Colts' Shane Steichen Faces Legitimate Criticism From Steelers Legend Ben Roethlisberger

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a very clear advantage against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Mike McCarthy's unit was coming off of a mini-bye week following a Thursday Night Football contest. On the other side, Shane Steichen and Co. had recently traveled back from London, England. The NFL didn't even give them a home game upon their return. The result was a 34-22 victory for the home team, as the Black and Gold were able to move to 3-2 on the young 2026 season. This is a contest that both franchises could look back on when the playoff picture settles in early January.

Despite the 12-point loss, the game really wasn't as close as that in the grand scheme of things. When the Colts entered the red zone, it almost seemed as if the Steelers defense was going to stop them each and every time. This was almost the case throughout the entire matchup. Indianapolis kicker Spencer Shrader was the MVP for his team, as he nailed all five of his field goals. This means that Steichen's offense only scored one touchdown in Week 5.

That score came in the second quarter on a Tyler Warren rushing play on the one-yard line. Aside from that, Pittsburgh's defense stayed stout and held its own. The Colts were down late in the fourth quarter and had to consistently try to make dents in the deficit. This didn't go as they would have liked, with the Steelers taking care of business in the end.

Coaching in the NFL is no easy task. Almost every decision guys like McCarthy and Steichen make ends up getting criticized. This happened to the Colts’ leader on a Tuesday episode of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was scratching his head at a lot of the decisions that Steichen made on Sunday afternoon in the Steel City.

"Like they just kept kicking field goals," Roethlisberger said. "At some point I was thinking to myself, 'Like, I appreciate taking points. Like, you always take points, but at some point, three points isn't going to get it done,' and it sure didn't, right? Like, I'm watching this and I'm like, 'At some point they need to go for it. Like, you got to do something. You got to change,' ‘cause I know, I get it, and there's analytics and this, that, but at some point, you got to be like, we got to just take a chance."

The retired signal-caller makes a good point. While Indianapolis did convert three of five fourth-down tries, kicking field goals ended up being the reason why it lost the game. If one of those drives resulted in seven points instead of just three, there could have been a much different outcome. This is why Roethlisberger seemed to take issue with what Steichen was deciding to do in specific situations.

Unfortunately for Steichen, the critique from Roethlisberger is not the only one he has heard during the 2026 season. His seat may very well be extremely warm, and the lack of a playoff appearance could lead to his firing. At some point, all coaches go through the tough decision-making process of using analytics or their gut. On Sunday, whatever was driving the Colts' head coach was wrong.

Pittsburgh is thankful for the defensive efforts that led to the five Shrader field goals. It truly was a bend-don't-break mindset for the unit. One could look at that as playing with fire, but, overall, the Steelers are now 3-2 because of it. It would be interesting to see what Steichen has to say about the comments coming from Roethlisberger.

Steelers Have To Stay Aggressive Moving Forward As Well

The last thing Pittsburgh wants to hear is Roethlisberger saying these types of things about McCarthy. There is a fine line between being aggressive and flat-out crazy, so that is something to keep in mind. Overall, the Steelers are in a good spot through five weeks and will have to stay on the hunt each and every contest. The Steel City is dying for a postseason victory.

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