Know Thy Enemy: Intel On Colts vs. Steelers

PITTSBURGH — The Indianapolis Colts (2-2) face the Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2) at Acrisure Stadium this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS.

While the two teams have the same record, their tone this week was anything but. The Colts have won two straight, are optimistic, and looking to stack wins, but the Steelers have lost two of their last three games, and the tension in their media appearances this week was palpable.

This week, ColtsRoundtable and Jon Conahan of SteelersRoundtable swapped questions to learn more about each side entering Sunday's matchup.

Here are the questions CR had about the Steelers:

Jake Arthur: Clearly, things aren't going quite as smoothly as hoped for the Steelers. When Mike McCarthy recently said, "Our house is not clean," what did you take that to mean?

Jon Conahan: When I first saw these comments from McCarthy, I was shocked and confused. While I don’t think the Steelers are much of anything as a team, I wouldn’t expect much drama with a veteran-led team. The one thing I’m looking for is whether McCarthy meant that about TJ Watt after going after DC Patrick Graham. Graham and Watt said it wasn’t as big of a deal as it was made out to be on social media, but I can’t imagine McCarthy took that well.

JA: The Steelers have a relatively aged defense, but it's making plays. Is the defense legitimately good this year, or are they in transition?

JC: The defense is weird to me because we know what type of football Pittsburgh has played throughout much of its existence, which is a focus on the defensive side of things. I get the age question, but this is a legitimate unit to me. Watt, Jalen Ramsey, Cam Heyward, Patrick Queen, and others might be past their “prime,” so to say, but they’re good enough to win games. 

JA: When you see national coverage of the Steelers, what's the most common misconception you see?

JC: Honestly, I think I’m in a similar boat as most of the national media when it comes to this team. I get the idea that many view the Steelers as a team others have to watch out for each week, but the reality is they aren’t good enough to win a Super Bowl. I wouldn’t say this team is better or worse than the Mike Tomlin teams over the past few years. Would you be surprised to see this team win 9-10 games and lose in the Wild Card round? That’s what I see happening.

JA: Who's a player or two who are highly important to what the Steelers want to do, but fly under the radar?

JC: I’m going to stick with one, though it might be unfair to say that he’s flying under the radar at this stage. That guy is Roman Wilson. Look, Wilson doesn’t have the best tools in the world, but when Aaron Rodgers loves a receiver, we know they’re going to make an impact. Wilson has 24 targets, the second-most behind DK Metcalf’s 33. Wilson has just 14 receptions for 188 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 47 yards per game. That’s not great, but he has an impact breakout in any week.

JA: When you compare the Colts and Steelers, what are any areas where you give the Colts an advantage?

JC: I didn’t realize how good Indianapolis was at finishing its red zone trips until you mentioned it. At a 75% TD rate in the red zone, the Steelers absolutely have to respond to that when they have a chance to score. The Steelers ranked 29th of 32 in red zone scoring percentage (TD only), and that could be a problem here.