After spending the last month-plus mired in a four-game losing streak, the have spent the last two weeks taking advantage of great matchups and are now in a perfect spot for a postseason run. Pittsburgh controls its own destiny heading into the home stretch of the 2016 season after thumping the 28-7 in Indianapolis on Thanksgiving evening. It was a cla sic Steelers effort, with hooking up with for a trio of touchdowns, including a throat-stomping fourth-quarter touchdown that sealed the game.. will have thirds, thank you very much.AB x3! NFL (@NFL) The Steelers were never buried, per se. They lost to the (better than we thought), the (very good, and Pittsburgh didn't have Big Ben), the (ultimate rivalry matchup) and the (maybe the best
Pete Rose Jersey team in the football).Those aren't terrible lo ses; they just happened to be lumped together. For Pittsburgh, a team capable of losing to any bad team on any night in the Mike Tomlin era, stomping the and then blasting the Andrew Luck-le s Colts is a huge step forward. It doesn't guarantee anything, because there are three divisional matchups left on the schedule, including a de facto playoff matchup against the Ravens coming up. But the Steelers' schedule is substantially easier than of the Ravens, who still have the Patriots, Dolphins, and the (twice) on the schedule in their remaining six games. Pittsburgh gets the Browns, and in addition to the Bengals and Ravens. They're in a better spot than the Ravens because they took care of busine s on Thursday. Here are seven things to know about the Thursday night blowout.1. Injuries for IndyThe Colts looked like a po sible contender for the AFC South after handling the in Week 11. Things change fast in the , because without Luck on Thursday night, the Colts were helple s. It got much worse for them too, because they took on a ton of really bad injuries. Here's the list of players who were hurt for the Colts on Thanksgiving:
Didi Gregorius Jersey , , , and .To recap, that's the No. 1 receiver (who got blasted by on a huge hit), the top pa s rusher, the top cornerback and two starting offensive linemen.Being in the AFC South is quite a nice little bonus, but this team is hurting badly and has three of five games remaining on the road, including next week against the . 2. Gee, Chuck, the date started out well ... There was obvious concern coming into this game that the Colts wouldn't be able to hang with the Steelers offense because of 's absence. That concern grew when, on the first play of the game, Tolzien was stripped by the Steelers defense. First play of the game... NFL (@NFL) The Colts would recover, but a few plays later were punting out of a fourth-and-25 situation. And a few plays after that, the Steelers were waltzing into the end zone. . bounces to the outside...Touchdown ! NFL (@NFL) 3. It's a trap!The Colts needed to pull out all the stops with Tolzien under center, so ...FAKE PUNT ALERT! completes it to Swope! NFL (@NFL) 4. Do the Billy GoatConnor McGregor fashioned a celebration by strutting like Vince McMahon after a recent win. We've , and on Thursday a group of NFL players busted it out too. During the Cowboys 31-26 win over the , did it:DEZ BRYANT Steve Noah (@Steve_OS) And following
Greg Luzinski Jersey the fake punt, McAfee pulled it off as well:Pat McAfee... Steve Noah (@Steve_OS) That's basically how I look after hitting a good golf shot, right before I mi s an easy putt. 5. Here are your ankles, sirAntonio Brown will destroy your world if you're not careful. That route by Antonio Brown... Steve Noah (@Steve_OS) Brown went off for Pittsburgh on Thursday, posting a ridiculous three touchdown catches on just five catches overall, for 91 yards on the night. 1-on-1 vs. ?Bad idea.TOUCHDOWN AB! NFL (@NFL) Big Ben to for SIX.Their 2nd TD connection of the night! NFL (@NFL) . will have thirds, thank you very much.AB x3! NFL (@NFL) In a year where the "best receiver in the game" title may have started to slip away a little bit, Brown was magnificent in a must-win game. 6. Red-
Jake Arrieta Jersey zone woesThe effort put forth by Tolzien all night was incredibly impre sive. Dude went out there and balled out in a spot where he shouldn't be balling. But the Colts, who remained aggre sive for most of the evening, couldn't close the deal in the red zone, going for it on fourth down twice inside the Steelers' 20. In a normal situation, Indy would have kicked and taken the three points to let Luck keep hammering out drives. But they needed to force the i sue in the red zone. What made their play-calling decisions odd was having Tolzien run multiple times; wasn't putting up huge numbers or anything in the rushing game, but letting the backup quarterback tote the rock was bizarre. Plus, the fourth-down decisions were basically to let Tolzien throw. It was nece sary, but going run, Frank Gore run, run, Scott Tolzien throw isn't ideal. It's just part of what you're facing in this situation. 7. What's next?The Steelers will spend Sunday rooting for the Bengals, hoping Cincy can upend the Bengals. What a weird feeling that will be. Their next game is Sunday, Dec. 4 against the Giants in a pretty spicy matchup between teams who have been kind of questionable but could very well end up in the playoffs. It wouldn't be stunning to see them square off in the because of how hot their quarterbacks can get. The Colts will travel to the Jets next Monday with a banged-up offensive line against a
Scott Kingery Jersey dangerous defensive line. They'll hope to have Andrew Luck back for a must-win game, although obviously they could get help from the division this weekend.
