The Pittsburgh Steelers defense played arguably its best game of the season Sunday against the top offense in the NFL. Behind the defense, the Steelers upset the Indianapolis Colts 27-20.
But despite the victory, quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn’t mince words when he dissected the team’s offense after the win.
Rodgers was highly critical of himself and the unit, which had just 225 yards Sunday.
“We started out pretty slow. It was pretty ugly on offense for the decent part of the day,” Rodgers told reporters. “We had a lot of chances, but our defense played incredible after getting blasted for the last week. Really proud of them.”
In his next answer, the veteran quarterback made it clear that he was not including the team’s offensive coaching staff in his criticism.
“I loved the play-calling, but I thought the execution was pretty bad,” Rodgers added. “We gotta look in the mirror and play better on offense because that’s not good enough. Any phase. Me, the run game, catching the football. Defense played incredible. Game like that, we need to put 35, 42 on the board and close the game out.
“Good tape for coaching staff when you win a game and you have a lot to work on.”
Rodgers avoided throwing an interception, but he had just 203 passing yards, averaging 5.8 yards per attempt. Rodgers completed 25 of 35 passes with one touchdown and took three sacks.
Steelers Offense Uses Takeaways to Beat Colts
The statistics support Rodgers’ initial Week 9 assessment. The Steelers averaged just 3.7 yards per play, including 4.9 yards per pass. The team had just 38 rushing yards.
On third down, the Steelers were 4-for-12.
Rodgers and the team’s offense didn’t earn a first down until the second quarter. That included a drive at the end of the first quarter which ended in a turnover on downs at the Colts 4-yard line. The possession began at the Indianapolis 11-yard line after the Colts muffed a punt.
But on the next drive, Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt recorded a sack fumble on the first possession of the second quarter. Rodgers called that moment the “turning point of the game.”
“For sure. 7-0, they were driving. We ended up turning that into 7,” Rodgers told reporters. “So that was good. It wasn’t pretty. We had a fourth-and-1 conversion. That changed the game, 100%.”
The Steelers then turned a second quarter interception into a touchdown as well to take the lead.
Rodgers led the team to 24 points off turnovers, which allowed the Steelers to win despite minimal offensive yardage.
Aaron Rodgers Raves About Steelers Defense After Upset Win
The Pittsburgh defense received significant criticism prior to Sunday’s game. Rightfully so, as the unit entered Sunday arguably the worst in Steelers history over the past 35 years.
The team was near the bottom of the league in a lot of defensive categories before Week 9 too. Not a lot was expected publicly from the unit against the Colts, which led the NFL in points and yards before Sunday.
But the Steelers forced six turnovers and recorded five sacks against Indianapolis. The Colts had just 10 points in the first 55 minutes of the game.
The Steelers excelled on defense even with very little safety depth.
“I thought the pass rush was outstanding. I thought we covered well in the back end,” Rodgers said. “Gotta give Kyle [Dugger] a lot of credit for coming in and playing the way he did. It felt like Alex [Highsmith] and T.J. [Watt] and Nick [Herbig] were super active.
“Our inside guys were good. It seemed like PQ (Patrick Queen) had a good game. Peyton [Wilson] had a big pick. Everybody on defense played great.”
The Steelers will look to build upon the defensive performance against another tough opponent next week. They will visit the Los Angeles Chargers on the road for Sunday Night Football.
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