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The Pittsburgh Steelers faced a daunting test on Sunday as the team had to square off with the Indianapolis Colts at Acrisure Stadium. The Colts have been one of the bigger surprises in the NFL during the 2025 season as the group came into the game as the hottest team in the league and the one-seed in the AFC. The Steelers were understandably underdogs, but Pittsburgh was able to handle business and win the game by a score of 27-20, and the team even had a 17-point lead at one point during the matchup.

One of the main stories going into this game was how poorly Pittsburgh's defense had been playing. The group was coming off of two embarrassing outings against the Cincinnati Bengals and the Green Bay Packers, and most of the fan base thought the group was going to have a rough day at the office again on Sunday. 

That wasn't the case as the Steelers were able to keep the Colts' offense under wraps, but outside linebacker Alex Highsmith made it clear during his postgame press conference that he still wants to see more from his side of the football.

"I mean it's awesome," Highsmith said of creating turnovers. "We know that when we are creating turnovers, whenever our culture comes alive, everybody feeds off that. I think these last couple weeks, we hadn't gotten any turnovers. We weren't really feeding off of each other."

Highsmith was very clear in mentioning that the defense was not at its best in recent weeks. He acknowledged that the unit was ready to go against the Colts on Sunday.

"We know that to be a great defense, you have to be a defense that plays with energy, passion; we did that today. Obviously, they still had 20 points on the board, which is something we can't let happen. We got to get back in the film room and see what happened towards the end of the game."

The Colts were able to put some points on the board during the fourth quarter of the matchup, but Pittsburgh certainly had the game in hand. Highsmith loved what he saw from the team, but he felt like the defensive performance in the fourth quarter was subpar, and he was not happy that his side of the ball allowed Indianapolis to put 20 points on the board.

Pittsburgh had its best defensive performance of the season, but Highsmith and other leaders on that side of the ball know the group still has room to grow. The defense needs to find ways to stack games like this and become more consistent, as every fan is worried about seeing the version of the defense that was on the field in Cincinnati and against the Packers.

The Steelers finished the game by allowing just under 370 total yards in the game, and the group was able to force six turnovers, which put them in good position to win the game. 

Steelers' Defense Was Desperate For A Strong Performance

The Steelers needed a game like Sunday's win over the Colts just to instill some confidence into the defensive side of the ball. There was a ton of outside noise over the last couple of weeks discussing Pittsburgh potentially trading away some players, or making drastic personnel changes on defense. Some changes were made, but the group showed that the talent in the building is more than enough to have one of the better defenses in the NFL. 

If the group can put together more games like that throughout the remainder of the 2025 season, Pittsburgh may actually have a chance to do something in the postseason.