Published: November 09, 2008 11:13 pm         

Steel hurtin': Colts come from behind to beat Steelers

Pittsburgh — In a suffocating AFC playoff race, the Indianapolis Colts were able to exhale with a big National Football League road victory.

The Colts came from behind to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-20 at Heinz Field on Sunday. A 17-yard Dominic Rhodes touchdown pass from Peyton Manning with 3 minutes, 4 seconds left gave the Colts the lead and Indianapolis survived a Hail Mary pass into the end zone at the final gun to claim an important victory.

Instead of having to fight uphill against at least six teams fighting for two AFC Wild Card spots, the Colts are 5-4 and one of three teams one game out of the Wild Card chase.

“I told the team in the lockerroom that we played three division leaders the last three weeks, so I think we’ve got a good feel for what this AFC is all about,” Colts coach Tony Dungy said. “Now it’s time to get on a streak. We haven’t been in this position all year, to get on a three-game winning streak.”

The Colts’ game-winning score was set up by a big defensive play with 4:44 left when Tim Jennings intercepted a Ben Roethlisberger pass over the middle to set the Colts up at the Steelers’ 32-yard line.

“[Intended receiver Santonio Holmes] ran a slant and I was on top of it. It looked like Ben threw it right to me. I was able to catch the ball and I just hoped the offense would capitalize,” Jennings said.

The Colts offense delivered. On the touchdown, Manning faked to Rhodes in the flat, and while Manning checked his other options, Rhodes curled down the right sideline towards the end zone. Manning lobbed it over Troy Polamalu; Rhodes caught it just short of the goal line and went in untouched for the go-ahead score.

“It was a great play to Rhodes. Play-action pass off the stretch fake. Dominic made a good play and it’s a credit to him for being ready,” Manning said.

Jennings’ interception was the last of several big plays by the Colts’ defense (see related story), which kept the Steelers out of the end zone from the 13:21 mark of the second quarter. With 1:24 left in the first half, a Keiwan Ratliff interception set up a Colts touchdown. Later, rookie defensive tackle Eric Foster laid a massive hit on Steelers’ running back Mewelde Moore at the goal line to prevent a touchdown.

“They took advantage of minute opportunities and made significant plays; we did not. The difference sometimes between catching interception opportunities and not — they did and we didn’t,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.

The Colts’ defensive performance made up for a so-so day from the Colts’ offense. Manning completed 21 of 40 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns, but the Colts had only one scoring drive longer than 32 yards ... and that came off a tipped pass that Reggie Wayne hauled in for a 65-yard touchdown in the first half.

Still, the Colts pulled it out in a city where the franchise had lost 12 in a row and had won just once before — in 1968 when the Baltimore Colts were NFL champions and the Steelers were a laughingstock. The Steelers had won nine in a row overall in the series until Sunday.

“They don’t lose often here, I know that for a fact,” said Dungy, who played for the Steelers during their 1970s glory days. “This is a game of just attitude, hanging in there, and making plays when it counted.”

The Colts had several of them. After Moore scored on a 1-yard touchdown run after a methodical 10-play, 62-yard opening Steelers’ drive, the Colts took advantage of a break. Manning underthrew Wayne on a deep ball and Ike Taylor tipped it. Wayne stuck with the play, caught the ball off the deflection, and did a nifty pirouette around safety Ryan Clark to score a game-tying 65-yard touchdown.

Undaunted, the Steelers surged to a 17-7 lead and had momentum through most of the first half, until the Colts made another key play. Roethlisberger underthrew a wide-open Holmes and Ratliff intercepted the pass at the Steelers’ 32 with 1:24 left in the half. The Colts struggled to get into scoring position, but with 6 seconds left in the half, Manning found Dallas Clark for a 2-yard touchdown over the middle to pull the Colts within 17-14 and, more importantly, to give the Colts a much needed boost going into the break.

The Colts tied the game in the third quarter on an Adam Vinatieri field goal, but neither team could break through, both teams making self-inflicted mistakes to keep it knotted.

Pittsburgh seemed poised to break the deadlock, driving 69 yards in 12 plays to get to the Colts’ 1-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

The Steelers tried to go up the middle twice with Moore. On the first play, Foster was the first of several Colts to put a body on Moore, but Foster left no doubt on third-and-goal, wrapping his body around Moore to stop the Steelers’ backup tailback in his tracks on the 1.

The Steelers had to settle for a field goal … and that proved crucial when Rhodes’ touchdown gave the Colts a four-point lead in the final minutes. The Steelers drove to the Colts’ 27, but Roethlisberger’s final heave into the end zone was interecepted by Melvin Bullitt.

The Colts return home to play Houston next Sunday.



Colts 24, Steelers 20

Indianapolis 7 7 3 7 — 24

Pittsburgh 7 10 0 3 — 20

Pit—Moore 1 run (Reed kick), 9:07 1Q.

Ind—Wayne 65 pass from Manning (Vinatieri kick), 7:41 1Q.

Pit—Moore 1 run (Reed kick), 13:21 2Q.

Pit—FG Reed 42, 4:18 2Q.

Ind—Clark 2 pass from Manning (Vinatieri kick), :06 2Q.

Ind—FG Vinatieri 36, 8:14 3Q.

Pit—FG Reed 24, 7:57 4Q.

Ind—Rhodes 17 pass from Manning (Vinatieri kick), 3:04 4Q.

A—64,043.

Ind Pit

First downs 17 18

Total Net Yards 290 326

Rushes-yards 19-62 26-55

Passing 228 271

Punt Returns 1-3 4-40

Kickoff Returns 5-85 5-106

Interceptions Ret. 3-8 0-0

Comp-Att-Int 21-40-0 30-42-3

Sacked-Yards Lost 2-12 2-13

Punts 6-42.5 3-37.7

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-Yards 6-45 3-20

Time of Possession 25:55 34:05

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Indianapolis, Addai 12-34, Rhodes 7-28. Pittsburgh, Moore 24-57, Holmes 1-(minus 1), Roethlisberger 1-(minus 1).

PASSING—Indianapolis, Manning 21-40-0-240. Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger 30-42-3-284.

RECEIVING—Indianapolis, Wayne 6-114, Gonzalez 4-26, Harrison 3-37, Clark 3-24, Rhodes 2-24, Addai 2-13, Garcon 1-2. Pittsburgh, Ward 9-116, Spaeth 6-53, Moore 6-48, Holmes 4-29, Washington 3-30, Baker 1-6, McHugh 1-2.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.