The Steelers have a long history of memorable moments throughout the years, and during the 2025 season we are going to highlight those moments against each week's opponent.
This week, we feature games against the Indianapolis Colts.
Steelers 21, Indianapolis Colts 18
AFC Divisional Round Game
January 15, 2006
RCA Dome
Football is a 60-minute game, but it was the closing minutes that will forever be talked about in the Steelers Divisional Round win against the Colts during the 2005 season.
It was a fantastic finish, albeit one which had all of Steelers Nation holding their collective breath.
In the closing minutes, while holding onto a 21-18 lead after a bizarre series where safety Troy Polamalu's interception was overturned, the Steelers were in need of another big play on the next drive by the defense. And that's exactly what they got.
On fourth-and-16 from the Colts 12-yard line, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was sacked by linebackers James Farrior and Joey Porter for a 10-yard loss on fourth down, giving the Steelers the ball at the Colts two-yard line.
The game appeared to be over, but it wasn't even close.
With 1:20 to play in the game, running back Jerome Bettis was called upon to do what he does best … close out the game from the two-yard line.
Instead, he did what he never does and fumbled near the goal line. Bettis was hit by linebacker Gary Brackett, forcing a fumble and cornerback Nick Harper recovered in stride, and looked like he was headed to the opposite end zone.
"It was a great play by the linebacker," said Bettis. "He put his hand on the football and that is one thing you can never let happen, especially in a situation like this. So, it was difficult for me to deal with. Ben (Roethlisberger) made a great play in terms of just kind of corralling the guy. Because when you have your goal line people in there you don't have your fastest people in there. So, it was beneficial for us that Ben got him down."
It would be Roethlisberger, the unlikeliest of heroes, who made what would become known as 'The Tackle.' Roethlisberger got Harper with the shoestring tackle at the Colts 42-yard line.
"When you're a quarterback, and you're remembering a tackle," said Roethlisberger. "Once in a blue moon Jerome fumbles, and once in a blue moon I'm going to make that tackle. I turned to hand off to Jerome and I turned to watch to make sure he doesn't fumble or to watch him get into the end zone. And all of a sudden, I see the ball just go flying. My first reaction is to go get it, but I knew I wasn't going to get there in time.
"So, then it's, let's try to slow him down, do something so our guys can come up and make a play. I think I turned him enough times that he got close to me, and he couldn't decide which way to go. I just saw his leg and I went and I grabbed it, and luckily he went down. I remember grabbing around his knee, right around his thigh, and that was about it. I was just hoping I could at least just slow him down."
Given new life with the ball, Manning took control and drove the Colts to the Steelers 28-yard line, where an almost automatic Mike Vanderjagt came on for a 46-yard field goal that would tie the game. But somehow, some way the field goal went wide right, and the Steelers advanced to the AFC Championship Game.
"It was incredible," said Bettis. "You assume we are going to overtime, so we have to get back and get ready to go into the game. I wasn't down (emotionally) or anything. I was just getting ready to go. Assuming that Vanderjagt is going to make that field goal, when I saw it go wide right it was incredible."
Steelers 51, Indianapolis Colts 34
October 26, 2014
Heinz Field (Now Acrisure Stadium)
Ben Roethlisberger had a stellar performance in a commanding 51-34 win over the Colts on a chilly Sunday night in Pittsburgh.
Roethlisberger completed 40 passes for a Steelers record 522 yards and a career-high six touchdowns as he led the Steelers in a game they only trailed for a few minutes, 3-0.
"This was offense, defense and special teams, coaches," said Roethlisberger. "This was everybody and why does it have to stop here? Why can't we keep doing this?"
Roethlisberger spread the ball around, completing passes to nine receivers, and targeted four different players for touchdowns, including two each to receivers Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant.
"Ben is Ben," said Brown. "He never surprises me. It's a great day at the office."
The defense also got in on the scoring action when cornerback William Gay intercepted Colts quarterback Andrew Luck and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown.
It came as no surprise that a few days later Roethlisberger would be selected as the AFC Offensive Player of the Week, as his 522 passing yards were tied for fourth most in a game in league history and he became the only quarterback in the league to have two 500 plus yard passing games in a career at that point.
Steelers 28, Indianapolis Colts 7
November 24, 2016
Lucas Oil Stadium
The Steelers and Colts broke bread on Thanksgiving, and it would be the Steelers who would feast on this night.
Receiver Antonio Brown set a single-game career-high with three touchdown receptions, including a 25-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter and a 33-yard grab in the second quarter. He closed out his scoring with a 22-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.
Brown finished the night with five receptions for 91 yards.
"I appreciate it. I don't take it for granted," said Coach Mike Tomlin of Brown's performance. "But I am not surprised by it. He is a hard, diligent worker, a talented guy, so he is maximizing his opportunities."
The defense was asked to stop the Colts not once, but twice from the one-yard line on fourth down. And both times they did their job, coming up with two crucial goal-line stands.
"Really more than anything it was two nice plays by safeties," said Tomlin. "In one instance Sean Davis, the quarterback was scrambling, and he made the definitive decision to come out of coverage and make a tackle. I think the other one was Mike Mitchell in a similar way. Those were two significant plays by pass defenders first to come out of coverage. You get significant plays like that you've got a chance to have a stand."
Steelers 24, Indianapolis Colts 17
November 29, 2022
Lucas Oil Stadium
The Steelers held on tight for a 24-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football, but afterwards Coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged there is work to be done still, and the kickoff coverage was one area in particular he pointed to.
"We've got a lot of work on, but we were good enough tonight to secure victory and for that we are thankful," said Tomlin. "We got a short week. We got another road trip waiting on us and so you got to sleep fast and do those things.
"I thought our kickoff units got to be better. I thought that was a catalyst for whatever got started with them in the second half. The field position component of it was a big negative. We got to get better there. The field positioning was a negative in that aspect of the game, but that's what jumped out at me.
"It was a lot of good. It's a lot of things you grow from. We'll accept it and move forward."
The kickoff return Tomlin was referencing happened at the start of the second half. Dallis Flowers returned it 89 yards to the Steelers 19-yard line, and four plays later running back Jonathan Taylor took it in for a two-yard touchdown to cut the Steelers lead to 16-10. The Colts kept their momentum going, taking a 17-16 lead, before the Steelers went on top.
When asked what changed in the second half for the Steelers defense, who shut the Colts down in the first half, Tomlin pointed right at the kickoff coverage.
"Kickoff coverage," said Tomlin. "It's the natural ebb and flow of football. They got momentum with that kickoff. They were able to put that ball in the end zone and so you got to turn that tide. That's professional football. That's just part of it. And it doesn't happen in an instant."
While the kickoff coverage struggled, one area that stepped up big was the run game. The Steelers were already missing running back Jaylen Warren, who was inactive with a hamstring injury, and then fellow running back Najee Harris was ruled out with an abdominal injury after carrying the ball 10 times for 35 yards in the first half.
It would be a combination of running backs Benny Snell and Anthony McFarland, who was elevated from the practice squad for the game, who carried the ground game. Snell finished with 12 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown, and one reception for six yards. McFarland had six carries for 30 yards and two receptions for 11 yards.
"I'm just appreciative of both guys effort," said Tomlin. "Sometimes you get battlefield promoted. A guy like Benny Snell became a central part of what we were doing offensively. He was still on punt team. He was still on punt return. He was still on kickoff.
"Ant Mac, the guy's always waiting and working and waiting for the opportunity. And he did some things that we saw in team development, the preseason, that makes him a little bit different than some of the other backs. Things he's able to do in space. The screen game, the draw game, I just thought he was an asset to us."
In a game where a big play was going to be needed, linebacker Alex Highsmith stepped up. The Colts had converted on fourth down with 1:35 to play, when Highsmith sacked quarterback Matt Ryan for a seven-yard loss. While the Colts maintained possession, it was enough to put their backs against the wall and the defense held strong.
"I feel like they came out and were able to establish the run," said Highsmith of the Colts second half performance. "I feel like we didn't play the run as good in the second half, and on the drive that they did score, Jonathan Taylor was able to run the ball really good. We just can't ease up in that aspect. I felt like we shut down the run very well in the first half and so we just got to play a full game when it comes to that.
"We kept it contained but we got to get back in the film room and watch, get better at making the pile fall backwards. There were times where we had them stopped, the pile just fell forward. We've just got to continue to get better in that aspect."
