Steelers get back to their lifeblood thanks to Jalen Ramsey's challenge and making 'Daniel Jones be a quarterback' Andy BackstromNovember 3, 2025 at 6:16 AM 0 PITTSBURGH — Almost everything the Indianapolis Colts tried early Sunday worked. Quarterback Daniel Jones was humming in the pocket and deepthreat wideout Alec Pierce was finding holes in Pittsburgh's Cover 2. The Colts even converted a fake punt from their own 25yard line on the final play of the first quarter with a lead in hand. Their lone gaffe to that point was a muffed punt return.
- - Steelers get back to their lifeblood thanks to Jalen Ramsey's challenge and making 'Daniel Jones be a quarterback'
Andy BackstromNovember 3, 2025 at 6:16 AM
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PITTSBURGH — Almost everything the Indianapolis Colts tried early Sunday worked. Quarterback Daniel Jones was humming in the pocket and deep-threat wideout Alec Pierce was finding holes in Pittsburgh's Cover 2. The Colts even converted a fake punt from their own 25-yard line on the final play of the first quarter with a lead in hand.
Their lone gaffe to that point was a muffed punt return. But the Steelers failed to capitalize despite recovering it at the Indianapolis 11-yard line. Pittsburgh's offense netted 9 yards over 10 plays across its first three drives.
T.J. Watt flipped the script.
The sack artist willed himself past Colts right tackle Braden Smith, stripped Jones and recovered the fumble at the Steelers' 44-yard line. He made the type of play that's rewarded him with six All-Pro accolades and a three-year, $123 million extension this offseason.
He ignited a six-takeaway performance that restored Pittsburgh's defensive identity in a 27-20 victory on a day when the organization honored the 20th anniversary of its 2005 team that won Super Bowl XL.
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The Steelers pumped the brakes on a Colts squad that didn't punt the first two games of the season and came into Week 9 posting a league-high 33.8 points per game as well as more points per drive (3.46) than any team in the past 25 years had averaged over the course of a full season, according to The Athletic.
After losing back-to-back games, and going three straight without a takeaway, Pittsburgh forced half a dozen turnovers, including five on defense, to quiet the noise around coordinator Teryl Austin and a unit that entered the weekend ranked 22nd in points per game allowed.
"That's probably one of the most disappointing things about the stretch we were on," Tomlin said of Pittsburgh's previous two-game skid. "We weren't taking the ball away. That's the lifeblood for us — not only as a defense but as a football team. It's a catalyst for how we engineer victory."
In 2008, when the Steelers won a Super Bowl in Tomlin's second season, they tied for ninth in takeaways. The '05 team tied for 11th in that department. The last Super Bowl team of Pittsburgh's 1970s dynasty finished the '79 campaign tied for eighth.
Watt's strip sack was the first black and gold defensive domino to fall in Acrisure Stadium. The night before, however, another perennial Pro Bowler lit a fuse.
Jalen Ramsey's challenge to Steelers
Aaron Rodgers invited reporters into the scene postgame. Jalen Ramsey, a three-time All-Pro defensive back the Steelers brought aboard this summer, addressed the team.
When Ramsey spoke up, "something kind of changed," according to Rodgers.
"He wanted us to play with that edge on defense," the 41-year-old quarterback recalled. "He didn't feel like we were doing that enough. And they played with an edge today, for sure."
T.J. Watt (90) and the Steelers forced six turnovers, including one on special teams, against the Colts. (AP Photo/Matt Durisko) ()
Ramsey more than carried his weight, moving over to safety to help a Steelers team that lost DeShon Elliott to injury at the position and, as a result, traded for Kyle Dugger earlier in the week.
Dugger, as Tomlin said, "got on a moving train" and started at strong safety after arriving from New England. Ramsey started at free safety. Together, they allowed the Steelers to keep the Colts' potent attack at bay with a bunch of two-high looks.
"He's special," Dugger said of Ramsey afterward. "Just his intelligence and the way he was explaining things, helping me out there, communicating is bigger than his athleticism. He's a smart player."
Of course, Pittsburgh's defensive line standing strong against the run allowed Austin's group as a whole to succeed. The Steelers kept Indianapolis running back, and NFL MVP candidate, Jonathan Taylor to a season-low 45 rushing yards. Before Sunday, his 14 total touchdowns and 1,056 scrimmage yards were the talk of the league. He was mostly an afterthought in Pittsburgh.
The back-end messaging from Ramsey and Dugger assisted Pittsburgh in mostly handling the Colts' motion-heavy offense, a positive sign for a Steelers defense that was consistently caught adjusting late pre-snap during its consecutive losses.
Pittsburgh made Indianapolis one-dimensional, or, in cornerback Joey Porter Jr.'s words, they made "Daniel Jones be a quarterback."
Without a high-functioning run game, the Colts often found themselves off schedule. Then they faced pressure. That's when the Steelers' five sacks came into play.
Their six takeaways, though, were the lifeblood.
An initiation: 'That's how you become a Steeler'
Payton Wilson came flying in off the edge late in the third quarter. As soon as Jones wound up, Wilson elevated to meet the ball before it could reach wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr.
The Steelers' inside linebacker batted it with two hands like a volleyball player at the net, and outside linebacker Jack Sawyer collected the deflection for his first NFL interception.
Payton Wilson tips it and rookie Jack Sawyer catches it for a Steelers INT!INDvsPIT on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/lS0cULfQgU
— NFL (@NFL) November 2, 2025
Pittsburgh third-string quarterback Will Howard, who won a national title with Sawyer at Ohio State less than a year ago, saw a world in which Sawyer could have mirrored his 83-yard scoop-and-score against Texas that booked their trip to the College Football Playoff championship game.
"I was saying if Daniel wasn't right there, [Jack] probably would've had another moment like the Cotton Bowl," Howard told Yahoo Sports in the locker room.
This time, Sawyer was tackled right after he got his hands on the ball. He still celebrated in the end zone. And he was still part of the Steelers' forced turnover fantasia.
Wilson, who got his pick off Jones in the second quarter to help break a 7-7 tie, noted: "That's how you become a Steeler: Turnovers, big hits, big plays like that.
"And that's what everyone in this locker room wanted to get back to."
It's a rite of passage of sorts. In that way, Sawyer was initiated Sunday.
Primarily a special teamer this season, Sawyer's job is to make a lot happen in little time. Right now, his role on defense is to give Watt and Alex Highsmith breathers when the star pass rushers need them, and to make an impact while he's at it. He described the play he made against the Colts as "motivating."
"Growing up and watching the Steelers, you're watching some of the best outside linebackers, guys hitting dudes over the middle and just really playing that brand of football that you love to see," said Sawyer, who told Yahoo Sports that he grew up in Ohio with an appreciation for the "Steel Curtain-style of football" that originated one state over.
"I've seen that and felt that, and now I think it's starting to show."
Sawyer added: "I think it showed today."
Source: "AOL Sports"
Source: Sports
Published: November 03, 2025 at 07:27AM on Source: KOS MAG
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