1st Quarter: Peyton Manning (6 TD passes / 400 yards) and the Colts came right out of the shoot and scored on an 11 play - 82 yard drive that culminated in 19 yard toss to Reggie Wayne vs Pittsburgh's run D. The Steelers went 3 and out on their first possession and Indy went 88 yards for another 7 to make it 14-0. This time the Colts took only 5 plays to get into the end zone. The key play was a 56 yard play action pass from Manning to Marvin Harrison that exploited Pittsburgh's defense that was inexplicably keying blocking back James Mungro. Edgerin James scored the TD when the Steelers sent a full blitz at Manning who quickly hit his star RB with a quick screen. The Steelers got the ball back at midfield thanks to a 33 yard kick return by Antwaan Randle El. Big Ben Roethlisberger quickly hit Randle El on a slant for 35 quick yards as the Colts were busy double teaming Hines Ward. The Bus, Jerome Bettis joined the action and was handed the ball on the next 4 plays as the Steelers go on the board cutting Indy's lead to 7.2nd Quarter: Pittsburgh's D held Indy to a rare 3 and out. Facing a key 3rd and 10 from his
own 26 Big Ben completed an 18 yard pass to a double covered Randle El to move the chains. On the next play Ben dropped back to throw, but was blind sided by Dwight Freeney, who jarred the ball lose. Linebacker Cato June pounced on it on Pittsburgh's 36. Manning wasted no time and exploited a Steeler defense, that was keying James for the run, with a 23 yard strike to Reggie Wayne. Indy had 1st and 10 on the Steeler 13. Manning saw that the Steelers had 8 men in the box to stop James so he flipped a play action pass to TE Marcus Pollard who dove in from the 1 to put his team back up by 2 TD's. Pittsburgh again started with excellent field position (their own 44). Verron Haynes rambled for 7 yards on a rare running attempt, then he caught a flare pass for a 1st down on Indy's 45. Ben saw that Indy was loading up against the run and flipped a medium pass to Hines Ward for 34 yards on Indy's 11. Haynes dove for 3 yards to make it 2nd and 7. Bettis added another 4 to make it 3rd and 3. Bettis then gained about 2 and a half to make it 4th and inches from the 2. Knowing that TD's for FG's was not going to get it done, Pittsburgh's coach (Greg Marcucci) decided to go for it on 4th. Indy's D was set up for a goal line stand when Big Ben tossed one to Ward for a 2 yd TD. After Reed's XP attempt the score was 21-14 Indy with more than half the 2nd quarter still left to play. 
Starting on their own 21 the Colts decided to vary their offense and keep Pittsburgh off stride. This would be the Dominic Rhodes drive, as the backup half back would replace James on the field and the results would be fantastic. Manning hit Brandon Stokley for 29 yards to get down to the Steeler 37. Rhodes was responsible for the rest of the yardage, either by air or on the ground, until he scored on a play action fake from the 2 vs a Steeler defense that was keying the run. The drive took 10 plays and knocked 5:37 off the clock. With the score 28-14 Indy, the Steelers took over possession on their 38 with 2:32 left to play and all of their time outs. On 3rd and 3 from their own 45 the Steelers elected to pass, but Indy expected it. Ben's primary receiver was being doubled, so he elected to throw to Jerame Tuman, who could not make the grab. The half ended with neither team scoring again.3rd Quarter: The Steelers began the 2nd half with the ball on their own 9 yard line thanks to
an illegal block in the back on the kickoff. Facing 3rd and 7 from his own 12 Big Ben made some magic happen when he threw into double coverage and managed to hit Ward on the numbers for the first. Two plays later Raheem Brock sacked Ben for a 8 yard loss setting up a 3rd and 17 back on the Steeler 12. Indy setup in a soft man coverage and doubled both Ward and Randle El. Ben forced a tight spiral right into Randle El's hands, but the play was 10 yards short of a 1st. A 48 yard punt by Chris Gardocki was fair caught on Indy's 33. Manning looked to throw and was sacked for a 3 yard loss by Deshea Townsend. A false start penalty made it 2nd and 18 from their 25. Facing 3rd and 14 from their own 29 the Colts relied once again on Manning's magic. With the Steelers sitting in a deep zone Manning his Stokley on the sideline just near the sticks. The measurement showed that they got it by a matter of 2 links on the chain. Pit sent Clark Haggans on the blitz and Manning rewarded hem with a quick square out for 12 yards to Harrison, which brought the ball down to the Steeler 45. James gained a quick 6 yards on the ground for another 1st down vs a nickel D. The Steelers decided to load up against the run and key James. Manning read that formation like a cheap novel, and sent Reggie Wayne on a fly pattern. Manning's tight spiral hit Wayne in stride on the 6 and the big receiver from "The U" went into the end zone untouched, but there was a flag on the play sitting around the original line of scrimmage. The officials huddled up and the announcement was, "Illegal contact by the defense, that penalty is declined...Touch Down Colts". The score was now 35-14 and the rout looked to be on. It didn't make matters any better when Ricardo Colclough fumble the ensuing kick off and Jason David recovered it for Indy on Pit's 32. At this point many TV sets were turned off in the homes of Steeler Nation. Manning decided to go for the knockout punch and send Wayne deep again. Pittsburgh was in a standard defense, but somehow they got pressure on Manning who underthrew Wayne. Deshea Townsend, who was clearly beat on the play, was able to gather in the underthrown pass and return it 38 yards 
downfield where he fumbled it. Luckily for the Steelers and alert Willie Williams was able to fall on it on the Colt 39. 3 plays later on a big 3rd and 1 Ben hit Randle El with a quick toss as the Colts were keying Bettis for the run. Bettis got the ball on the next play and gained 16 yards vs a nickle D to make it 1st and goal from Indy's 9. Penalties and poor play execution left the Steelers facing 4th and goal from the Colts 18. Down by 3 TD's they curiously elected to kick a field goal with 2:51 left in the 3rd vs a high octane offense that they were having trouble stopping. Reed nailed the chip shot to cut Indy's lead to 18. Reed kicked a knubber down to the 1 that was juggled by James Mungro who was finally nailed on his own 5. The Steelers loaded up for the run and keyed James, and once again Manning burned them with a play action pass to Harrison for 8 yards. Pit dropped back in a deep zone on the next play and James ran easily for 12 quick yards and a 1st down on his own 25. Just like that the Colts were not pinned against their own goal line. The frustrated Steeler defense decided to send everything but the kitchen sink at Manning on the next play. Cool as a cucumber Peyton looked away from his original receiver and hit Reggie Wayne deep for 49 yards. Indy now had the ball on the Steeler 26 as the quarter came to a close.4th Quarter: Facing a 3rd & 15 from the Steeler 31 Manning called
for a screen to Mungro, who gained the required 15 yards against the Steelers standard zone D, for the 1st down on PIT's 16. James gained 2 yards going off tackle to make it 2nd and 8. PIT decided to key James on the following play and Manning burned them once again with a 14 yard TD strike to Marvin Harrison to make it 42-17. The Colts were now content to sit back and play pass defense. The Steelers inexplicably decided to not challenge the defense, and instead went on a 15 play / 80 yard drive that consumed almost 8 minutes of time off the clock. In essence the Steelers helped run out the clock for the Colts, who recovered Reed's onside kick attempt at mid field with 4:41 left to play. Indy, not looking to run up the score or take chances went 3 and out and pinned PIT on their own 6 with a great punt by Smith. Facing an uninspired Colt defense, 
Roethlisberger was able to hit a double teamed Ward for a quick 24 yards. Facing 4th and 19 Big Ben hit Randle El for 30 yards down to the Colt 45. The clock was ticking and time was not going to be on their side facing an 18 point deficit. Facing 4th and 4 on the Colt 23 the Steelers decided to hand it off to Jerome Bettis (100+ yards rushing) who could not gain the 1st down, and so the ball went over to the Colts on downs. Indy was content to run out the clock as the Steelers had no time outs left. Final score: Colts 42, Steelers 24.
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