Colts blown out by Steelers, Hasselbeck leaves with injury

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown admitted his celebrations went slightly wrong when he tried to hug the goalposts but fell off on Sunday night. His roster spot may be in jeopardy, especially after Antonio Brown, who took over for Jones, returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown.

Running back DeAngelo Williams added 134 yards on 26 carries for Pittsburgh.

Brown caught eight passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

Less than 24 hours after the 40-year-old Colts quarterback left a blowout loss in Pittsburgh with neck and shoulder pain, coach Chuck Pagano said Hasselbeck was diagnosed with a stiff neck and a mild rib separation. That game against the Texans in Lucas Oil Stadium could determine the AFC South title.

The game was wacky from the start, with four turnovers in the first quarter, including two Matt Hasselbeck interceptions.

Brown eclipsed his own mark of most receiving yards in the first 12 games in franchise history by reaching 1,310 and became the first receiver in team history to post three straight 1,200-yard seasons.

The Steelers have shown the ability to beat bad football teams and they certainly did that against the Colts, dominating on both sides of the ball. They came away with all of three points after Hasselbeck threw a pick at the goal line to end one possession and Indianapolis couldn’t muster a first down after the second.

If not, Hasselbeck will join Luck on the sideline and the Colts’ immediate playoff hopes would be in the hands of No. 3 Charlie Whitehurst.

Andrew Luck reportedly will return in time for at least two, possibly three regular-season games.

“I’ll tell you what, we could have easily been down 14-0 to start that game but our defense really stepped up when their backs were against the wall”.

The Colts have had a rough ride this season dealing with injury issues to Luck, the offensive line, the defensive line, linebacker and the secondary.

Coach Chuck Pagano said Hasselbeck will be evaluated further on Monday, adding, “He should be OK”.

Jacoby Jones was benched after fumbling two first-half kick returns in Pittsburgh’s win over Indianapolis on Sunday. Against a pass defense that had yielded almost 1,000 yards in its last three games and was shredded by Johnny Manziel, the Colts wide receivers were invisible. Hasselbeck avoids throwing any passes, thus the Colts settle for a 35-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri.

Although he is grudgingly given credit Ben Roethlisberger seems to have grown into the QB that the Pittsburgh Steelers visualized him to be when he was drafted in April of 2004.

Gay made six tackles before exiting the game.

The Steelers finished the first half with a flourish.