The Pittsburgh Steelers hadn't allowed more than 10 points in a game entering the fourth week of the 2024 season. The Colts had 14 points by the time the first quarter ended.
And then, with Joe Flacco coming off the sideline in place of an injured Anthony Richardson, the Colts withstood a late Steelers push to win, 27-24, on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
There were a couple of massive, game-changing plays by the defense – safety Nick Cross popped the ball out of wide receiver George Pickens' hands a few yards short of the goal line in the first half, and cornerback Chris Lammons stayed with Justin Fields as the Pittsburgh quarterback fumbled away a critical third down in the second half.
And then there were some more subtle moments where the Colts' execution out-paced the previously-undefeated Steelers. On offense: Flacco completed six of eight passes on third down for 72 yards with two touchdowns; all six passes resulted in first downs.
On defense: With under a minute left in the fourth quarter, linebacker E.J. Speed tackled running back Najee Harris in bounds – despite Harris being inches from the sideline – keeping the clock running and forcing the Steelers into a hurried desperation fourth-and-11 play, which safety Julian Blackmon nearly intercepted.
"This team is resilient," linebacker Zaire Franklin said. "Early on we went through some adversity — people counting us out and already throwing us in the trash after two weeks. But we stuck together. I think that bit of adversity — obviously we got some guys in — that made us closer. Now we're back at .500 and looking forward to keeping that win streak going."
The Colts are 2-2, which might not be the record they wanted through the first quarter of the season but absolutely is the record they needed. Climbing back to .500 after a two-point loss to the Houston Texans and a six-point loss to the Green Bay Packers was exactly what this team had to do over the last two weeks; it's much easier to build upon a foundation at .500 than it is to dig out of a 1-3 hole.
"You try to look at seasons like quarters," tight end Mo Alie-Cox said. "Split them up into four quarters. We came out .500 — we wanted to do better — but it's not bad coming out .500. We know we have some division opponents coming up in the next couple games, so just happy to get to two in a row. We have a young team, so let these guys experience what winning feels like and try to build on it."
It's far too early to crown legitimate contenders, but the Colts are a game back of the Texans with a Week 8 matchup in Houston still ahead. They're among a jumbled group of two-loss teams, pending a few results on Sunday and Monday night: The New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens. No team is ever out of it through four weeks – even the 0-4 Jacksonville Jaguars, the Colts' next opponent, aren't buried yet – but again: It's much easier to be a long-term contender when you're not trying to climb out of a short-term hole.
Maybe a better way to put it: October and November are months where a team's identity can come into focus, leading to – ideally – that team playing its best football in December and then into January. Sometimes, though, a team playing its best football in December doesn't matter because of the deficit they faced in September.
"You really do have to take each week individually in this league," Flacco, the 17-year veteran, said. "There's really not much correlation. I mean, when you get on a roll, you can obviously get on a roll, but I kind of alluded to it a little bit earlier, it's still so early in the season, four weeks in. We're still trying to figure things out both ways, deal with what we have to deal with, and then go out there and get a victory. So, there's definitely a positive when you can get wins and you can stack them, and guys start to feel confident because you will play better based off of that. But it's only the second one. We can't get too excited. We've got to stay – kind of just go back to the drawing board, prepare the way we always have and trust that that's going to go take care of the job."
The next quarter of the 2024 season represents a critical stretch for the Colts, not only in terms of establishing an identity but in terms of contending in the AFC South. Between the start and end of October, the Colts will play all three of their AFC South road games: At Jacksonville (Week 5), at Tennessee (Week 6) and at Houston (Week 8), with a home game against the Miami Dolphins sandwiched in between.
As the Colts enter that divisional stretch, they do so believing in their collective resiliency. Every team gets tested in that area during a season; the Colts, as it turns out, were tested immediately. That's a good foundation; now it's about establishing a team-wide identity over the next few weeks while carving out a place as a legit contender in the AFC South.
"At the end of the day, this team wants to fight, we're willing to got fight," Blackmon said. "... We know we've got a team that can win. We obviously know that we have talent and we just gotta bring it all together."
