INDIANAPOLIS -- Since becoming the Steelers' defensive coordinator three years ago, Keith Butler has professed a desire to pass rush with just four players. And coming out of training camp, it looked like Cam Heyward, Stephon Tuitt, Bud Dupree and rookie T.J. Watt might finally give Butler his foursome.
But Dupree missed the regular season opener at Cleveland with a shoulder injury. Tuitt suffered an injury to his upper right arm three plays into that game. And Watt sat out against Chicago in Week 3 with a groin injury.
That foursome finally got into the field together three weeks later at Baltimore, but Tuitt suffered a back injury lifting weights three weeks later after a win at Kansas City and missed the next two games.
Sunday in Indianapolis, Butler will have his preferred pass-rushing foursome back on the field when the Steelers (6-2) face the Colts (3-6) and he can't wait to see how everything looks.
"We like the four-man rush with Tuitt," said Butler. "We are still going to blitz. We are still going to do what we’ve always done. There’s going to be a couple instances probably (where) he’s going to have a chance to work one-on-one and hopefully he will take advantage of it."
But while Tuitt has been out, the Steelers also have gotten more of an opportunity to see second-year nose tackle Javon Hargrave in pass rush situations. He hasn't disappointed.
In limited opportunities, Hargrave has two sacks and a pair of quarterback pressures. Because of that, the Steelers feel comfortable rushing four players and dropping an outside linebacker in their base 3-4 defense as much as they do in their nickel and dime packages.
"We like those matchups," Tuitt told me. "Having me back allows us to open up the playbook even more. But it's still all about guys winning one-on-one matchups when somebody draws a double team."
Indianapolis has allowed a league-worst 36 sacks this season. Second-year quarterback Jacoby Brissett has been sacked 32 times on 270 pass attempts.
The Steelers enter Sunday's game with 26 sacks, the fourth-most in the NFL.
Surprisingly, the Steelers feel they will have more success getting to Brissett on early downs rather than third down.
"Most of their sacks that we've seen have come on first and second down," Tuitt told me of the Colts. "We're really going to emphasize that."
THE ESSENTIALS
• When: 1 p.m.
• Where: Lucas Oil Stadium
• TV: CBS
• Radio: 102.5 WDVE, ESPN Pittsburgh
• Satellite: SiriusXM Channel 81 (Internet 826)
• Forecast: Indoors
• Lots open: 10 a.m.
• Will call open: 10 a.m.
• Gates open: 11 a.m.
• Boxscore: NFL Game Center
• Odds: MyBookie.AG
THE INJURY REPORT
Steelers: LB James Harrison (back, out)
Colts: WR Kamar Aiken (hamstring, out), LB John Simon (neck, out), WR T.Y. Hilton (groin, questionable), CB Quincy Wilson (knee, questionable)
THE TOP THREAT
The Colts' T.Y. Hilton led the NFL in receiving yards in 2016 with 1,448 on his 91 receptions. With Andrew Luck out for this season with a shoulder injury, Hilton has seen his reception total fall off to 34 this season on 64 targets. But he's still posting solid yardage numbers, gaining 702 for an average of 20.6 per catch.
That's especially impressive considering the 5-9, 178-pound Hilton does a lot of his work out of the slot. He's questionable to play this week because of a groin injury, but the Steelers expect to see him.
"They'll line him up all over, but I'm sure I'll see him in the slot a lot," said Steelers nickel corner Mike Hilton.
T.Y. Hilton was a childhood friend and former youth football teammate of Antonio Brown. I asked Mike Hilton if he's talked to Brown at all about how to defend his friend.
"I heard they were on the same teams," Hilton said. "I haven't gotten a chance to ask him yet, but I might do that."
Despite having more than 700 receiving yards, much of T.Y. Hilton's damage has come in chunks. He had five catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns last week in a win over Houston and also had 153 yards against Cleveland and 177 against San Francisco. The Colts won those three games, their only three wins this season.
"He's averaging over 20 yards per catch," said Mitchell. "That speaks for itself."
Mike Hilton has been focused on settling into his first season as a contributor for the Steelers this season after spending time on the practice squad last year.
I suggested he might want to trade jerseys with T.Y. Hilton after this game since they share the same last name.
"I hadn't thought about that, but that's a good idea," he said. "I might have to do that."
THE KEY VARIABLE
The Steelers believe Marcus Gilbert is the best right tackle in football. But that hasn't added up to a trip to the Pro Bowl just yet. Given that Gilbert has missed all but two games and part of a third this season, he isn't holding his breath that it will happen this year, either.
"I haven’t been playing," he told me. "I need to do my part."
He'll get a chance to do so against the Colts.
Gilbert suffered a hamstring injury late in the Steelers' Sept. 17 win against Minnesota. He returned Oct. 15 in a win over Kansas City but made it through just two offensive possessions before aggravating the injury.
Chris Hubbard has started the five games in place of Gilbert and done a credible job. But with Hubbard at right tackle, the Steelers have missed him as an extra blocker at tight end. The team had plenty of success with that package in 2016 but has used it sparingly this season this season with B.J. Finney, an interior lineman, replacing Hubbard. Finney is a solid player but doesn't have the athleticism of Hubbard.
"Chris Hubbard has been doing a heck of a job," Gilbert said. "I don’t think he’s been getting the recognition he deserves. He’s done a heck of a job. I have to commend him for that."
With Hubbard now freed up to play more tight end, the Steelers' running game -- and red zone offense -- could benefit. The Steelers are 5 for 7 scoring touchdowns in red zone trips with Gilbert in the lineup. They are 7 for 22 without him.
Le'Veon Bell is averaging 3.9 yards per carry this season, a full yard less than 2016, while the Steelers enter the second half of the season 31st in the NFL in red zone touchdown percentage.
"The season is a process," said Todd Haley. "The teams that get better continually throughout the process usually have a chance to be successful. Ideally, you want to start well and continue to get better and be one of the best teams in the league. The first half of the season is behind us. The way we look at it as an offense is we’re 0-0. This is the third part of the season for us. We’ve got a four-game season that starts this week against Indy. We’ve got to be our best on the road again. So, we’re just trying to get to 1-0."
THE MAIN MATCHUP
In his past three games against Indianapolis -- all of which have come in the past three seasons -- Ben Roethlisberger has completed over 72 percent of his passes for 1,107 yards and 13 touchdown passes with no interceptions. He's led the Steelers to a 3-0 record in those games with a passer rating of 144.6.
The maximum passer rating in the NFL is 158.3.
But that doesn't mean Roethlisberger is taking anything for granted in this game.
"We’re taking this like it’s the biggest game of our year," Roethlisberger said. "There’s no such thing as winnable games. That's something that you guys make up. We don’t listen to those things we got to go out and play. It’s a NFL football game. They are professionals, we are professionals. We got to go out and play our best football."
With Indianapolis' release of veteran cornerback Vontae Davis earlier this week, the Colts don't have a single defensive starter who opened the 2016 season in the lineup. It's been a complete turnover.
But the results haven't been better.
The Colts finished 30th in the league in total defense last season. They are 31st this year.
Even though, statistically, Roethlisberger hasn't had a season up to his usual standard, the Colts are wary.
"He’s still Big Ben. He’s strong, he hangs in there," Indianapolis coach Chuck Pagano said. "They are third in the league in sacks given up. They’ve only given up 10. He’s not going to take a sack. He’s got a great run game. Yeah, he’s the same deal. Still playing at a high level. You can listen to whatever you want to listen to, but he’s getting the ball out, doesn’t take sacks, is hard to get on the ground. You don’t get that right arm wrapped up, he finds a way to get it out. Still throwing the deep ball. Guys are making plays for him. Got the run game. Got a lot of weapons around him.”
Roethlisberger has thrown 10 touchdown passes against nine interceptions this season. He'd love to start the second half of the season with a big game.
"It starts right now," Roethlisberger said. "I know our defense is playing great, and I hope that they continue to play great and get better. Offensively, this is a good time for us to say OK, put that first half behind us. Let’s look forward to these last eight games of the season, taking it one game at a time, which is this week in Indy."
THE QUOTES
"I've seen all types of touchdowns. It's a pretty big reel. ... I've seen him at least 10 times he's taken a defense for 50. Last year, he got us. I got a pretty big hit on him, but it was 40. It was a big chunk in our game last year. That's what he does. That's what makes him elite." -- Mike Mitchell on Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton
"I played point guard in high school. All-American point guard, I’d like to say. So, I like distributing the ball and getting into the best play possible. So, I just do what I can to run pass check, pass run, run right, left, things like that." -- Roethlisberger on QB coach Randy Fichtner's statement earlier this week that he is a point guard at this point in his career
"We're winning some games that were close that shouldn't be close. We're making mistakes. A lot of it is on us. You look in the mirror, the games we have lost, it's on us with the things we haven't done. They are things that are correctable but if you don't correct them, it doesn't really matter. -- David DeCastro, when I asked about the close games the team has played
THE 10 DATA POINTS
• In his past seven games, Le'Veon Bell has 932 yards from scrimmage, an average of 133.1 per game, with five touchdowns.
• JuJu Smith-Schuster leads all rookie receivers with 424 receiving yards on his 24 catches.
• The Steelers are 6-4 coming out of their bye week under Mike Tomlin.
• With a victory today and a Green Bay loss at Chicago, the Steelers would move into a tie with the Packers for wins since the start of the 2007 season with 110. New England has 132 wins during that span.
• With 17 completions, Roethlisberger will move past Warren Moon (3,988) for eighth place on the NFL's all-time list.
• Brown needs 11 receptions to become the second player in Steelers history with 700.
• Since the start of the 2010 season, Joe Haden has 106 pass defenses, the second-most in the NFL over that period. Tampa Bay's Brent Grimes has 109. Haden has five pass defenses this season.
• The Steelers are allowing 16.4 points per game, which ranks second in the NFL. The Colts allow 28.9 points per game, which ranks last.
• In his past five road games, Heyward has four sacks. With two sacks against Detroit, he moved into a tie for third with Brett Keisel for the most by a Steelers defensive end since they became an official stat in 1982. Aaron Smith had 43. Keith Willis had 59.
THE MULTIMEDIA
The Morning Java preview, with Chris Carter and me:
Carter's Classroom on the Colts:
And our DK Sports Radio preview podcast:
THE SNEAKY FANTASY PLAY
For the past few years, Roethlisberger has been a must-play in fantasy football. But that hasn't been the case this season, as he's thrown just 10 touchdown passes against nine interceptions. And even when he was going well, averaging over 300 yards per game in 2014 and 2015, his home/road splits caused some caution in road games. But he has 13 TD passes and no interceptions in his past three games against Indianapolis. Roethlisberger was just 14 of 20 for 221 yards against the Colts in Indianapolis in 2016 but threw three TD passes. He's a nice, sneaky start this week.
THE STAFF PICKS
Our football coverage team offers predictions:
Dale Lolley: The Steelers have yet to break 30 points in a game this season. This could be the week. Indianapolis is 31st in the league in total defense and 32nd in scoring defense, allowing 28.9 points per game. And the Colts' only three wins this season have come against winless Cleveland and San Francisco and Tom Savage-led Houston. This could be a great way for the Steelers to kick off the second half with a big offensive game. And the Steelers have pretty much everyone healthy. Steelers 34, Colts 9
Dejan Kovacevic: Three weeks ago, the Jaguars sacked poor Jacoby Brissett 10 times and hit him 20 times. You read that right. Overall, he's been sacked 32 times on 302 passing plays, or once every 10 times. You read that right, too. There's been some debate in this town as to whether that's his fault or that of an abysmal front. What shouldn't be debated is that the Steelers, who have six defenders with at least three sacks, will roast Brissett like a brisket. Steelers 31, Colts 10
Chris Carter: The Steelers' offense has yet to explode, but if it's ever going to break open this season, this is the week for that to happen. The Colts have the worst defense in the NFL and the Steelers' offense is not only hungry, but well aware of how to take advantage of their defense. I see Brown and Bryant taking over this game, as well as Bell putting up 100 yards and putting this game away. Steelers 38, Colts 6.