The Colts fell behind 13-0 in the first 16 minutes of Saturday’s game against the Steelers, but the next 44 minutes were much better.
Gardner Minshew threw three touchdown passes and the Colts defense forced three turnovers to wipe out the early Pittsburgh advantage. The 30-13 win moves the Colts to 8-6 on the season and moves them ahead of the Steelers into playoff positon in the AF.
Minshew hit running back Zack Moss, wide receiver D.J. Montgomery, and tight end Mo Alie-Cox for touchdowns on his way to an 18-of-28, 215-yard night. The Colts have now gone 6-4 with Minshew as their starting quarterback and he has proven to be one of the most successful relievers in a season that’s seen a high number of teams turn to their backups.
The Steelers did the same thing on Saturday, but it did not go nearly as well for them. Mitch Trubisky ran for a touchdown and threw for another to stake the team to an early lead, but threw a pair of interceptions and failed to move the team after their early scores. The Steelers pulled him for Mason Rudolph for their final offensive possession, but that didn’t go any better for the 7-7 Steelers.
They will now move on to a road game against the Bengals next Saturday and, pending the rest of Week 15’s results, another loss could all but eliminate them from playoff contentions. Head coach Mike Tomlin will also have to field questions about who will be their quarterback if Kenny Pickett remains out with an ankle injury.
Shane Steichen won’t face those questions, but the Colts will be waiting to see how wide receiver Michael Pittman fares after suffering a concussion and Moss also left the game with an arm injury. Tyler Goodson and Trey Sermon filled in well for Moss with 28 carries for 157 yards on Saturday night, so the team should feel confident about their options if Moss isn’t able to go against the Falcons on Christmas Eve.
Assuming the Falcons beat the Panthers on Sunday, that game will have playoff implications on both sides and will make for an entertaining matchup to watch while waiting for Santa to arrive.
