:40 remaining.

You could see the fairytale ending shaping up nicely: A quick stop by the defense was paramount, and the unit delivered by forcing a three and out.

Pittsburgh’s offense had one final chance from its own 17. There was 2:39 remaining. The Steelers had one timeout plus the two-minute warning. Fields scrambled for a 12-yard run on first down. He then connected with receiver Van Jefferson (yes, him) on a nine-yard pass to make it second and one. It was the two-minute warning. Everyone was pacing back and forth in their respective living rooms/man/woman caves. Coming out of that break, running back Najee Harris picked up a first down with a four-yard dash. First and 10 from the Pittsburgh 42. The clock was moving, but you just felt like Fields was ready to unleash a big play. He did…for them. Zach Frazier’s subsequent shotgun snap smacked an unsuspecting Fields right in the facemask, and the quarterback did all that he could to recover the football before losing 12 yards.

Game over?

Pretty much.

There was the matter of Tomlin not calling his final timeout before a fourth and 11 play that went nowhere. Would it have mattered? It’s impossible to know.

All I know is the Steelers lost a regular-season game for the first time since being dismantled by the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium last December.

Some good things came out of Sunday’s loss, namely, Fields’s performance. He looked legit over the final three-plus possessions. All-in-all, he completed 22 of 34 passes for 312 yards and a touchdown. He also gained 55 yards and scored two touchdowns on 10 carries. But there were those costly mistakes, especially the one at the end. Was that errant snap his fault or the rookie Frazier’s?

To repeat, the defense didn’t really look good at all, save for that quick three-and-out on the Colts’ penultimate possession.

The Colts were eight of 15 on third-down conversions (and it was much better than that for a good bit of the game). T.J. Watt failed to make a splash play the entire day. The Steelers’ defense only recorded two sacks.

Pittsburgh’s offense may have produced 404 yards and 24 points, but its defense allowed 358 yards and 27 points.

Like I said, it was a total team effort.