Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt knew exactly what won them the game. Minutes after a 27–20 win over the Indianapolis Colts, Watt laid out the blueprint that flipped the game: “It started with smashing the run first and foremost. Playing fast, playing physical football, playing simplified football,” he said in an interview shared by reporter Mike DeFabo on X.
Pittsburgh mauled the trenches, held Indianapolis to 55 rushing yards on 19 attempts, and turned Daniel Jones into a turnover machine. The Steelers forced six takeaways and piled up five sacks, a throwback brand of chaos that powered 24 unanswered points after trailing 7–0. Jaylen Warren finished the drives with two short touchdowns, while Aaron Rodgers managed the game with 203 yards and a 12-yard strike to Pat Freiermuth.
The sequence that changed everything looked familiar to Steelers fans. Watt knifed around the edge for a second-quarter strip sack, Alex Highsmith kept the heat on all afternoon, and the secondary feasted. Rookie linebacker Payton Wilson and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. grabbed interceptions as Pittsburgh turned short fields into points and a two-score cushion it never lost.
Numbers back it up. Jonathan Taylor, the league’s leading rusher coming in, managed 45 yards on 14 carries. Jones stacked yards late (342, 1 TD) but coughed up three interceptions and two lost fumbles under relentless pressure. Pittsburgh’s offense didn’t need style points; it needed mistake-free football and field position. It got both.
If there was a single “turning point,” local radio pegged Watt’s strip sack as the spark that woke up Acrisure Stadium. From there, the Steelers’ rush and coverage tied together, the tackling tightened, and Mike Tomlin’s group closed like a veteran unit.
The message afterward was simple. Pittsburgh cleaned up the run fits, hunted takeaways, and played on its terms. For a defense that took it on the chin the past two weeks, this was a needed course correction and a reminder of the ceiling when No. 90 sets the tempo. Smash the run, speed the game up, and let the ball find you. On Sunday, it did, six times.
