The Pittsburgh Steelers enter week five knowing the schedule only gets tougher after their week nine BYE week. Can they get a streak going against the Indianapolis Colts? We shall see! Here’s everything you need to know about this week’s game!
What: Indianapolis Colts 2-2 at Pittsburgh Steelers 2-2
Where: Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA
When: Sunday October 11th, 2026 1pmET
Weather: Heavy Rain and winds to 9mph. Temps in the mid 60’s.
Surface: Natural Grass
Wagering Information: Steelers -2.5 O/U 44.5
Last Week: The Colts traveled to London where they defeated the Washington Commanders 30-13. The Steelers traveled to Cleveland where they lost 27-24 to the Browns.
TV: CBS Jim Nantz (play-by-play), J.J. Watt (analysis), Tracy Wolfson (field reporter)
TV Coverage in Your Area (courtesy 506sports.com):
Radio: Steelers Audio Network Rob King (play-by-play), Max Starks (analysis), Missi Matthews (field reporter)
Head Official: Shawn Smith. He’s a graduate of Ferris State (MI) and is in Finance. He’s in his ninth season as a head official and last did a Steelers’ game in the 2025 finale which saw the Steelers defeat the Ravens 26-24. 14 penalties were accepted in that game. His crew has seen 50 flags accepted this season with 17 of those being offensive holding and 10 being false starts.
Game Status (courtesy steelers.com) PIT: No. 5 CB Jalen Ramsey (Wrist) – Questionable, No. 11 WR Michael Pittman Jr. (Foot) – Out
No. 13 RB Rico Dowdle (Toe) – Questionable, *No. 25 S DeShon Elliott (Knee) – Out, No. 35 CB Jamel Dean (Ankle) – Out IND: No. 7 CB Charvarious Ward Sr. (NIR/Rest) – Questionable, No. 10 WR Keenan Allen (NIR/Rest, Groin) – Questionable, No. 11 WR Darius Slayton (Knee) – Questionable, No. 16 WR Ashton Dulin (Hamstring) – Out, No. 57 LB Jaylon Carlies (Ribs) – Out, *No. 86 TE Will Mallory (Thumb) – Out, No. 98 DE Arden Key (Hamstring) – Out
Injury Notes: Elliott is now in the 21-day window for return. The game in Paris seems to be his target…
2026 NFL Ranks:
Total Offense: PIT 17th, IND 25th
Passing Offense: PIT 16th, IND 27th
Rushing Offense: PIT 22nd, IND 15th
Total Defense: PIT 13th, IND 31st
Passing Defense: PIT 12th, IND 29th
Rushing Defense: PIT 17th, IND 26th
AFC North Standings:
Cleveland 3-1
Baltimore 3-1
Cincinnati 2-2
Pittsburgh 2-2
This Week in the AFC North: Cleveland at JY Jets 1pmET, Cincinnati at Miami 1pmET, Baltimore at Atlanta 820pmET SNF
What You Need to Know: The heavy rain expected will be remnants of Hurricane Isaias… The Steelers are 19-10 on nine days rest since 1980… Pittsburgh is 2-0 when they have less than 30 minutes of total possession… The Steelers are 0-2 when trailing after three quarters… Pittsburgh is 2-0 this season when they lost the Time of Possession battle… Jonathan Taylor ran for a season low 45 yards (14 carries) in the Colts’ 2025 loss to the Steelers.
McCarthy Minute: Coach McCarthy is 6-0 in home games following nine days of rest…
Indianapolis Colts Names to Know: QB Daniel Jones, RB Jonathan Taylor, TE Tyler Warren, WR Josh Downs, OL Quenton Nelson, DL DeForrest Buckner, CB Sauce Gardner, LB CJ Allen, K Spencer Shrader
What’s at Stake: With the Bengals and Browns both playing very winnable games, the Steelers need to keep pace. The same can be said for the Colts who currently trail the Jaguars.
All-Time Series: Steelers lead, 29-11 and lead all-time in Pittsburgh 18-3
Last Meeting: November 2025 in Pittsburgh. Steelers 27 Colts 20
Postseason History: Steelers lead 5-0
Steelers Regular Season Game Highs vs IND:
PASSING: 522 yards Ben Roethlisberger 10/26/2014
RUSHING: 179 yards Barry Foster 09/18/1994
RECEIVING: 154 yards Louis Lipps 09/08/1985
SACKS:3.0 Mike Merriweather 10/21/1984, Chad Brown 12/29/1996, James Harrison 12/06/2015
INTERCEPTIONS: 2 Darren Perry 11/22/1992, Brent Alexander 10/21/2002
Check out the latest SCB Steelers Podcast presented by DEK Roofing Inc for more on the Steelers.
Three Things We Need to See for a Steelers’ Victory:
–Pressure. There is no way that Patrick Graham can allow what has happened in the last two weeks to continue. Let’s go back to the win over Cincy. The only sack of the game came on Derrick Harmon’s strip sack of Joe Burrow to clinch the victory. Then last week, the Steelers struggled to get to Deshaun Watson for four quarters but did end up with two sacks that flew very much under the radar. Nick Herbig still doesn’t have a sack. In fact, only four Steelers have recorded a sack or more this year. Daniel Jones cannot be allowed to beat the Steelers.
–Protect. Aaron Rodgers was sacked five times last week and was hit several other times. He’s not surviving the season if this continues. From the guys up front to the running backs in blitz protection, to a man, they have to do better. Now to be fair, Rodgers can help too by not hanging on to the ball forever. Mike McCarthy can help by keeping a tight end in on occasion or by using traditional screen passes. At the end of the day though this comes down to being able to communicate and being able to assert one’s authority.
–Emotion. The last week has brought out all kinds of opinions on whether Rodgers, Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt and company were “too emotional” in Cleveland last week. I say, “keep it up!” Football is an intense and emotional game. I don’t want robots out there pretending like everything should be even keel. If anyone understands where things are with this team it’s the veterans. Heyward and Watt both understand the end is closer to the beginning and that brings out emotion in itself. I like the fire. Keep it coming.
The ‘X’ Factor: Each week I will select a player from each team who I believe will need to play above and beyond in order for his team to win.
X-Factor Steelers: LBs/DBs. Colts’ Tight End Tyler Warren comes in as one of the top guys at his position with 23 receptions and two scores. So far in 2026, the Steelers’ Defense has actually bucked the trend. They’ve been very good in terms of limiting tight end production through the first four games this season. Warren will present numerous challenges because he can be a traditional type of player but he can also flex out wide and have an impact there too. Patrick Graham’s team will need to be on top of things with him.
X-Factor Colts: DeForrest Buckner. The Colts are ranked in the bottom half defensively. They now face a Steelers’ offense relying heavily on Jaylen Warren and the arm of Aaron Rodgers. In the last couple of weeks, the Steelers have had to deal with some really good defensive linemen and now Buckner comes to town. If he creates problems then that likely opens things up for other guys and compounds the Steelers’ issues.
Prediction: While there are some showers expected during the game I’m not sure this will change either team’s gameplan. Both are going to look to establish the run early and often. Ball security will be huge as it always is. I’ll go ahead and make the argument here that not having Michael Pittman, Jr could be a good thing. Both Roman Wilson and Germie Bernard are more dangerous threats than Pittman is. The real question in this game though is Jones and he had a nightmare game last year in Pittsburgh and I believe it happens again.
Steelers 30 Colts 20
Season Prediction Record: 2-2
