PITTSBURGH – If not for knee and foot injuries that forced quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to miss four games and parts of two more this season, he might be in serious consideration for the NFL MVP award.
Roethlisberger was excellent again Sunday night in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 45-10 victory against the Indianapolis Colts, throwing for 364 yards and four touchdowns.
In his past four games, Roethlisberger threw for 1,533 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. That’s an average of 383.3 yards per game.
“Guys are growing,” Roethlisberger said. “We’re all getting better together. Whether it’s at practice when we are on the field, whether it’s at practice when the defense is on the field and we are on the sideline talking, communicating in meetings, communicating between meetings. I just feel a chemistry growing between all of us on offense, from the line to the running backs, tight ends, receivers and quarterbacks, things just seem to be working.”
Roethlisberger spread the wealth around to his talented receiving corps against the Colts. Antonio Brown had eight receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Martavis Bryant had four catches for 114 yards and a touchdown and Markus Wheaton had three catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.
It was the type of performance that coach Mike Tomlin has come to expect from his offense.
“We’re capable of doing that,” Tomlin said. “If we don’t turn the ball over, that’s us and that’s been us. Ben was Ben tonight and those guys did a nice job of getting open and making plays for him.”
It’s also the type of performance they’ve come to expect from themselves.
“We have the best quarterback in the NFL,” Brown said. “We have a great offensive line and running back. Each and every one of us takes pride in the game, and we’re doing a great job and getting better each and every week as a team. Today we showed that.”
REPORT CARD VS. COLTS
–PASSING OFFENSE: A-plus. The Steelers tortured the Colts pass defense for a second year in a row. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 364 yards and four touchdowns. Add in the 522 yards and six touchdowns he threw for against the Colts last season and that’s 886 yards and 10 touchdowns in two games. Antonio Brown had two touchdown catches and Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton added one apiece. It was another dominating performance for a unit that has enjoyed many of them in the past month.
–RUSHING OFFENSE: A. After a slow start, DeAngelo Williams heated up in the second half and finished with 134 yards on 26 carries. The Steelers rushed for 158 yards overall with even Ben Roethlisberger getting into the act with a vintage 13-yard scramble. One week after the Steelers only attempted 14 rushes in a loss to the Seahawks, this performance was more indicative of what the rushing attack has done on a consistent basis this season.
–PASS DEFENSE: B-plus. One week after Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson torched the Steelers secondary for five touchdowns they bounced back with a very solid performance against the Colts. Jarvis Jones recorded his first career interception 51 seconds into the game to end an early Colts scoring threat, and Brandon Boykin got his first interception of the season. The only reason this isn’t an A is that missed tackles by defensive backs remain a big problem.
–RUSH DEFENSE: B. Frank Gore had some early success running against the Steelers’ nickel defense, but the Colts could not stay with him because they fell behind early. Gore finished with 45 yards on 13 carries. As a team the Colts managed just 54 yards on 18 carries. It was a good effort by a unit that surrendered 100 yards to Seattle – 81 by Thomas Rawls – a week earlier.
–SPECIAL TEAMS: B-minus. Antonio Brown supplied the good with a 71-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Jacoby Jones supplied the bad with two fumbles. The Colts recovered his fumble on the opening kickoff and almost got another turnover courtesy of Jones when he fumbled a punt in the second quarter. After the second fumble, coach Mike Tomlin had seen enough of Jones and benched him for the second half. The Steelers already cut one kick returner this season. Jones could be the second. Chris Boswell was 3 for 4 on field goal attempts.
–COACHING: A. Defensive coordinator Keith Butler decided to use a four-man rotation at cornerback after the secondary struggled last week in Seattle. The move paid immediate dividends when little-used reserve Brandon Boykin intercepted a pass in the first quarter. There hasn’t been a reason for offensive coordinator Todd Haley to tinker much with his personnel, and his stars delivered again with another strong outing. Not much to complain about in a 35-point victory.