The interceptions (and lack thereof) came in droves. On the first interception... er... non-interception, Ike Taylor was in perfect position for the takeaway. Instead, he knocked the ball in the air... and Reggie Wayne made an amazing catch, which Wayne then took 65 yards for a touchdown. In other words, instead of a turnover (or at worst, an incomplete pass), the Colts got a quick and easy score.
Later on, Troy Polamalu broke on a ball, but at the last second, Dallas Clark reached a hand in, dislodging the ball from Polamalu's hands. Were it not for Clark's defense, Troy not only would have intercepted the ball, he would have scored a touchdown.
Later still, Ike Taylor was once again in position to intercept a Manning pass. So much so, that Ike was actually in better position than Reggie Wayne. But, right before the ball arrived, Wayne grabbed Taylor's arm (which should have been ruled offensive pass interference) and the ball fell to the ground. Once again, instead of a game-changing interception, it was merely an incompletion
Simply the Steelers did not take advantage of Peyton's errant passes. Conversely, the Colts capitalized on their opportunities for interceptions.
Indianapolis' first interception occurred when Ben Roethlisberger was trying to hit a wide open Santonio Holmes. Holmes had beaten his man... but, Big Ben underthrew the ball, resulting in the interception. (Note: it appeared that Ben may have slipped on the grass as he threw.) This interception was costly, because had Ben thrown it over the Colt defender, Holmes would have converted a third down, and the momentum (which was already on Pittsburgh's side) would have sky-rocketed. Instead, the momentum swung towards the Colts... a swing from which the Steelers never really recovered.
Ben's second interception came at an even more crucial time in the game. The Steelers had just been stopped on third-and-goal from the one-yard line (Note: describe later on). Hence, the Steelers needed to score and/or take as much time off of the clock as they could. Instead, on third-and-short, Santonio Holmes stopped running his route, resulting in the pass intended for him to land right in the hands of a Colts defensive back. In turn, Peyton Manning used this momentum (and a shortened field) to score a quick touchdown.
The final interception occurred on the last play of the game: a Big Ben "Hail Mary" pass. The ball sailed into the end-zone, was bobbled by two Colts defenders... and was in the air for Dallas Baker to snag. For a second, I thought that karma was going to allow Baker to catch the ball, in order to atone for Wayne's circus catch earlier in the game. Alas, the ball was caught by a Colt.
As crucial as the aforementioned interceptions were to the outcome of the game, so was one particular running play. At the end of the third quarter, and into the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh needed to swing the momentum back in their favor. In turn, Big Ben led his team on a twelve play drive, covering sixty-nine yards, and taking eight minutes off of the clock. The pendulum had definitely swung back onto Pittsburgh's side. Then, on the thirteenth play of the drive, on a third-and-goal from the one yard line, all of that momentum was given right back to the Colts. Mewelde Moore ran to the left side of the line. Two Steelers offensive linemen drove Eric Foster to the ground, creating a huge hole for Moore. But then those same Pittsburgh offensive linemen left Foster uncovered... and as Moore ran by Foster, Foster rose up, and stuffed the play dead. As simply as I can put this, if either one of those Steeler offensive linemen had kept Foster on the ground for even a half a second longer, Mewelde easily scores. Alas...
In summary, the Steelers have played in a ton of close, intense games this season. A few of them Pittsburgh has pulled out, and in a few others, the Steelers have been on the losing end. Of course, the black and gold brigade will overreact to this game. The reactionaries will trounce Big Ben, the offensive line, and the defense (specifically Ike Taylor). The apologists will play the "what if" game (e.g. "What if Ike Taylor had intercepted one of those passes?...or both passes?"). But the realists know the truth: as was the case a few weeks ago against the New York Giants and as it was this week against the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh HAS to start taking advantage of fortuitous situations... otherwise, as I have feared and forewarned, it may come back to haunt them.
