The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 27-24, and it was a masterpiece of miscues at all levels for the Steelers that wasted what was a terrific second-half comeback led by Justin Fields.

The Steelers’ defense was atrocious from the first play when Anthony Richardson completed a 42-yard dart to Michael Pittman Jr. Indianapolis scored touchdowns on their first two drives and cut through the Steelers’ defense like butter on both occasions. On the other side, Pittsburgh couldn’t do anything offensively because of getting bullied in the trenches. The Steelers combined for 45 yards on 12 plays across their first three drives, including getting stuffed on fourth down to set up the Colts in scoring position, which they converted into a field goal to make the game 17-0. Even the loss of Anthony Richardson didn’t slow down the Colts, as Joe Flacco consistently connected with Josh Downs and converted several third-and-longs that extended drives and dished body blow after body blow to a Steelers defense that didn’t show up. Pittsburgh put up a field goal of their own before halftime, and then Justin Fields put the offense on his back.

Fans had yet to see Fields really face the adversity of trailing big multiple scores, but he was more than ready for the occasion. The Steelers scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives in the second half to make it a 27-24 game, and Fields was dealing through the air and gobbling up yards on the ground. In what was his best individual game as a Steeler, Fields went 22-of-34 for 312 yards, a touchdown pass and two rushing scores with 55 yards on the ground. His 104 passer rating was the highest it’s been this season. And when the Steelers got the ball back with a chance to tie, an errant snap by Zach Frazier cost the Steelers 12 yards, and ultimately the game as the Colts' defense hung on for the win.

The Frazier snap encompassed the Steelers’ overall play on the day. George Pickens fumbled in the red zone, which proved to be severely consequential. The Colts were 8-of-15 on third down, including going 6-of-10 on third and five or longer. The play-calling from Arthur Smith was the worst it’s been thus far, as well. If you took a shot for every second and long the Steelers handed the ball to Najee Harris for little or no gain, you wouldn’t have made it past the second quarter – that was a rough outing. Cordarrelle Patterson ran for 43 yards on 7.2 yards per carry, but left the game with an ankle injury.

We’ll highlight the Varsity and JV players more tomorrow, but Patrick Queen and Joey Porter Jr were nonexistent today, and this was the classic Mike Tomlin trap game we all fear but know is inevitable. Overall, Fields and DeShon Elliott were the only consistent playmakers for Pittsburgh all afternoon. And in what should be a game that we talk about as Justin Fields going into God mode in the second half, we are stuck talking about the shortcomings of a defense that is the highest-paid unit in football getting diced up by Joe Flacco and an offensive line that, while banged up, let down their quarterback when it mattered most.