The Indianapolis Colts came into Acrisure to add another chapter to their hot streak. Instead, they faced a defense so tough that it reminded people of the legendary Steel Curtain days. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense came alive, and became the reason for their 27-20 victory. Veteran defensive end TJ Watt’s strip sack, which stole early momentum from the Colts, had head coach Mike Tomlin showering praises post-game.

“It was everything. We were running on the beach offensively. We needed a short field, and like all great players do, man, he provided it when we needed it most.”

The Colts had an early 7-0 lead. But Watt’s second-quarter strip-sack cost them dearly. Not only did Jones lose 7 yards on that play, it set up the Steelers’ offense for a 12-play, 56-yard touchdown. Notably, that was the only sack Watt made in the game, but that was all Pittsburgh needed. They tied the score 7-7, scored another touchdown, and the Colts never saw their lead again.

The Steelers’ offense didn’t need to do much. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 203 yards and a touchdown, and running back Jaylen Warren hauled in two rushing scores. Meanwhile, two field goals added more points, and that was all they had to do. Their defense held the Colts on the ground to just 55 yards, and 313 yards in the air.

TJ Watt’s strip sack started a chain reaction, and the Colts ended up with a whopping 6 turnovers that took away any chance of a comeback they might have had. Post-game, on the field, Watt was asked changed. His response:

“Just pinning our ears back, simplifying the game plan… Smashing the run obviously helps. Offense did their job today, and we just wanted to go out there and create turnovers, and we did it. – We critique ourselves very hard… There’s a lot of film that need to be corrected; we didn’t need people from the outside telling us. We took plenty of pride in fixing it.”

And sure enough, they fixed it. With this victory down in the books, that pride felt even stronger in fellow linebacker Joey Porter Jr.’s words.

Joey Porter Jr’s take on Week 9 victory

TJ Watt sparked the defense, and the rest of his teammates took care of the rest. Fellow linebacker Alex Highsmith landed two more sacks on Daniel Jones throughout the game. Defensive tackle Keeanu Benton added another one. Even Joey Porter Jr. added some prime stats to his name: 1 sack, eight tackles, and four passes defended. With 5 sacks in total, six turnovers, and a whole lot of defensive dominance, Porter’s words captured it all.

“This was a statement game for us as a defense. We didn’t like what we put out on film the last two weeks. We had to come out and make a point. I think we did today.”

The Steelers are now 5-3 heading into Week 10 to face the Los Angeles Chargers. There’s already a lot of buzz around social media about what this defense could do to Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert’s offense. Joey Porter Jr.’s made his statement about Week 9, but TJ Watt’s sights are already set on Week 10 now. As he’d further noted:

“Each week in the NFL is a challenge. We can’t be licking ourselves all over after one game. We just need to get back in the lab and attack next week.”

This is the fire and drive Steel City has been waiting to see for the last two weeks. Now, the biggest challenge will be to keep this momentum going and take the pressure off the offense.