A 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty against Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick extended what would go on to be a touchdown drive by the Indianapolis Colts. On a long pass attempt up the left sideline, Joe Flacco overthrew the ball to Adonai Mitchell. Fitzpatrick, running over from a deep position, collided with Mitchell as they were both sprinting toward the same point. After the game, Fitzpatrick was despondent when asked about the penalty, per Pittsburgh Tribute-Review's Chris Adamski.

“I thought we were playing football. I don't know what we're playing at this point. Very different game from what I grew up playing, what I grew up loving. You can’t hit anybody hard.”

Given his momentum, Fitzpatrick did well to minimize the impact against Mitchell. Even still, the play was flagged for unnecessary roughness and with the eventual TD, the Colts extended their lead 24-10. Pittsburgh scored touchdowns on their next two drives but turned the ball over on downs in their final drive.

Deshon Elliott said the personal foul penalty was b***s***, per PTR's Joe Rutter

The Steelers lost Cordarrelle Patterson to an ankle injury. He was carted off the field.

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Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (39) reacts to a personal foul call during the second half against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Despite falling behind early, 17-0, the Steelers clawed their way back into the game. Justin Fields padded his stats against softer coverage as the Colts took their foot off the gas, but he still averaged 9.2 yards per attempt. George Pickens (7/113) and Pat Freiermuth (5/57/1) both had big games. Fields, who told teammate Cameron Heyward that the Steelers coaches are better than the Bears, did have one costly error where he lifted his leg to indicate he was ready to receive the snap, but turned his head and the ball sailed past. The Colts recovered the ball and began a drive on the Steelers' 42-yard-line.

The unfortunate part was the Steelers' inability to stay balanced with a run game. Najee Harris, who finished with at least 69 rushing yards in each of the Steelers' first three games, only gained 19 yards on 13 carries. He did turn in one big receiving gain, a 32-yard reception, which gave him 54 yards on three catches. But an imbalanced offensive attack puts the offense in a lot of long second —and third-down situations.

We'll soon get a feel for how good the Steelers are with three NFC East matchups coming up over the next month. In October, they play the Cowboys, Raiders, Giants and Commanders.