AFC playoff hopefuls face off when the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday afternoon. Both enter this matchup with 7-6 records and are currently in wild-card position, but that’s due to tiebreakers as they are tied record-wise with four other teams. The Colts are slight favorites for this game, even though they are just 2-4 at home this season.
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The middle game of Saturday’s tripleheader will kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET from Lucas Oil Stadium. NFL Network will handle the broadcast.
Pittsburgh wants to turn things around after suffering back-to-back losses to a two-win teams at home in five days. While Pittsburgh has fallen back in the AFC North race, Indianapolis is just a game behind Jacksonville for first place in the AFC South.
The Steelers’ offense missed injured starting quarterback Kenny Pickett this past Thursday night. Mitch Trubisky accounted for two touchdowns (one passing, one rushing), but he also threw an ugly interception that New England turned into six points. The Patriots built a 21-3 lead and held on for a 21-18 road upset. Trubisky will start again this week.
The bigger issue is that Trubisky led the team with 30 rushing yards. The 82 total were the fewest since running for 70 in a Week 8 loss to Jacksonville. Trubisky will get another start while Pickett remains sidelined. Still, the hope is that Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren will get back on track against an Indianapolis defense that has given up an average of 147 rushing yards per game over its last seven games.
Run defense didn’t cost the Colts in their 34-14 loss at Cincinnati last week. The Bengals managed just 3.5 yards per carry while Indianapolis’ ground game fared worse (2.6 yards per carry). Jonathan Taylor missed his second-straight game after undergoing thumb surgery, and his absence has been notable. The Colts have managed 101 rushing yards in those two games, compared to the 872 in the seven he’s played in. Jonathan Taylor will be out again with his thumb injury.
T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith passed concussion protocol and should play Saturday. Watt (14 sacks, second in NFL) and Highsmith (six) are one of the most feared pass-rushing tandems. Either of their absences would be significant, considering Minshew has been sacked at least twice in three straight games.
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(Photo of Gardner Minshew: Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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