It's been a rough season for the once-vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers' defense, coming into their Week 9 matchup against the 7-1 Indianapolis Colts ranked as one of the worst units in the league. They had seemingly lost their ability to create havoc with a ferocious pass rush and opportunistic secondary.
They looked old, slow, and, quite frankly, soft. Their massive lead in the AFC North was suddenly looking very tenuous, with the Ravens winning consecutive games to close the gap. They needed a huge performance against a Colts offense that seemingly could do no wrong eight games into the season.