PITTSBURGH – Just when it appeared everything was going right for the Colts, it all started going wrong.
Safety Rodney Thomas II had just rushed for three yards and a first down on a fake punt from the Colts' own 25-yard line. The Colts had a 7-0 lead as the second quarter began, and the way this season has been going – and the way the first quarter went – it felt like Sunday was shaping up to another good day for this team.
A few plays later, running back Jonathan Taylor picked up a first down on third-and-one, moving the ball to the Steelers' 38-yard line.
On the next play, future gold jacket recipient T.J. Watt came screaming off the right edge and knocked the ball out of quarterback Daniel Jones' hands. He recovered the ball; it was the Colts' first turnover since the second quarter of Week 6.
It was also the first of five turnovers on offense the Colts committed against the Steelers; add in a punt bouncing off wide receiver Josh Downs and the final tally for Week 9 was six turnovers. No Colts team had turned the ball over six time since Peyton Manning threw six interceptions against the San Diego Chargers in 2007.
"It's obviously hard to win when you turn it over like we did," head coach Shane Steichen said. "Credit to the Steelers and their defense and what they did, but obviously could have been better for our guys today, losing the football up and down the field."
The Colts' 27-20 loss on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium was defined almost entirely by turnovers. Jones was strip-sacked twice and threw three interceptions; the Steelers scored 24 points off those giveaways. This is a Colts team that had a remarkable aversion to giving the ball away heading into Week 9; in Weeks 1-8, the Colts had just four turnovers as a team.
So the balance the Colts struck in the aftermath of Sunday's game was one of being frustrated with an avalanche of turnovers while remaining confident this type of performance is, unequivocally, not what this team has proven to be about in 2025.
"I think we got mature guys in the room," Jones said. "I'm sure we'll be eager to correct the things that we didn't do as well. But as far as our confidence level or who we believe we are as a team, I think that's strong and we're sure of that, we're sure of who we are and we understand if you turn the ball over, that's gonna happen. Protect it, and things have gone well for us."
The Colts are 0-2 when committing multiple turnovers this year (they had three in a 27-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 4); in their seven wins, they've turned the ball over just one time. Sometimes, it really is just that obvious: When this Colts team protects the ball, they've been one of the best teams in the NFL.
It's also worth noting that the Colts followed that Week 4 loss to the Rams with a 40-6 thumping of the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 5.
"Losing makes you better in the long run as long as you learn from it, and that's what we're going to do," left guard Quenton Nelson said. "I think our preparation has been really good throughout the whole entire year, and there's nothing I would change that we did during the week. Game plan was good and everything, we just gotta go out there and execute better. Hats' off to the Steelers, they played a great game defensively."
The Steelers indeed played tremendously on defense, with Watt and outside linebacker Alex Highsmith making plenty of plays to impact Jones in the pocket beyond their respective strip sacks. Linebacker Payton Wilson hopped in front of a Jones pass for Pittsburgh's first interception of the game; later, he tipped a Jones pass in the air, which was intercepted by outside linebacker Jack Sawyer.
"That's on me," Jones said. "I gotta protect the ball better and make sure we're giving ourselves a chance. I thought we did some good things at times, but just, you know, turnovers and some of those things, I gotta clean up, make sure we're not hurting ourselves."
Jones had not lost a fumble prior to Week 9 and only had three interceptions on 243 attempts. He also had been sacked just five times in his previous four games before the Steelers got to him five times on Sunday. Running back Jonathan Taylor gained 45 yards on 14 carries after churning out at least 65 rushing yards in each of his first eight games.
Two words, then, can describe the Colts' loss Sunday. The first is sloppy. The second, and maybe the more important one – is uncharacteristic.
"I think you take away the takeaways and we don't turn the ball over, I think we're moving the ball down the field, scoring a lot of points again," Steichen said. "So I got a ton of faith in our offense."
