October 28, 2025 • 23 mins
Matt and Tom break down the Steelers upcoming matchup against the Colts.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We got some work to do.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is the Advanced Scout with Tom Opferman and Mac Williamson.
The Steelers are coming off their second straight loss, a
thirty five to twenty five defeat at the hands of
the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football last week.
The task gets no easier as now the Indianapolis Colts
bring the NFL's best record into Akroscher Stadium this Sunday.
(00:24):
It's Tom Uperman and Matt Williamson on the Advanced Scout. Matt,
the story out of the green Bay game kind of
just like it was out of the Cincinnati game. Not
the best performance by your defense. And that's putting it lightly.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
That's putting it lightly. It was somewhat embarrassing performance, and
it gets harder. I mean, like, I'm not sure if
the Cults are a better team than the Packers, or
Packers are a better team than the Colts. But I
don't think there's any offense in the league that's better
than the Colts right now.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
No, I don't think there's any question about that. Here's
some stats that really bear that out. The Colts have
scored thirty plus points in say of their eight games
and twenty nine or more and seven So it's not like,
you know, the other ones, they haven't been scoring. Indianapolis
is the only team in the league to score twenty
or more points in every single game this year. Now,
Pittsburgh has allowed sixty eight points over the past two games.
(01:16):
The Steelers have given up one hundred and seventy points
through seven games so far. That is the most through
seven games under Mike Tomlin. So you're at a low
point when it comes to the Mike Tomlin era with
the Steelers defense. And now you've got a Colts offense
that is the banner offense of the NFL.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Yeah, and they're not the only team dealing with injuries,
and it's not like they're riddled with them. But now
you have Elliott you know, I think he avoided, you know,
an IR visit, but I think he's a lynchpin player
in the secondary. I don't know how you shuffle that around.
The defenses has to play better in all regards, but
especially the pass defense. I mean, we can say that
(01:54):
Chase Brown two weeks ago was somewhat of a one off.
They did limit Josh jacobsat deal and they should be
very happy with that. Side of things, but I mean
to keep it topical with the week. The big thing
I've been saying is they just hand out completions like
it's Halloween candy. I mean, completing passes against this defense
is just way too easy.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Right now, Indianapolis is plus one sixteen as far as
point differential is concerned, that is the best in the NFL.
The Steelers point differential, Matt is it exactly zero. That's
almost impressive, as were this deep into the season exactly even.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
And frankly, I mean there was a point in the
season where they command of the vision and oh, it's
a fourgone conclusion. They're going to playoffs, and maybe this
looks like the year they're going to win playoff games.
I think when you look at the totality of the
Steelers season, it's average. It's not below average, it's not
above average. It's kind of zero.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
I agree with that. More stats that illustrate how prolific
this offense is. They have scored thirteen more touchdowns, three
hundred and thirty more rushing yards have been had by
the Colts that opponents, and they have fourteen more rushing
touchdowns than their opponents. Now Jonathan Taylor has a lot
to do with that. He's one of the best players
in football. We'll get to him a lot later on
before we drill down into the details of this. Numbers
(03:14):
they're insane. He's Offensive Player of the Year already. I'm
ready to crown him at.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
This point, I think so.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
But before we get into the details, Matt like broad
picture of the Colts. Is there a thing they do bad?
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Like?
Speaker 2 (03:24):
I'm struggling right now. I'm trying to think of what
they do poorly. I can't find one. You're smarter than
me at this. Please clue me in because I don't
see it.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
I'm not smarter than you in this because I go
and see it either. I'm I said the same thing
last week, though I thought Green Bay was a team
that was hard to find. Weaknesses in terms of just
the Colts offense, though there are none I'm sure of that.
I mean, unless Daniel Jones turns back into a pumpkin.
Yeah Saturday night, you know Pumpkin, you know Halloween. I'm
(03:54):
rolling on that.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
You're on fire.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
I think the defense is average. To be honest with you,
I don't think the defense is great, but they're always
playing with the lead the running game so great. I mean,
the defense has some nice advantages, so I don't think
they're as good as Green Bays defense, as you know,
if we're looking at the team wide statements here. But
(04:16):
I see no weaknesses whatsoever with the offense, and I
just see great strengths everywhere you look.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Here's a series history between these two teams. Beginning in
nineteen fifty, these two franchises have met thirty five times,
but only two of those games took place before nineteen
sixty eight. The Colts and Steelers split their first four meetings,
but the Steelers are twenty five and five since, and overall,
Pittsburgh leads the series twenty seven to eight. Twelve of
the games where the Steelers against the Baltimore Colts, the
Colts won just three of those dozen matchups. The Colts
(04:43):
have won just three games against Pittsburgh in the two thousands,
zero in the nineties, and one in the eighties. They
have two wins against the Steelers in the seventies. That
was tough to do, so good for you Colts Baltimore
back then.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, the Colts are on a.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Two game winning streak against Pittsburgh, though, but lost eight
in a row. Before this two game winning streak, the
Colts and Steelers have met five times in the postseason,
with Pittsburgh undefeated in those playoff battles, including an AFC
Championship game between these two teams twenty seven to eight. Matt,
that's kind of surprising because the Colts are not a team,
not a franchise you look at as one of the
(05:15):
jokes of the NFL. They are a not marquee franchise,
but they're a good one.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, And I don't love the two in a row
winning streak by the Colts, but everything else you just
said is glowingly in the Steelers favor. You know, there's
the the Manning years that they were one of the
absolute best teams in the league, even going back to Uniteds.
I mean, like they've had they've not they're rarely a
seller dweller.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Well, the two game winning streak that the Colts are
currently on, let's start there for a second, because that
is Shane Steichen who has authored those two wins, and
I don't think there's any you know, way you can
beat around it that he has a very favorable matchup
with Mike Tomlin. He he views this matchup with the
Steelers defense. Mike Tomlin Tara Austin is one in his
(06:00):
favor and he's exploited it pretty well the past couple
of meetings.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Yeah, and frankly, he would be my vote for coach
of the Year right now too. I mean he's transformed
Jones's career. This has been We mentioned that they've been
a pretty strong franchise over the whole time of this,
you know, since in the last couple decades, but really
since the luck untimely retirement, they've been a lot like
(06:27):
the Steelers, where they're bringing in retread quarterback after retread quarterback,
and now they've really leveled up.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
They absolutely have. We'll get to Danigels. We'll get to
that offense in a second. I want to start on
the defense because the offense is kind of the headline
when it comes to the Colts. You said it's a
good defense, and okay, defense, it's not. You know, Packers
level dominant doesn't have a Micah Parsons or of a
Sean Gary for sure, but you know these names. You
know a DeForest Bunckner, you know is Zaire Franklin in
(06:56):
the middle of that defense. You know a Kenny Moore
on the secondary, Like these aren't just you know, a
bunch of nameless people.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
No. No, Buckner to me stands out because I think
he's a lot like Kalais Campbell, Cameron Jordan, cam Hayward,
you know, like these big defensive linemen that have really
figured it out and have gone on to have great
careers and are high character guys and leaders. And I
think he's the you know, probably I don't know their
(07:25):
locker room like I do the Steelers, but I think
he has a Hayward like effect leadership, you know, to
everybody there too.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
They will sack the quarterback. They have a positive sack
differential plus fourteen compared to plus ten for the Steelers.
So these two teams do get after the quarterback pretty well.
And they sacked cam Ward four times last week, so
that is something that you'll have to be concerned about.
But honestly, the Steelers are doing a really good job
against pressure. I know Rashan Gary had two and Parsons
(07:53):
had one. That was kind of a quiet three sack
performance from two superstar addressers, was it not.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Agree? And you know, we mentioned how well they did
against Miles Garrett, who had five sacks last week, just
a couple of weeks ago, and the Patriots, you know,
led the league in sacks when we did this preview
for their their week. So they've dealt with some Seattle's
got an awesome pass rush. I mean, they've dealt with
some of the best pass rushes and pass rushers in
(08:20):
the league. And I'm not saying this is an easy matchup,
but this isn't as hard as it's been, you know,
pass protection wise exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
It's a little bit of a step back as far
as the matchup is concerned. It's a solid defense, nothing
to be too fearful of, and in a weird way, Matt,
we never thought we'd be at this point at this
juncture of the season. But you trust the Steelers offense
more than you trust the Steelers defense. So I'll take
a favorable matchup as far as their defense kind of
being the lesser of their units.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah, And I think we need to do a quick
history lesson here because it kind of reflects to the
Bengal game. We just previewed that the Bengals basically blamed
and Rumo, their defensive coordinator, for all their defensive woes.
They fire them and immediately the Colts grab them, you know.
And he's done a great job of just mixing things up.
(09:11):
Before he was the Colts defensive coordinator, they were the
heaviest old school legion of boom cover three, boring generic
defense out there. So just a fresh mind that changes
things up and a high end defensive coordinator who the
Bengals should never let go is a big upgrade for them. Yeah,
but let's not forget that Arthur Smith has done battle
(09:34):
against him, you know, twice.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
A year, yes, and has had some success against him.
And ye yeah, Now I kind of think this is
an interesting stat here. The Colts defense allows a seventy
six percent rate of a new set of downs or
for turning a set of downs into a new set
of down or a touchdown. Only the Bengals and Cowboys
are worse. So you can you can move the chains
on this Colts defense. You can stay on the field. Now,
(09:57):
Steel's time of physics.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I was shocked to see that, right, but here go
with me on this.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
The Steelers time of possession is garbage that needs to improve.
And when you're playing an offense like this, I mean,
it's as cliche as old as time you keep them
off the field by possessing the ball. Well, the Colts
defense will kind of allow you to possess the ball,
so hopefully the Steelers can get that time of possession
in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
You said that perfectly, and I think that's clearly their
best path to victory is you have to win time
of possession. Obviously, things like turnovers would be great in
your favor, but if you can run the football and
kind of have the first half success that you did
against the Packers a week ago, you should be able
(10:37):
to hang around with what, again, I think is the
best offense in the league. I mean, when we start
talking about their offense against Steeler defense, let's just say
it's a lopside of folks.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Well, we're getting there right now, Matt.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
The Colts lead the league get.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Averaging thirty three point eight points per game. They also
have the most total yards per game as an offense.
And I'm just going to go rapid fire here on
these stats because they're so impressive. Forty two point three
three yards per drive, three point five to two points
per drive, point four to one touchdowns per drive, and
just point one three three and outs per drive. All
of what I just said is best in the league.
(11:10):
Forty seven percent of the Colts drives reach the red zone.
Literally half the time basically the Colts touched the well,
they're at least getting into the red zone. Only only
the Kansas City Chiefs are doing that at a higher clip.
Now for the negative side, the Steelers defense allows thirty
eight point three yards per drive, that's third most. The
average drive against Pittsburgh consumes seven point twenty seven plays,
(11:31):
that is the highest in the league. And they also
are only better than four defenses at producing three and
outs per drive at point one four. Everything I just
laid out, I think points of that lopsided that you
were describing just a second.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Ago, unbelievably lopsided. And you mentioned that the Steelers time
of possession is garbage. Well that's the blade. I mean,
there's when when the opponent has the ball, they're running
the most plays in the league basically per per drive,
and that's not going to cut it. And another thing
that stood out to me too is you mentioned how
about fifty percent of the time when Indy gets the
(12:07):
ball they reach the red zone. Well a lot of
times they don't is because Jonathan Taylor hit an eighty
yard run or night tearshit an eighty yard pass. You
know they scored from outside the red.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Zone, right, they have explosion as well.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Now they're in eleven personnel fifty eight point five percent
of the time, twelve personnel just twenty six point five
percent of the time. But they'll go big too, twelve
point seven percent of thirteen personnel usage. Only. The Steelers
are using thirteen personnel more than the Indianapolis Colts. So
you'll see big lot of tight ends on the field.
I mean, Tyler Warren is one of the best players
in football already. You got a Moali Cox who's a
(12:43):
big body, and Drew Ogletree like they're gonna throw the
beef out there.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, and I think their skill position players are not
only really good, but really intriguing. Taylor, like Jacob's a
week ago, plays a very high percentage of the snaps.
He's not just an early down back. I mean he's
out there and they can figure out whoever the two is.
I mean, I guess it's Abdullah of late whatever. Taylor's
the man, obviously we'll get him. I'm sure Warren, as
(13:08):
you said, could be rookie of the year. I mean,
he looks like it kind of reminds me of Craft.
I'm scary there.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
You know, it's a little better than Craft already. I mean,
Warren's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
I adore Craft, but I'm here. I'm open to the idea,
and I love their receivers, Like Josh Downs should be
a number two, and they use him as a three
because they have Pierced and Pittman on the outside. Donnie
Mitchell has talent, So it kind of shocked me that
they do use a second and third tight end as
(13:38):
much as they do, but it sure helps their running game.
And the other thing is they play with the lead
so often this year that I bet they bring in
the big people to seal the deal a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
You know, Yeah, I bet you're right about that. Those
wide receivers are impressive. That trio of Michael Pittman and Pierson,
Josh Downs, Pittman Conn eight passes for ninety five yards
and a touchdown last week. Pittman has been targeted eighteen
times over the past two weeks. You would say he's
kind of their number one, but he's not really a
true number one. These three are really all, you know,
putting their hand in the pile an equal amount.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
They're really different. You know. Pierce used to only be
a size speed outside the numbers, very athletic downfield threat,
especially when Richardson was a quarterback. But he's gotten better,
He's become more well rounded. That's still his profile, though.
Downs is a slot and it shocks me that they
(14:36):
don't use him well. I actually think he's the best
of the group, and it shocks me that he's used
as the three. But he's a do it all type
of guy, and I don't want people to get crazy,
but his game reminds me of a Miller lite version
of Antonio Brown, you know, and that he can do
everything extremely well. And you know, he's not as good
(14:57):
as Ab. He's uck on the Hall of Fame. And
then Pittman's the big bodied chain mover, tough guy block,
you know. So they all have their role. It's a
good group. And then Warren's just a wild card all
over the place, and he's he's much.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Yeah, he's the number one threat in the passing game.
He leads all tight ends with four hundred and ninety
two receiving yards. Only two rookies have led all tight
ends and receiving yards over the course of a season
since nineteen eighty eight. Brock Bauers did it last year,
actually funny enough, and Jeremy Shacky was the other one.
We all know who Jeremy Shocky is. Only Bowers has
more receiving yards through eight weeks amongst rookie tight ends
(15:31):
in the Super Bowl era. And we all saw Tucker
Craft go for one hundred and forty three yards, catching
seven balls and two touchdowns against the Steelers on Sunday night.
So exit Tucker Craft, enter Tyler Warren. These these are
two guys that are kind of up next, right, Like
you had that trio of the Kittle and the Kelsey
and the andrews Now, it's kind of the Warren, the
Bowers and the Craft that might be the you know,
(15:53):
taking the baton at the tight end position.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Thousand percent agree, I'd probably throw Trey McBride in that. Yeah,
that's a good call than some of those guys. But
I mean, there's a few really impressive young tight ends
in this league. And I'm sure there's some Penn State
fans listening. The Colts do a really good job like
Penn State that did of scheming Warren up, you know,
like he'll take direct snaps at time. Yeah, as a
(16:17):
former quarterback, you know, he's thrown the football over his
football career quite a bit. He'll get a handful of
carries throughout the season. It just seems like Stichen really
is an understanding of this player because so many of
his catches he is open, you know, schemed open.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
He's going to be a problem for the Steelers. Why
do you think they've been having some trouble against tight ends?
It's not just the Tucker Crafts and the Tyler Warrens
of them that have been plaguing them. I mean, is
it just as simple as the inside linebacking play hasn't
been up the par and then I guess the safety
play as well. Those are two of the positions that
traditionally will take on tight ends.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
I think that's a short answer and probably the majority
of the answer. But I also think communication over the
middle the field has not been good, you know, pre
snap communication alignment stuff. I do think Peyton Wilson played
a pretty decent job in coverage against the Packers. Like
if I look at all the back seven players from
(17:13):
that game, linebacker, safetyse corners, he might be the only
one that can kind of hold his head a little
bit higher. So maybe he's turning corner.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
All right. So we just listed everything in their passing game,
and honestly, I don't feel good about the Steelers in
this matchup. And now we get to Jonathan Taylor, who
is the crown jewel.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, it only gets worse.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
He is the reason really why the Colts are seven
to one and why they have Super Bowl aspirations now.
He has rushed for one hundred He rushed for one
hundred and fifty three yards and three total touchdowns on
just twelve carries. Last week against Tennessee, he recorded a
career high eight point four yards after first contact. That
was Taylor's fourth one hundred yard rushing day of the
season to go along with his fourteen total touchdowns. Over
(17:51):
his past three games, Taylor has rushed for three hundred
and seventy yards and is averaging seven point six yards
per carry. Matt, I mean, that's just not fair. He's
basically getting a first down every time he touched the ball.
I know.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
I mean, he's having a sa Quon last Year type
of season, and he's always been a tremendous ball carrier. Big, strong, fast,
you know, great vision, acceleration, and now he's even becoming
a better receiver. I thought the touchdown numbers were a
little ridiculous to him. We profiled Josh Jacobs a week ago. Well,
(18:24):
this guy's even worse. I mean it's better, but worse
for the Steeler's sake. I mean, he finds the end
zone from all areas. I think he's the offensive player
of the Year today and it really isn't even close.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I agree. In fact, if you go on a lot
of betting sites, he's the only like future odd right
now that's in the negative. You know what I mean
that your odds are bad. Got a stake money to
win money for him, So it's a runaway right now.
As far as his Offensive Player of the Year Candisy
is concerned, I'm looking at him at MVP Matt. I mean,
Mahomes is gonna be it. But I think this is
(18:58):
a good case as any for a running back, although
if Barkley didn't get it last year, that's going to
be tough for Taylor to do. Taylor has four to
three touchdown games this season. The rest of the NFL
has eight combined.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Right right, right, It's nuts. I mean some of his
stuff compared to the rest of the league is insane.
I mean that whole bullet point about him I read
on the drive the other day, and it's just like
too much, it's too monotonous. There's just one thing's better
than that.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Taylor has scored ten touchdowns over his past four games.
That's the first time that's been accomplished in the NFL
since twenty and fifteen, and he has five more touchdown
than anyone else in the NFL, of course, aside from
quarterbacks throwing the ball right.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Right right, Yeah, I don't know if anything that I
do it, I mean just go on and on and on.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
So I guess our job right now to kind of
wrap up is how do you stop the guy? I mean,
it's an all hands on deck effort. Mike Tomlin I
think said something to the effect of, like it's a
full game effort. It's that everybody has to put their
hand in the pot. Whatever. It was a cliche, you know,
he rolls and right. I just I don't know, I
really don't know. Because good run defense. We could have
had the pack We could have the Packers run defense,
and I wouldn't be confident in this matchup. But you
(20:04):
got the Steelers.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
No, I mean the Cults are doing it to everyone
in a rough fashion. I mean, like you said, thirty
points is routine. This guy going for two three touchdowns
is routine. Well over one hundred yards all the time.
We didn't even mention it. But Daniel Jones is also
a very good running quarterback. Is a good point a
(20:26):
lot of book. Yeah, and their line is pop five ish,
you know, and the scheme is great, and you can't
sleep on the receivers. I don't see great answers. And oh,
by the way, the Steeler defense is playing really bad.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Yeah, I mean they're right. Guard Gonsalvas is great. I mean,
he went to a great school, so you can't yeah,
you can't knock him. But for real, Quentin Nelson one
of the bigger bad asses in the NFL. That dude
is a monster. And I think we kind of forgot
about him the past couple of years because the Coults
are kind of down and how people were like, oh,
it's Quentin Nelson kind of passed this prime and then
this year he was like, no, I'm still one of
the best offensive linemen in the league. I'm gonna be
a first team All Pro. So yeah, that O line
(21:01):
is a beast.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
He's going to the Hall of Fame. I will say.
We have seen recent matchups between these two though, and
Cam Hayward has gotten the better of Nelson in the
last couple of meetings.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
It's gonna have That's something. It's gonna have to happen again.
In regards to stopping Teach do you even stop him though,
mat should the Steelers just kind of be like, you
know what, He's gonna rush for one hundred yards and
probably get in the end zone. We got to fix
our pass defense if we have any shot, because Taylor's
just Taylor.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
It's a good conversation too, you know. It's almost like, well,
Jamar Chase got his, He's gonna get his, so be it. Yes,
Taylor got his, So what be I mean, let's not
bang our heads against the wall just to stop this
unstoppable force and do everything else better. Now, of course,
you can't just have him nine yards of carry two
(21:48):
hundred yards, you know, playing five six man boxes crazy stuff.
But I think your point, and I agree with it,
is I'm more worried about the Steeler pass defense, especially
the quick game than I am. The Steeler run defense
just overall.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Yeah, I mean even statistically it's worth I mean, the
rush defense is bad, but it's eighteenth in the league.
Past defense is thirty two out of thirty two teams.
Right now, the key matchups in this one before we
leave quarter, I'm sorry, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor versus
Steelers linebackers. We basically just did this matchup. I mean,
it's it's everything in this game. He's the He's the
best thing about the Indianapolis Colts. He's the best offensive
(22:27):
player in the NFL so far this season. So your
other matchup that you high lighted, Matt is the Steelers
interier offensive line against a player that we talked about
a little bit earlier on the podcast, Colts defensive tackle
to Forest Buckner.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Yeah, and their defense. I don't see a true standout
Garrett Parsons obviously, you know it's a good defense. As
we mentioned, I have great respect for Buckner, like I said,
kind of in like the Cam Hayward mold, and he's
still playing really really well.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Steelers and Colts one o'clock on Sunday at Akrocuer Stadium.
Steelers trying to back in the win column. Matt Williamson
and myself will kick things off at nine am on
DVE with local coverage format. I'm Tom Opferman. Thanks for
giving us a listen on the Advanced Scout
We got some work to do.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is the Advanced Scout with Tom Opferman and Mac Williamson.
The Steelers are coming off their second straight loss, a
thirty five to twenty five defeat at the hands of
the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football last week.
The task gets no easier as now the Indianapolis Colts
bring the NFL's best record into Akroscher Stadium this Sunday.
(00:24):
It's Tom Uperman and Matt Williamson on the Advanced Scout. Matt,
the story out of the green Bay game kind of
just like it was out of the Cincinnati game. Not
the best performance by your defense. And that's putting it lightly.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
That's putting it lightly. It was somewhat embarrassing performance, and
it gets harder. I mean, like, I'm not sure if
the Cults are a better team than the Packers, or
Packers are a better team than the Colts. But I
don't think there's any offense in the league that's better
than the Colts right now.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
No, I don't think there's any question about that. Here's
some stats that really bear that out. The Colts have
scored thirty plus points in say of their eight games
and twenty nine or more and seven So it's not like,
you know, the other ones, they haven't been scoring. Indianapolis
is the only team in the league to score twenty
or more points in every single game this year. Now,
Pittsburgh has allowed sixty eight points over the past two games.
(01:16):
The Steelers have given up one hundred and seventy points
through seven games so far. That is the most through
seven games under Mike Tomlin. So you're at a low
point when it comes to the Mike Tomlin era with
the Steelers defense. And now you've got a Colts offense
that is the banner offense of the NFL.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Yeah, and they're not the only team dealing with injuries,
and it's not like they're riddled with them. But now
you have Elliott you know, I think he avoided, you know,
an IR visit, but I think he's a lynchpin player
in the secondary. I don't know how you shuffle that around.
The defenses has to play better in all regards, but
especially the pass defense. I mean, we can say that
(01:54):
Chase Brown two weeks ago was somewhat of a one off.
They did limit Josh jacobsat deal and they should be
very happy with that. Side of things, but I mean
to keep it topical with the week. The big thing
I've been saying is they just hand out completions like
it's Halloween candy. I mean, completing passes against this defense
is just way too easy.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Right now, Indianapolis is plus one sixteen as far as
point differential is concerned, that is the best in the NFL.
The Steelers point differential, Matt is it exactly zero. That's
almost impressive, as were this deep into the season exactly even.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
And frankly, I mean there was a point in the
season where they command of the vision and oh, it's
a fourgone conclusion. They're going to playoffs, and maybe this
looks like the year they're going to win playoff games.
I think when you look at the totality of the
Steelers season, it's average. It's not below average, it's not
above average. It's kind of zero.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
I agree with that. More stats that illustrate how prolific
this offense is. They have scored thirteen more touchdowns, three
hundred and thirty more rushing yards have been had by
the Colts that opponents, and they have fourteen more rushing
touchdowns than their opponents. Now Jonathan Taylor has a lot
to do with that. He's one of the best players
in football. We'll get to him a lot later on
before we drill down into the details of this. Numbers
(03:14):
they're insane. He's Offensive Player of the Year already. I'm
ready to crown him at.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
This point, I think so.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
But before we get into the details, Matt like broad
picture of the Colts. Is there a thing they do bad?
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Like?
Speaker 2 (03:24):
I'm struggling right now. I'm trying to think of what
they do poorly. I can't find one. You're smarter than
me at this. Please clue me in because I don't
see it.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
I'm not smarter than you in this because I go
and see it either. I'm I said the same thing
last week, though I thought Green Bay was a team
that was hard to find. Weaknesses in terms of just
the Colts offense, though there are none I'm sure of that.
I mean, unless Daniel Jones turns back into a pumpkin.
Yeah Saturday night, you know Pumpkin, you know Halloween. I'm
(03:54):
rolling on that.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
You're on fire.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
I think the defense is average. To be honest with you,
I don't think the defense is great, but they're always
playing with the lead the running game so great. I mean,
the defense has some nice advantages, so I don't think
they're as good as Green Bays defense, as you know,
if we're looking at the team wide statements here. But
(04:16):
I see no weaknesses whatsoever with the offense, and I
just see great strengths everywhere you look.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Here's a series history between these two teams. Beginning in
nineteen fifty, these two franchises have met thirty five times,
but only two of those games took place before nineteen
sixty eight. The Colts and Steelers split their first four meetings,
but the Steelers are twenty five and five since, and overall,
Pittsburgh leads the series twenty seven to eight. Twelve of
the games where the Steelers against the Baltimore Colts, the
Colts won just three of those dozen matchups. The Colts
(04:43):
have won just three games against Pittsburgh in the two thousands,
zero in the nineties, and one in the eighties. They
have two wins against the Steelers in the seventies. That
was tough to do, so good for you Colts Baltimore
back then.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, the Colts are on a.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Two game winning streak against Pittsburgh, though, but lost eight
in a row. Before this two game winning streak, the
Colts and Steelers have met five times in the postseason,
with Pittsburgh undefeated in those playoff battles, including an AFC
Championship game between these two teams twenty seven to eight. Matt,
that's kind of surprising because the Colts are not a team,
not a franchise you look at as one of the
(05:15):
jokes of the NFL. They are a not marquee franchise,
but they're a good one.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, And I don't love the two in a row
winning streak by the Colts, but everything else you just
said is glowingly in the Steelers favor. You know, there's
the the Manning years that they were one of the
absolute best teams in the league, even going back to Uniteds.
I mean, like they've had they've not they're rarely a
seller dweller.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Well, the two game winning streak that the Colts are
currently on, let's start there for a second, because that
is Shane Steichen who has authored those two wins, and
I don't think there's any you know, way you can
beat around it that he has a very favorable matchup
with Mike Tomlin. He he views this matchup with the
Steelers defense. Mike Tomlin Tara Austin is one in his
(06:00):
favor and he's exploited it pretty well the past couple
of meetings.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Yeah, and frankly, he would be my vote for coach
of the Year right now too. I mean he's transformed
Jones's career. This has been We mentioned that they've been
a pretty strong franchise over the whole time of this,
you know, since in the last couple decades, but really
since the luck untimely retirement, they've been a lot like
(06:27):
the Steelers, where they're bringing in retread quarterback after retread quarterback,
and now they've really leveled up.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
They absolutely have. We'll get to Danigels. We'll get to
that offense in a second. I want to start on
the defense because the offense is kind of the headline
when it comes to the Colts. You said it's a
good defense, and okay, defense, it's not. You know, Packers
level dominant doesn't have a Micah Parsons or of a
Sean Gary for sure, but you know these names. You
know a DeForest Bunckner, you know is Zaire Franklin in
(06:56):
the middle of that defense. You know a Kenny Moore
on the secondary, Like these aren't just you know, a
bunch of nameless people.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
No. No, Buckner to me stands out because I think
he's a lot like Kalais Campbell, Cameron Jordan, cam Hayward,
you know, like these big defensive linemen that have really
figured it out and have gone on to have great
careers and are high character guys and leaders. And I
think he's the you know, probably I don't know their
(07:25):
locker room like I do the Steelers, but I think
he has a Hayward like effect leadership, you know, to
everybody there too.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
They will sack the quarterback. They have a positive sack
differential plus fourteen compared to plus ten for the Steelers.
So these two teams do get after the quarterback pretty well.
And they sacked cam Ward four times last week, so
that is something that you'll have to be concerned about.
But honestly, the Steelers are doing a really good job
against pressure. I know Rashan Gary had two and Parsons
(07:53):
had one. That was kind of a quiet three sack
performance from two superstar addressers, was it not.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Agree? And you know, we mentioned how well they did
against Miles Garrett, who had five sacks last week, just
a couple of weeks ago, and the Patriots, you know,
led the league in sacks when we did this preview
for their their week. So they've dealt with some Seattle's
got an awesome pass rush. I mean, they've dealt with
some of the best pass rushes and pass rushers in
(08:20):
the league. And I'm not saying this is an easy matchup,
but this isn't as hard as it's been, you know,
pass protection wise exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
It's a little bit of a step back as far
as the matchup is concerned. It's a solid defense, nothing
to be too fearful of, and in a weird way, Matt,
we never thought we'd be at this point at this
juncture of the season. But you trust the Steelers offense
more than you trust the Steelers defense. So I'll take
a favorable matchup as far as their defense kind of
being the lesser of their units.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah, And I think we need to do a quick
history lesson here because it kind of reflects to the
Bengal game. We just previewed that the Bengals basically blamed
and Rumo, their defensive coordinator, for all their defensive woes.
They fire them and immediately the Colts grab them, you know.
And he's done a great job of just mixing things up.
(09:11):
Before he was the Colts defensive coordinator, they were the
heaviest old school legion of boom cover three, boring generic
defense out there. So just a fresh mind that changes
things up and a high end defensive coordinator who the
Bengals should never let go is a big upgrade for them. Yeah,
but let's not forget that Arthur Smith has done battle
(09:34):
against him, you know, twice.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
A year, yes, and has had some success against him.
And ye yeah, Now I kind of think this is
an interesting stat here. The Colts defense allows a seventy
six percent rate of a new set of downs or
for turning a set of downs into a new set
of down or a touchdown. Only the Bengals and Cowboys
are worse. So you can you can move the chains
on this Colts defense. You can stay on the field. Now,
(09:57):
Steel's time of physics.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I was shocked to see that, right, but here go
with me on this.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
The Steelers time of possession is garbage that needs to improve.
And when you're playing an offense like this, I mean,
it's as cliche as old as time you keep them
off the field by possessing the ball. Well, the Colts
defense will kind of allow you to possess the ball,
so hopefully the Steelers can get that time of possession
in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
You said that perfectly, and I think that's clearly their
best path to victory is you have to win time
of possession. Obviously, things like turnovers would be great in
your favor, but if you can run the football and
kind of have the first half success that you did
against the Packers a week ago, you should be able
(10:37):
to hang around with what, again, I think is the
best offense in the league. I mean, when we start
talking about their offense against Steeler defense, let's just say
it's a lopside of folks.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Well, we're getting there right now, Matt.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
The Colts lead the league get.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Averaging thirty three point eight points per game. They also
have the most total yards per game as an offense.
And I'm just going to go rapid fire here on
these stats because they're so impressive. Forty two point three
three yards per drive, three point five to two points
per drive, point four to one touchdowns per drive, and
just point one three three and outs per drive. All
of what I just said is best in the league.
(11:10):
Forty seven percent of the Colts drives reach the red zone.
Literally half the time basically the Colts touched the well,
they're at least getting into the red zone. Only only
the Kansas City Chiefs are doing that at a higher clip.
Now for the negative side, the Steelers defense allows thirty
eight point three yards per drive, that's third most. The
average drive against Pittsburgh consumes seven point twenty seven plays,
(11:31):
that is the highest in the league. And they also
are only better than four defenses at producing three and
outs per drive at point one four. Everything I just
laid out, I think points of that lopsided that you
were describing just a second.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Ago, unbelievably lopsided. And you mentioned that the Steelers time
of possession is garbage. Well that's the blade. I mean,
there's when when the opponent has the ball, they're running
the most plays in the league basically per per drive,
and that's not going to cut it. And another thing
that stood out to me too is you mentioned how
about fifty percent of the time when Indy gets the
(12:07):
ball they reach the red zone. Well a lot of
times they don't is because Jonathan Taylor hit an eighty
yard run or night tearshit an eighty yard pass. You
know they scored from outside the red.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Zone, right, they have explosion as well.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Now they're in eleven personnel fifty eight point five percent
of the time, twelve personnel just twenty six point five
percent of the time. But they'll go big too, twelve
point seven percent of thirteen personnel usage. Only. The Steelers
are using thirteen personnel more than the Indianapolis Colts. So
you'll see big lot of tight ends on the field.
I mean, Tyler Warren is one of the best players
in football already. You got a Moali Cox who's a
(12:43):
big body, and Drew Ogletree like they're gonna throw the
beef out there.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, and I think their skill position players are not
only really good, but really intriguing. Taylor, like Jacob's a
week ago, plays a very high percentage of the snaps.
He's not just an early down back. I mean he's
out there and they can figure out whoever the two is.
I mean, I guess it's Abdullah of late whatever. Taylor's
the man, obviously we'll get him. I'm sure Warren, as
(13:08):
you said, could be rookie of the year. I mean,
he looks like it kind of reminds me of Craft.
I'm scary there.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
You know, it's a little better than Craft already. I mean,
Warren's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
I adore Craft, but I'm here. I'm open to the idea,
and I love their receivers, Like Josh Downs should be
a number two, and they use him as a three
because they have Pierced and Pittman on the outside. Donnie
Mitchell has talent, So it kind of shocked me that
they do use a second and third tight end as
(13:38):
much as they do, but it sure helps their running game.
And the other thing is they play with the lead
so often this year that I bet they bring in
the big people to seal the deal a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
You know, Yeah, I bet you're right about that. Those
wide receivers are impressive. That trio of Michael Pittman and Pierson,
Josh Downs, Pittman Conn eight passes for ninety five yards
and a touchdown last week. Pittman has been targeted eighteen
times over the past two weeks. You would say he's
kind of their number one, but he's not really a
true number one. These three are really all, you know,
putting their hand in the pile an equal amount.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
They're really different. You know. Pierce used to only be
a size speed outside the numbers, very athletic downfield threat,
especially when Richardson was a quarterback. But he's gotten better,
He's become more well rounded. That's still his profile, though.
Downs is a slot and it shocks me that they
(14:36):
don't use him well. I actually think he's the best
of the group, and it shocks me that he's used
as the three. But he's a do it all type
of guy, and I don't want people to get crazy,
but his game reminds me of a Miller lite version
of Antonio Brown, you know, and that he can do
everything extremely well. And you know, he's not as good
(14:57):
as Ab. He's uck on the Hall of Fame. And
then Pittman's the big bodied chain mover, tough guy block,
you know. So they all have their role. It's a
good group. And then Warren's just a wild card all
over the place, and he's he's much.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Yeah, he's the number one threat in the passing game.
He leads all tight ends with four hundred and ninety
two receiving yards. Only two rookies have led all tight
ends and receiving yards over the course of a season
since nineteen eighty eight. Brock Bauers did it last year,
actually funny enough, and Jeremy Shacky was the other one.
We all know who Jeremy Shocky is. Only Bowers has
more receiving yards through eight weeks amongst rookie tight ends
(15:31):
in the Super Bowl era. And we all saw Tucker
Craft go for one hundred and forty three yards, catching
seven balls and two touchdowns against the Steelers on Sunday night.
So exit Tucker Craft, enter Tyler Warren. These these are
two guys that are kind of up next, right, Like
you had that trio of the Kittle and the Kelsey
and the andrews Now, it's kind of the Warren, the
Bowers and the Craft that might be the you know,
(15:53):
taking the baton at the tight end position.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Thousand percent agree, I'd probably throw Trey McBride in that. Yeah,
that's a good call than some of those guys. But
I mean, there's a few really impressive young tight ends
in this league. And I'm sure there's some Penn State
fans listening. The Colts do a really good job like
Penn State that did of scheming Warren up, you know,
like he'll take direct snaps at time. Yeah, as a
(16:17):
former quarterback, you know, he's thrown the football over his
football career quite a bit. He'll get a handful of
carries throughout the season. It just seems like Stichen really
is an understanding of this player because so many of
his catches he is open, you know, schemed open.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
He's going to be a problem for the Steelers. Why
do you think they've been having some trouble against tight ends?
It's not just the Tucker Crafts and the Tyler Warrens
of them that have been plaguing them. I mean, is
it just as simple as the inside linebacking play hasn't
been up the par and then I guess the safety
play as well. Those are two of the positions that
traditionally will take on tight ends.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
I think that's a short answer and probably the majority
of the answer. But I also think communication over the
middle the field has not been good, you know, pre
snap communication alignment stuff. I do think Peyton Wilson played
a pretty decent job in coverage against the Packers. Like
if I look at all the back seven players from
(17:13):
that game, linebacker, safetyse corners, he might be the only
one that can kind of hold his head a little
bit higher. So maybe he's turning corner.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
All right. So we just listed everything in their passing game,
and honestly, I don't feel good about the Steelers in
this matchup. And now we get to Jonathan Taylor, who
is the crown jewel.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, it only gets worse.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
He is the reason really why the Colts are seven
to one and why they have Super Bowl aspirations now.
He has rushed for one hundred He rushed for one
hundred and fifty three yards and three total touchdowns on
just twelve carries. Last week against Tennessee, he recorded a
career high eight point four yards after first contact. That
was Taylor's fourth one hundred yard rushing day of the
season to go along with his fourteen total touchdowns. Over
(17:51):
his past three games, Taylor has rushed for three hundred
and seventy yards and is averaging seven point six yards
per carry. Matt, I mean, that's just not fair. He's
basically getting a first down every time he touched the ball.
I know.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
I mean, he's having a sa Quon last Year type
of season, and he's always been a tremendous ball carrier. Big, strong, fast,
you know, great vision, acceleration, and now he's even becoming
a better receiver. I thought the touchdown numbers were a
little ridiculous to him. We profiled Josh Jacobs a week ago. Well,
(18:24):
this guy's even worse. I mean it's better, but worse
for the Steeler's sake. I mean, he finds the end
zone from all areas. I think he's the offensive player
of the Year today and it really isn't even close.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I agree. In fact, if you go on a lot
of betting sites, he's the only like future odd right
now that's in the negative. You know what I mean
that your odds are bad. Got a stake money to
win money for him, So it's a runaway right now.
As far as his Offensive Player of the Year Candisy
is concerned, I'm looking at him at MVP Matt. I mean,
Mahomes is gonna be it. But I think this is
(18:58):
a good case as any for a running back, although
if Barkley didn't get it last year, that's going to
be tough for Taylor to do. Taylor has four to
three touchdown games this season. The rest of the NFL
has eight combined.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Right right, right, It's nuts. I mean some of his
stuff compared to the rest of the league is insane.
I mean that whole bullet point about him I read
on the drive the other day, and it's just like
too much, it's too monotonous. There's just one thing's better
than that.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Taylor has scored ten touchdowns over his past four games.
That's the first time that's been accomplished in the NFL
since twenty and fifteen, and he has five more touchdown
than anyone else in the NFL, of course, aside from
quarterbacks throwing the ball right.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Right right, Yeah, I don't know if anything that I
do it, I mean just go on and on and on.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
So I guess our job right now to kind of
wrap up is how do you stop the guy? I mean,
it's an all hands on deck effort. Mike Tomlin I
think said something to the effect of, like it's a
full game effort. It's that everybody has to put their
hand in the pot. Whatever. It was a cliche, you know,
he rolls and right. I just I don't know, I
really don't know. Because good run defense. We could have
had the pack We could have the Packers run defense,
and I wouldn't be confident in this matchup. But you
(20:04):
got the Steelers.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
No, I mean the Cults are doing it to everyone
in a rough fashion. I mean, like you said, thirty
points is routine. This guy going for two three touchdowns
is routine. Well over one hundred yards all the time.
We didn't even mention it. But Daniel Jones is also
a very good running quarterback. Is a good point a
(20:26):
lot of book. Yeah, and their line is pop five ish,
you know, and the scheme is great, and you can't
sleep on the receivers. I don't see great answers. And oh,
by the way, the Steeler defense is playing really bad.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Yeah, I mean they're right. Guard Gonsalvas is great. I mean,
he went to a great school, so you can't yeah,
you can't knock him. But for real, Quentin Nelson one
of the bigger bad asses in the NFL. That dude
is a monster. And I think we kind of forgot
about him the past couple of years because the Coults
are kind of down and how people were like, oh,
it's Quentin Nelson kind of passed this prime and then
this year he was like, no, I'm still one of
the best offensive linemen in the league. I'm gonna be
a first team All Pro. So yeah, that O line
(21:01):
is a beast.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
He's going to the Hall of Fame. I will say.
We have seen recent matchups between these two though, and
Cam Hayward has gotten the better of Nelson in the
last couple of meetings.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
It's gonna have That's something. It's gonna have to happen again.
In regards to stopping Teach do you even stop him though,
mat should the Steelers just kind of be like, you
know what, He's gonna rush for one hundred yards and
probably get in the end zone. We got to fix
our pass defense if we have any shot, because Taylor's
just Taylor.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
It's a good conversation too, you know. It's almost like, well,
Jamar Chase got his, He's gonna get his, so be it. Yes,
Taylor got his, So what be I mean, let's not
bang our heads against the wall just to stop this
unstoppable force and do everything else better. Now, of course,
you can't just have him nine yards of carry two
(21:48):
hundred yards, you know, playing five six man boxes crazy stuff.
But I think your point, and I agree with it,
is I'm more worried about the Steeler pass defense, especially
the quick game than I am. The Steeler run defense
just overall.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Yeah, I mean even statistically it's worth I mean, the
rush defense is bad, but it's eighteenth in the league.
Past defense is thirty two out of thirty two teams.
Right now, the key matchups in this one before we
leave quarter, I'm sorry, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor versus
Steelers linebackers. We basically just did this matchup. I mean,
it's it's everything in this game. He's the He's the
best thing about the Indianapolis Colts. He's the best offensive
(22:27):
player in the NFL so far this season. So your
other matchup that you high lighted, Matt is the Steelers
interier offensive line against a player that we talked about
a little bit earlier on the podcast, Colts defensive tackle
to Forest Buckner.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Yeah, and their defense. I don't see a true standout
Garrett Parsons obviously, you know it's a good defense. As
we mentioned, I have great respect for Buckner, like I said,
kind of in like the Cam Hayward mold, and he's
still playing really really well.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Steelers and Colts one o'clock on Sunday at Akrocuer Stadium.
Steelers trying to back in the win column. Matt Williamson
and myself will kick things off at nine am on
DVE with local coverage format. I'm Tom Opferman. Thanks for
giving us a listen on the Advanced Scout
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