Steelers’ offense as dominant as its defense used to be

PITTSBURGH – Crisis averted.
Whether Ben Roethlisberger did or did not have a concussion at the end of last week’s loss at Seattle no longer matters. What does matter is that he played Sunday night against Indianapolis and showed no ill effects.
Roethlisberger looked like his vintage self while picking apart the Colts, a team he torched for more than 500 yards and six touchdown passes last season.
That’s very good news for the Steelers.
The game against the Colts began a stretch in which the Steelers will play three consecutive AFC division leaders with the Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos coming up in the next two weeks.
And with New England losing to Philadelphia Sunday, the stakes just got a little higher for both Cincinnati and Denver. The Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in the AFC playoffs got a lot more interesting.
It will also be interesting for the Steelers, who are taking on the look of a team that nobody is going to want to face in the postseason.
If anyone needed to be reminded of that, Pittsburgh’s final two drives of the first half against the Colts were a good wakeup call.
Trailing 10-6, the Steelers went to the air and quickly turned that deficit into a 21-10 halftime lead in just over eight minutes.
Roethlisberger zipped a pass to a well-covered Martavis Bryant for a 26-yard gain to wake up the offense. Then, he threaded a perfect pass to Antonio Brown in double coverage for a second 26-yard gain to set up a 7-yard TD pass to Brown and tacked on a two-point conversion for good measure.
After the defense forced a quick three-and-out, the Steelers got the ball back with 1:48 remaining in the half.
Roethlisberger went to a third big-play receiver, Markus Wheaton, for gains of 18 and 27 yards to set up a second touchdown, this one going to Wheaton.
As if to add an exclamation point, the defense got a quick three-and-out from the Colts to open the second half and took just three plays to make it 28-10 on a 68-yard bomb from Roethlisberger to Bryant.
That was 22 points on three possessions in less than a quarter.
If this had been a prize fight, it would have been stopped.
Tight end Heath Miller, the team’s second-leading receiver, didn’t play because of a rib injury. Added to season-ending injuries to running back Le’Veon Bell, center Maurkice Pouncey and left tackle Kelvin Beachum, and it should have been something that, at the very least, slowed this offense.
But the Steelers continue to march on.
We can talk about Pittsburgh’s defensive shortcomings all we like – and they are real – but with this offense, they might not necessarily matter.
The name of the game in the NFL is scoring. And the Steelers can do it – in bunches.
That’s what will be needed to be successful. There’s no such thing as a shutdown defense in the NFL. Offense rules the game.
And the Steelers, as currently constructed, have one of the best in the league. It’s every bit as dominating – when Roethlisberger plays – as the defenses that helped this team to Super Bowls in 2005, 2008 and 2010.
That doesn’t mean this team is destined to go to the Super Bowl. It will have a tough road ahead of it to get that far.
But it has a chance if it gets a couple of breaks along the way. And that’s all you can ask for given everything this team has fought through this season.
F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.