Any doubts of the injury lingering were erased Sunday.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Antonio Brown gave us one of the season’s defining celebrations in one of the season’s definitive performances. I told Dr. [Jim] Bradley I wasn’t going to wear it tonight, but he said to keep it on.
It would be easy, then, to look at this game as a microcosm of what has been wrong with Indianapolis for the last few years, where we’ve often seen defensive collapses in prime time.
“I did get X-rays and I’m in a little bit of pain”, Hasselbeck said after the 45-10 loss. “It stings, but we’ve got to move on”.
Hasselbeck wasn’t at all sharp and blamed himself for his interceptions, especially that first one after the Colts recovered kick returner Jacoby Jones’ fumble.
On the Steelers’ next possession, DeAngelo Williams fumbles at the Pittsburgh 26.
ABOUT THE STEELERS (6-5): Pittsburgh’s pass defense is even worse than that of the Colts, surrendering 283.6 yards per game, and it was one of decisive factors a week ago in allowing three fourth-quarter scoring passes to Seattle. He returned after both hits, but was subbed out for third-stringer Charlie Whitehurst with six minutes left and the game well out of reach. “Today we showed that”. The Steelers’ swarming defense forced the Colts into a three-and-out on the first series of the second half, and three plays later Roethlisberger and Martavis Bryant exploited cornerback Greg Toler for a 69-yard TD and a 28-10 lead.
“We realize the significance of this opportunity this weekend”, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. The veteran mustered only 162 yards, was intercepted twice and led the Colts to only three points on three drives that began in Pittsburgh territory. He remained noncommittal about his chances to play next week against Jacksonville, though Pagano said he believed Hasselbeck would be OK. You have all the control over how you get off the field.
The game was wacky from the start, with four turnovers in the first quarter, including two Matt Hasselbeck interceptions.
Hasselbeck, 40 and the NFL’s oldest non-kicker, was yanked from the game in the fourth quarter and it was reported he was dealing with shoulder and neck injuries. They did a really nice job of keeping me off balance.
“I did not hurt my knee”, he said of the play. Hasselbeck avoids throwing any passes, thus the Colts settle for a 35-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri. Three plays later, Matt Hasselbeck threw an interception right to linebacker Jarvis Jones.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) throws a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015, in Pittsburgh. They settled for Boswell’s second field goal, from 51 yards, for a 6-3 lead.
The team falls to 6-6, but with a Houston Texans loss on Sunday as well, the Colts remain the No. 4 seed in the playoff picture atop the AFC South.
We’ll save you the math. In his last two shots at the Colts, Roethlisberger is 64-of-88 for 886 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Roethlisberger Will Johnson to add a two-point conversion, and from that moment the balance of the game shifted entirely as Markus Wheaton took advantage of a superb gain from to go down at the pylon with just seconds left in the first half.
Andrew Luck reportedly will return in time for at least two, possibly three regular-season games. Brown leapt between two defenders to haul in a 48-yard gain then caught his second touchdown pass of the night 49 seconds into the fourth quarter.
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Frank Gore was stopped after a 1-yard run on first down.
