Andrew Luck likely out vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

The JJ Watt injury was a crippling blow to the Texans, and they’re handling their own, but when it comes down to it this is just not an AFC South season. And the Jaguars, well, they Jaguar’d. Andrew Luck is in the concussion protocol, and while Roethlisberger expects him to play, he wouldn’t blame Luck for missing the contest.

Tomlin noted that the two teams are familiar with each other, having played the last two years.

Point spread: The Steelers opened as 2.5-point favorites; the total was 53 early in the week, according to sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark. That doesn’t happen when you’ve lost by a combined 96-44 in the past two meetings.

Week 12: Steelers at Colts – Uphill battle in the best of circumstances, but without Luck it will be impossible. I have played this game a long time and younger days in my career when I wouldn’t have [missed time], and there were many times that I’ve said that I haven’t told anybody that I had been dinged or had a concussion.

But the short week doesn’t leave much time for Pagano to fret. “That’s part of this process we gotta learn how to win these games and not get behind, but we know we can come from behind with anybody”.

Luck is not the only Colt going through the concussion protocol.

No current Steelers appeared in those games, nor the one preceding it when Tolzien attempted a career-high 39 passes in a losing effort against Philadelphia.

In order to win, the Colts had to get off to a fast start, stop the run, and contain Mariota.

The best way for the Steelers to do that is to take advantage of Indianapolis’s weakest link – the worst ranked pass defense in the National Football League, who concede 284.5 passing yards per game. On the road, this won’t be an easy out for the Colts.

The Colts bolted off with a 14-0 start and held on for the majority of the game. Can Kirk Cousins and Washington pull off the upset?

Tennessee was undone in this one by a mish-mash of penalties, blown coverages and an ineffective offence that got within 21-17 in the fourth quarter despite never really being in sync. The Indianapolis defense has not recorded a sack in either game.

That final schedule looks an very bad lot like 3-3 for the Colts, and that is being optimistic. Again, they had to deal with a Luck-less offense for nine games last season.

Tolzien didn’t seem too concerned that he’ll likely be the starting quarterback for a team that’s on a two-game winning streak and trying to remain in playoff contention while facing a Pittsburgh team that’s thoroughly handled them the past two seasons.

At 5-5 on the season, the Colts now find themselves one game behind the Houston Texans in the win column in the AFC South.