Steelers at Colts
THE STORY: Peyton Manning's neck injury could turn out to be painful for more than the Indianapolis Colts. The executives at NBC Sports who were probably salivating at the prospect of Sunday night's matchup between Indianapolis and the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers could be spitting mad at the thought of the prime-time television ratings if the downtrodden Colts are unable to be competitive for a third straight week. Indy will be looking to avoid starting the season 0-3 for the first time since Manning’s rookie season, but its struggling offense will face a stiff challenge against a Pittsburgh defense that is coming off a shutout of Seattle last week.
TV: NBC, 8:20 p.m. ET. Line: Steelers -10.5, O/U 39.5
ABOUT THE STEELERS (1-1): After absorbing a beating from Baltimore in its season opener, Pittsburgh found the perfect tonic to remedy its woes against the offensively challenged Seahawks. The result was a predictable 24-0 romp over the league’s lowest-scoring team. The Steelers registered five sacks and limited Seattle to 164 total yards and only eight first downs. Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman each ran for a touchdown and combined for 115 yards rushing as Pittsburgh held the ball for 38 1/2 minutes. QB Ben Roethlisberger bounced back from a rocky opener to complete 22 of 30 for 298 yards and one TD.
ABOUT THE COLTS (0-2): Indianapolis has been as bad – if not
worse – as feared in the absence of Manning, the league’s only four-time
MVP. The Colts were steamrolled at Houston 34-7 in their season opener
and weren’t much better in a 27-19 home loss to Cleveland last week. In
Kerry Collins’ second start, Indy could not punch the ball into the end
zone until the final 24 seconds. Collins, who came out of retirement to
replace Manning, committed two costly four-quarter turnovers and
completed only 50 percent of his passes (19 of 38, 191 yards) against a
defense that doesn’t conjure up memories of the ’85 Bears.
EXTRA POINTS:
1. Steelers WR Mike Wallace has back-to-back 100-yard games, extending his streak to five in the regular season dating to Dec. 19, 2010. He has eight receptions in each of the first two games.
2. The Colts have managed to put up only 26 points in their first two games. With Manning under center, they surpassed that total in one game 10 times in each of the last two seasons.
3. Pittsburgh has won seven of the last nine regular-season matchups with Indy, but the Colts have won the last two at home.