Colts secondary beat deep repeatedly in 45-10 loss to Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Antonio Brown gave us one of the season’s defining celebrations in one of the season’s definitive performances.

TOUGH MATCHUP: Pagano tried a little bit of everything to slow down Pittsburgh’s wide receivers or confuse Roethlisberger. Instead, he slipped down and landed on his rear with a harmless thud.

Mission accomplished for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense Sunday night.

If not for knee and foot injuries that forced quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to miss four games and parts of two more this season, he might be in serious consideration for the NFL MVP award.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (8) passes under pressure by Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Jarvis Jones (95) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015, in Pittsburgh. “We don’t have a lot of time to sit and dwell on this”. The Colts fall to 6-6. “That’s what we’re supposed to do”, Roethlisberger said. Absolutely not. But we saw on Sunday night what this Colts team looks like with Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback while going up against a good team. “Today we showed that”.

Hasselbeck struggled in his fifth start for Indianapolis, finishing 16-for-26 for 169 yards with one touchdown pass and two interceptions.

“They did a really nice job of keeping me off balance”, Hasselbeck said. “We got beat thoroughly in all three phases”.

Parry said Head Coach Chuck Pagano told the players after the game to flush the loss after Sunday night and get ready for the first back-to-back road game of the season at Jacksonville.

Whatever magic Hasselbeck possessed disappeared quickly in a stadium where he has never won. Williams only came out of the contest for occasional rest, ultimately accounting for 31 of the team’s 34 running-back touches.

Roethlisberger Will Johnson to add a two-point conversion, and from that moment the balance of the game shifted entirely as Markus Wheaton took advantage of a superb gain from to go down at the pylon with just seconds left in the first half. A missed field goal by Chris Boswell was about the only blemish in a quarter where the Steelers used Williams to grind down the clock. The Steelers’ offense is not an elite one just because of the Roethlisberger-Brown combination, but because it can keep right on humming if that sensational connection falters.

The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft also scored on a 5-yard run and scrambled up the middle of the field 20 yards on third-and-19 to prolong the third game-winning drive of his young career.

And with all due respect to greats like Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, this Pittsburgh offense is the best in the franchise’s storied history and buttressed even further when injured star running LeVeon Bell is on the field, although DeAngelo Williams has been the best reserve back in the business so the Steelers remain rather explosive even without one of the two or three best backs in the profession.

Indianapolis’ last best shot to get back in it came later in the quarter, but Hasselbeck was chased to the sideline and threw an incomplete pass on fourth down at the Pittsburgh 14. Big Ben threw for 364 yards and four touchdowns on 24-of-39 passing, finding Brown for two of those scores. “Whether that means me coming off the bench, giving the offensive line water, making sure Ben Roethlisberger’s towel is dry so he can wipe his hands and throw the ball better… whatever it takes for us to win a Super Bowl, I’m willing and able to do it”.