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Colts hold off Steelers comeback attempt to get victory

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Joe Flacco (15) looks to throw a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Colts were able to hold off a late comeback attempt by the Steelers, and got the win by the score of 27-24.

“I’ll tell you what, the guys were resilient all the way through,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. “Took all four quarters. We knew it was going to be a fist fight going against those guys. A damn good football team. To come out and finish the way we did – our defense out there, getting the stop there to end the game was huge.”

While the Colts got the win, it came with multiple injuries.

Anthony Richardson left the game in the first quarter and was ruled out for the remainder of the game.

Richardson took a hard hit to his hip at the end of a quarterback run. He left the game for two plays after that.

The first play after he returned to the game was another quarterback run. He slid this time, but grabbed his hip again and walked to the sidelines, and later into the locker room.

He did not return after that play.

After the game, Richardson said he was dealing with some soreness. He said he did not know what his status would be for next week.

Jonathan Taylor also left the game with an injury. He hurt his ankle in the fourth quarter and did not return to the game.

As for the game itself, the Colts got off to a lightning fast start. They scored on their first three drives of the game, including two touchdowns on their first two drives.

The Colts jumped out to a 17-0 lead, which they would be able to hold on to for the rest of the game.

Joe Flacco replaced Richardson as the Colts quarterback after Richardson got injured. He threw for 168 yards and two touchdowns after replacing the injured Richardson, completing 16 of his 26 passes.

Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs both had big games on Sunday after starting the season slowly, or in Downs’ case, missing the first two games with an injury.

Pittman Jr. eclipsed the 100 yard receiving mark in the first half along, racking up 101 yards in the first half. He ended with 113 yards.

Downs snagged eight passes for 82 yards and a touchdown.

“Everybody wants to be a part of it,” Flacco said. “And the more you can get those guys rolling, the more the confidence kind of just starts to move up, and everybody feeds off of that.”

While the Colts won their second consecutive game, Flacco said that it’s important to take it a week at a time in the NFL.

“There’s definitely a positive when you can get wins and you can stack them, and guys start to feel confident because you will play better based off of that,” Flacco said. “But it’s only the second one. We can’t get too excited.”

This is the first time that the Colts have won back-to-back games against the Steelers since before the Colts moved to Indianapolis, in 1968 and 1971,

The Colts will look to win their third straight game on Sunday, October 6 when they travel to Jacksonville to play the Jaguars at 1 p.m.

COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF

Tune in at 11 a.m. on WISH-TV on every Colts Sunday for Countdown to Kickoff with News 8 sports director Anthony Calhoun, former Colt Ken Dilger, Chuck Pagano, Colts Insider Kevin Bowen, and live hits from the stadium.

The only television postgame show airs right after the game with Anthony Calhoun and former Colt Marlin Jackson.