The Indianapolis Colts lost their second game of the season in very dramatic fashion. While the loss stings, Colts fans need to be hopeful for what is to come. Week 9 was an anomaly.

Riding high on the tails of a four game win streak, the Colts were looking to go into Week 9 on the road in Pittsburg and supercharge their momentum. Getting a win in this type of hostile environment is certainly a hard feat to achieve. Even though the ending score was 27-20, the game felt like the Colts lost by 3-4 touchdowns.

On Sunday, the Colts had a grand total of six turnovers, which is the most the Colts have had in one game since 2007. in this contest, Payton Manning threw six interceptions against the, then, San Diego Chargers. (Naturally, this kind of feat does not happen very often). On top of the turnovers, the Colts only averaged 2.9 yards per rush and 5.7 yards per pass. The crazy thing is that despite all of the turnovers and the lack of production, the Colts were never truly out of the game until the very end. This very fact speaks to just how good the Colts are and have been this season.

Looking at the Colts complete body of work through the first 8 games of the season, it is clear that Sunday’s game was an anomaly and here is why.

The Offensive Spark was Still Alive

For the first time this season, the Colts had a 100-yard receiver. As a matter of fact, the Colts had two 100-yard receives as Michael Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce achieved this feat. Both guys finished with 115 on the day and both averaged well over 10 yards per catch. Despite this effort, a lot of this yardage came in the fourth quarter when the Colts were throwing for dear life to get chunk plays and score quick. The bottom line, though, is that the talent at receiver is real.

Overall, the Colts were able to move the football, but continually stalled drives with turnovers. They ran 13 more plays than the Steelers, out-gained the Steelers in yards by well over 100, they averaged more yards per play, were perfect in the red zone, and were perfect on fourth down. The issue was the turnovers and Daniel Jones accounted for five of them.

Again, this is not a sign of things to come with Jones as this kind of game is not the scheme the Colts want to play. Jones threw 50 times which is not the recipe the Colts want for success, and Jonathan Taylor only carried the ball 14 times, which is not what a coach should do with his MVP-caliber playmaker. In short – the game was an anomaly that is not indicative of what is to come or indicative of who this team is. The Colts showed that they were, by far, the better team. Unfortunately, the turnover bug bit them hard.

The Defense Showed Signs of Life

For much of the Colts amazing start to the season, criticism surrounding the defense loomed. For the first time, the defense showed up big against a playoff-caliber offense led by MVP and Super Bowl champion, Aaron Rodgers. Despite allowing 27 points, 24 of which were from turnovers, the Steeler’s offense was held in check.

The defense allowed 225 total yards on 13 drives, which is two more drives than the Colts had. They allowed 3.7 yards per play, 1.7 yards per rush, and had three sacks, two of which were from Laiatu Latu alone. Unfortunately, Latu’s best game of his career came in a losing effort. He finished with 2.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, and four solo tackles.

On top of Latu looking great, the defense got healthy in this matchup as starting corner, Jaylon Jones returned. This was his first game back since Week 1. Therefore, all four starting cornerbacks were active and it showed. Germaine Pratt, who was acquired this season had a good game. He led the team is total tackles with eight, had a pass breakup, and a tackle for loss. Overall, the defense looked good. They were cohesive, consistent, and didn’t fall apart when continually put in bad situations by the offense’s turnovers.

Bottom Line

This Indianapolis Colts team is still sitting on top of the AFC with the number one seed. They still lead the division by 1.5 games, are 6-1 in the conference, and 2-0 in the division. The one game is not something that Colts fans should feel anxious about. The loss was bad, but the good news is that this team is so good, that they almost overcame a -5 turnover margin.