Indianapolis Colts @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Final Score: Steelers 34, Colts 22
Writer: Kevan Downs [kdsportsnet on Instagram]
Three Up
- Jaylen Warren – Warren continued his stretch of dominance, logging his third straight game of over 120 total yards, quickly signaling it would be a big day for him while breaking off an 80 yard touchdown reception from a dump off from Aaron Rodgers. He would do it again later, this time off a 50 yard rush for the score.
- Germie Bernard – Bernard was the biggest beneficiary of Michael Pittman Jr. landing on the IR. Roman Wilson was likely the more popular pick-up through the week after finding the end zone in each of the last two games, but he was only able to see 1 target before leaving the game in the second quarter. Bernard flashed some of that chemistry with Rodgers that we saw in camp and preseason that had dynasty owners intrigued by Bernard’s future upside. With 8 targets in this game, Bernard could see relevant usage in the rest of this season.
- Pat Freiermuth – 4 touchdowns now in the first 5 weeks, Freiermuth is seeing the highest red zone usage rate of his career, and is beginning to distance himself from fellow tight end Darnell Washington in routes run despite playing a similar number of snaps.
Three Down
- Roman Wilson – With Pittman hitting the IR, it was questioned if Wilson could step into WR1 duties for the Steelers, with the Rodgers and DK connection not really being there. Unfortunately, Wilson was only able to see 1 target before leaving the game with a finger injury in the second quarter, ceding targets to Germie Bernard instead.
- Josh Downs – Downs continues to split receiver targets between himself, Keenan Allen, and Laquon Treadwell. He hasn’t been able to see the target share
- Daniel Jones – Jones just hasn’t been able to recreate what he was doing last season before his injury and, now 5 weeks in, it may be safe to assume that we won’t be getting anywhere near last season’s performance.
Indianapolis Colts
Quarterback
Daniel Jones: 22/44, 267 Yards | 3 Carries, 4 Yards
Really just a lot of poor throws out of Jones. He managed to stay mostly clean all day, only being sacked 1 time, but so many of his throws just went errant. The Steelers secondary also played well enough to make plays at the point of catch and knock a handful of passes down. Considering how badly the Steelers’ zone defense can get carved up at times, you’d think having a pair of good route runners like Allen and Downs would make things easier for Jones, but without having a field-stretching threat like Alec Pierce, teams have been able to do a better job of containing the short and intermediate routes. A chunk of Jones’ misses also came once they got two scores down and had to move quickly, resulting in a series of heaves to the end zone that were not able to be caught.
No. Fly. Zone. @godschild3_ pic.twitter.com/RGjKG9ZPTi
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 11, 2026
CLAMPS 🔒 @godschild3_ pic.twitter.com/EptfrT32K4
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 11, 2026
Missed Opportunities
- Jones had more than a few end zone attempts batted down, such as the videos shown above. He had another where Tyler Warren got popped by Jalen Ramsay which forced the drop. I hesitate to call all of those missed opportunities as some had far less chances of being caught as others, but the opportunities were there for potential scores, the Colts just weren’t able to score touchdowns in this one.
Running Back
Jonathan Taylor: 15 Carries, 45 Yards | 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 37 Yards
The Steelers front did their job in containing Taylor, who averaged just 3 yards per carry, and only 1.8 yards per carry excluding the 20-yarder he broke off. While the volume is still there, his production has been much more like the post-Jones injury Colts from last season. Although they do face an easier Titans defense next week, before seeing a tough Vikings and Jags defense the two weeks after.
Missed Opportunities
- Really just the offense as a whole. They weren’t able to work deep into the red zone to generate goal line opportunities, settling for field goals most of the day.
- In the Colts’ first and goal situation from the 2 early in the game, Taylor was stuffed on back-to-back runs, gaining just a yard. Tyler Warren would end up scoring the touchdown on a 4th and goal rush.
- Following a Tyler Warren reception to put the team at the 3-yard line, Taylor was once again stuffed and unable to find the end zone.
Seth McGowan: 5 Carries, 16 Yards | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 3 Yards
4+ carries in each of the last 3 weeks, so at least we know who JT’s backup is if he were ever forced to miss time.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Tyler Warren: 9 Targets, 7 Receptions, 83 Yards | 1 Carry, 1 Yard, 1 TD
The best playmaker on the team; they keep getting Warren involved. He’s the only receiving weapon to have some level of consistency in targets week to week, and he got his third touchdown of the year, creeping closer to matching last year’s total already. Jones was able to hit Warren on a variety of routes, some quick outs, some further down the sideline, in the flat.
Missed Opportunities
- On one of Warren’s receptions, he was able to muscle his way down to around the 3 yard line, closely missing another touchdown.
Keenan Allen: 9 Targets, 5 Receptions, 45 Yards
While Allen had an alright final stat line, he is still tough to trust week in and week out as he is not on the field much at all in 12 personnel, leaving those duties to Josh Downs and Laquon Treadwell. Allen is still good at what he does, getting open in shorter developing routes, giving him some level of PPR upside.
Josh Downs: 6 Targets, 3 Receptions, 47 Yards
Similar to Allen, Downs excels at getting open in shorter developing routes, but without a downfield threat like with Alec Pierce, the passing offense just hasn’t been able to flourish the way it did last season. Downs is still easier to trust in my opinion than Allen due to snap share, but the target volume has been inconsistent week to week.
Laquon Treadwell: 8 Targets, 2 Receptions, 34 Yards
Treadwell was targeted a lot deep, almost assuming the Alec Pierce role, however him and Jones just weren’t able to connect and a lot of the throws sent his way seemed forced instead of Treadwell actually getting open.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers: 22/31, 235 Yards, 3 TD | 1 Carry, 6 Yards
A vintage Rodgers performance? Rodgers was very efficient with his day and was able to find Pat Freiermuth twice for touchdowns, and Jaylen Warren once after taking a big hit in the pocket, and Warren was able to turn the dump-off into an 80 Yard touchdown reception. With his last three weeks, Rodgers is trending towards being a weekly start consideration.
Rodgers has been very good finding his guys over the middle. He found Freiermuth for his second touchdown of the day on an easy completion over the middle. His chemistry with Germie Bernard has looked better than with any of the other receivers, DK, Pittman, and Roman Wilson. He just knows where to be for Rodgers when he is forced to scramble.
8️⃣0️⃣ YARDS TO THE HOUSE @Nunless2 pic.twitter.com/veiSAV9F4M
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 11, 2026
WIIIIDE OPEN @pat_fry5 pic.twitter.com/TJHwrFLaXb
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 11, 2026
Hoopin' @AaronRodgers12 | @oti_germie pic.twitter.com/7qWJG3k5hi
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 11, 2026
Running Back
Jaylen Warren: 15 Carries, 101 Yards, 1 TD | 6 Targets, 6 Receptions, 87 Yards, 1 TD
Warren continues his hot streak. He has looked incredible, especially since Dowdle has been out with an injury. With these performances, there is no need to worry about Dowdle cutting into his workload. He might see a couple fewer touches as Dowdle is really the only competent backup on the roster, but nothing much to be worried about. Warren’s vision has been so underrated; he has been able to turn multiple runs and short passes into huge gains and touchdowns.
8️⃣0️⃣ YARDS TO THE HOUSE @Nunless2 pic.twitter.com/veiSAV9F4M
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 11, 2026
Missed Opportunities
- One of the Steelers’ goal line stances went to a Pat Freiermuth catch instead of another rushing touchdown opportunity for Warren.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Pat Freiermuth: 7 Targets, 5 Receptions, 44 Yards, 2 TD
Freiermuth is seeing consistent targets each week, although maybe not quite as much volume as owners would like. This week’s 7 targets were the most he saw so far this season. He has seemed to firmly cement himself above Darnell Washington in the hierarchy of tight end targets, and has seen a lot of usage in the red zone, giving him solid weekly upside in a Steelers passing offense that has really started to click in the last 3 weeks.
Too easy 😮💨 @pat_fry5 pic.twitter.com/GiFGe6cPIO
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 11, 2026
Germie Bernard: 9 Targets, 6 Receptions, 80 Yards
Bernard led the receivers in snaps played in this game and was second in routes run to Metcalf. Bernard was all over the field, connecting with Rodgers over the middle and the seams, on shorter routes closer to the sidelines, and even in the scramble drill. If Rodgers knows he can trust Bernard, especially in scramble situations, he could find himself in flex territory over the rest of the season. Bernard played most snaps in 12 personnel despite the expectation that Roman Wilson would see a larger slice of the pie with Pittman down. As the favored personnel grouping seems to be 2TE (Pat and Darnell) and 2WR (DK and…) if Bernard can hold that role, he has the potential to lead the offense in targets each week moving forward.
DK Metcalf: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 12 Yards
Hopefully you have Metcalf rostered in a points-per-yard-blocked league. He was running alongside Jaylen Warren, blocking for him on his big touchdown reception, which was seemingly also Metcalf’s most notable play of the day.
Notes
- The chemistry just isn’t there with Rodgers and Metcalf, and he receives far too few targets per game to be a reliable option.
- It seems Metcalf isn’t the route runner Rodgers needs/wants him to be to give him a larger target share. He still runs a lot of routes but just isn’t as readily targeted compared to the tight ends and better route runners on the team
Darnell Washington: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 12 Yards
Washington still plays a ton of snaps as the Steelers play a lot of 12 personnel, but he has run far fewer routes compared to Pat. Still a ton of fun to watch when it takes the whole defensive secondary to bring him down, but not a reliable option at this point.
Roman Wilson: 1 Target, 0 Receptions
Wilson did not see the work expected when it was announced that Michael Pittman hit the IR. He only saw 1 target before being forced to leave with an injury, and it looks like Bernard may have passed him on the depth chart.