PITTSBURGH – The Colts kicked off Week 9 having turned the ball over four times in their first eight games of the 2025 season. They more than doubled that total on Sunday, with six turnovers dooming the Colts to a 27-20 Week 9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.
The Colts are now 0-2 in 2025 when committing multiple turnovers; they had three turnovers in a 27-20 Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Jones, too, was sacked a season-high five times on Sunday. Pittsburgh scored 24 points off the Colts' six turnovers.
Those six turnovers were the most by a Colts team since Week 10 of the 2007 season (a 23-21 loss to the San Diego Chargers; all six turnovers were interceptions by Peyton Manning).
The Colts took an early lead when Jones punched in a one-yard touchdown on fourth and goal, capping a 79-yard march on their first offensive possession of the game. But the mistakes began to pile up after, with wide receiver Josh Downs having a punt bounce off his body that wound up being recovered by the Steelers.
While the Colts' defense held strong and kept the Steelers out of the end zone on a fourth down incomplete pass, it wasn't the only miscue of the first half.
A few plays after the Colts got a spark when safety Rodney Thomas II rushed for a first down on a fake punt, future Hall of Famer T.J. Watt strip-sacked Jones for a takeaway. Pittsburgh turned that into a 56-yard scoring drive when running back Jaylen Warren plunged in a one-yard touchdown; Jones was intercepted by linebacker Payton Wilson on the ensuing possession, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers found tight end Pat Freiermuth for a 12-yard touchdown two plays later.
The Steelers added another score at the end of the half with a 12-play, 75-yard drive ending with a short Chris Boswell field goal.
The Colts did not score in the second quarter for the first time in 2025, and their 10-point halftime deficit was easily their largest of the season. The Colts had only been losing at halftime twice in 2025 (Week 2 vs. the Broncos by one point, Week 4 at the Rams by three points).
Running back Jonathan Taylor had just 23 yards on eight carries in the first half; he finished the game with 45 yards on 14 rushing attempts. Jones completed 11 of 20 passes for 114 yards over the first two quarters.
Jones' second interception of the game came later in the third quarter, when Wilson got into a passing lane and tipped a pass to outside linebacker Jack Sawyer. It came just as the Colts' offense appeared to be gaining some momentum – they had just entered Steelers territory for the first time since their second possession of the game.
Rodgers and the Steelers turned that interception into a Warren touchdown, giving them a 17-point lead early in the fourth quarter. Kicker Michael Badgley connected on a 52-yard field goal on the ensuing possession that brought the score to 24-10 and kept the Colts' chances alive.
The Colts' defense then forced the three-and-out they needed, with a Laiatu Latu tackle for a loss on a first down screen keying the stop. But then the Colts' fifth turnover of the game struck, with outside linebacker Alex Highsmith strip-sacking Jones on a second-and-one dropback and defensive tackle Derrick Harmon falling on the loose ball in Colts territory.
Kicker Chris Boswell connected on a 46-yard field goal to put Pittsburgh back up by three scores. Jones did find Downs for a late touchdown to pull the Colts back within 10; cornerback Kenny Moore II then forced a fumble recovered by safety Cam Bynum at the Colts' 24-yard line with 3:36 left.
The Colts, though, committed their sixth and final turnover when Jones was picked off by cornerback Joey Porter Jr., effectively sealing the game. Badgley connected on a 53-yard field goal with nine seconds left; Pittsburgh recovered the last-ditch onside kick.
