In Week 9 of 2025 our Indianapolis Colts will travel to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Knowing the party was hitting the road, I sat down with Ryan Parish of Behind the Steel Curtain, SB Nation’s Steelers blog. You can find him on Twitter @RyanParishmedia. We swapped questions and answers about both the Steelers and the Colts and what follows is what I’ve learned about this week’s enemy.
You can find my answers to his questions here.
Chris Shepherd: This year we’ve heard about the predictability of the Steelers defense and since Shane Steichen got to town Gardner Minshew, Joe Flacco and Anthony Richardson have combined to go 37 for 58 (64%) for 454 yards, 5 touchdowns and zero interceptions, perhaps lending some credibility to the allegations of predictability. How can the Steelers change things up for this matchup against the NFL’s best offense through 8 weeks, how do Steelers fans think they’ll slow down the Indy offense?
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Ryan Parish: One big change could be new safety Kyle Dugger whom the Steelers acquired in a trade on Tuesday. While I don’t expect Dugger to boost the Steelers’ woeful secondary against the pass, he is a plus-defender against the run and could hopefully help slow down Taylor and his MVP aspirations.
Beyond that, I’m not sure what the Steelers can do. The majority of the secondary has looked old and slow. It’s been no help that the Steelers typically show defenses the exact coverage scheme they are going to run pre-snap, allowing savvy quarterbacks and playcallers to pick apart the soft spots in zone looks and hunt matchups in man coverage. The pass rush is creating pressure at a fairly high rate, but even that has been bland and unimaginative, allowing good offenses to get the ball out quickly to nullify some of the heat Pittsburgh is able to generate. The Steelers are also blitzing at a high rate, which again gives savvy quarterbacks the ability to throw where there is a weakness in coverage.
I would like the Steelers to play Darius Slay significantly less, give more reps to Brandin Echols, and press more at the line with their corners. But truthfully, the Colts seem like a matchup nightmare for this year’s defense.
CS: Aaron Rodgers has looked much better this season than last, how has playing in Arthur Smith’s offense helped Rodgers get some of that magic back and in what ways do you expect to see him test a very beat-up Colts secondary?
RP: To a certain extent, it’s all been smoke and mirrors. When given adequate time to stand in the pocket and read the defense, Rodgers is still among the best. All those years of experience haven’t faded from his mind. That said, if you’re able to move him off his spot at all, things quickly fall apart. Rodgers rarely throws deep, likely due to diminishing arm strength and accuracy, but also because the Steelers’ offensive line struggles to block for long-developing routes, and the Steelers have few playmakers outside of DK Metcalf who can win vertically.
If you let the Steelers stay ahead of the sticks with their running game and quick passing attack, they can hang with any opposing offense. But if they get off track, via penalties, or sacks, or runs that get stuffed or lose yardage, they turn into fish in a barrel and just aren’t built to climb out of those holes consistently.
CS: In the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft the Steelers selected defensive tackle Derrick Harmon. How has Harmon looked thus far and do the Steelers have any other young standouts on either side of the ball?
RP: Harmon had to miss the first couple of games due to an injury he sustained in the preseason, but he’s looked the part since returning. In five games, he’s totaled three sacks and 14 pressures as an interior defensive lineman. He’s not immune to rookie pains, but for a player picked in the 20s, it’s been encouraging. He’s gotten five stops in run defense, but has had his fair share of struggles, as has the rest of the Steelers’ front. Still, I’d say the early reviews are generally positive.
As for other young players on defensive, Payton Wilson has his lapses here and there, but he’s arguablly been the Steelers best linebacker, better than 2024’s free agent prize Patrick Queen. Nick Herbig has been the Steelers most effective pass rusher and has been electric when on the field, but for some reason has seen his snaps go down the past two weeks — which coincides with the two worst defensive performances of the year from Pittsburgh, I might add.
On offense, the young standouts are center Zach Frazier and right tackle Troy Fautanu. Second-year receiver Roman Wilson has slowly been getting more action over the past couple of weeks and might provide a big play or two if the Steelers can exploit that banged-up secondary you mentioned. Lastly, Darnell Washington is an offensive tackle-sized tight end who is key to the Steelers as a blocker and the occasional catch and run.
CS: If you were an offensive coordinator charged with creating a game plan to take on this Steelers team what would your plan look like? Who would you target? Is there anyone you would avoid?
RP: The Steelers run Cover-1 man and Cover-3 62% of the time. In man, I’m tossing deep to Alec Pierce a couple of times this game, and I’m asking Tyler Warren, Josh Downs, and Michael Pittman to abuse the Steelers coverage in the middle of the field and on curl and corner routes. I’d also remember that Jonathan Taylor is vying for 2,000 rushing yards and 20+ touchdowns, and be licking my chops scouting the Steelers.
CS: Currently the Colts are three point favorites over the Steelers. How do you see the game going, who’s going to win and what will the final score be?
RP: The Steelers need to score 30 points, control the clock, and win the turnover battle to have any shot in this game. I don’t see it happening. Colts win 35-23.
I can’t thank Ryan enough for answering this week’s questions. Make sure you head over to Behind the Steel Curtain and @RyanParishmedia on Twitter to check out his work.
The more I think about it the more I think Aaron Rodgers throws for 450 yards and 5 touchdowns in this one and if that’s the case, Ryan might have been wrong with his prediction, although I hope he’s spot on.
As always, go Colts.
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