Insider: 10 thoughts on the Colts' 24-17 loss to the Steelers

INDIANAPOLIS - Ten thoughts on the Colts' 24-17 loss to the Steelers on Monday Night Football to drop to 4-7-1:

Insider: Familiar formula dooms Colts, puts playoff hopes on life support

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1. The Colts' offense has found a way to go from a complex marriage of Matt Ryan's and Frank Reich's favorite concepts to a very simple, run-heavy, self-preserving unit. They've traded turnovers for a sheer lack of creativity and explosiveness. The coaching staff isn't hiding from that, with Jeff Saturday and Parks Frazier talking up the simplicity of the approach and how they're calling plays to avoid getting Matt Ryan hurt again. But it's gone too far in the other direction. You rarely see the motion that Parris Campbell helped execute so much earlier in the season. The run designs for Taylor are almost all between the tackles. The tempo has died down outside of two-minute scenarios. The designed plays to get receivers the ball in space are all limited to screens, and now they're going primarily to Taylor. I don't necessarily blame Saturday or Frazier, as they were thrown into jobs well above their heads or experience levels. It just adds to the puzzling nature of how this franchise has gotten here.

2. Ryan threw an interception on the second snap from scrimmage, into the arms of James Pierre, on a play where routes from Michael Pittman Jr. and Ashton Dulin ran dangerously close routes and let a zone defender make the play. From then on out, the Colts decided pretty emphatically to live through Jonathan Taylor on run plays and screen passes. He's continued to look more like his rushing champion self in terms of the wiggle, vision and physical finishes. The run packages are limited in this simplified version of the playbook, limiting those explosive opportunities to the perimeter, and Taylor really needs to get to the bye week after next game to see if his ankle can heal enough to hit his top gear of 22 mph anyhow. For now, the Colts and Jeff Saturday will take this version of him -- except for one thing.

3. Taylor fumbled again. This one came in the third quarter, when he struggled with the handoff and the ball flew out behind the formation, into Matt Ryan's arms and then wrestled out on the ground by Chris Wormley. Taylor has lost four fumbles in 173 carries in 2022 after losing four last year on a league-high 332 carries. It's a function of a player who isn't seeing the easy come easily anymore, and that play in that moment, when trying to seize a lead and momentum at the goal line, is a snapshot of the Colts' season so far.

4. Another game, another opponent that decides its best route on a money down is to run up the middle. The Steelers somehow did that on a 3rd-and-1 with Najee Harris out for the game, and Anthony McFarland Jr. found out what happens when you try that on Grover Stewart, DeForest Buckner and Zaire Franklin when he hit a brick wall before returning to the line of scrimmage. Give these three credit for creating one dominant part of the Colts this year, as Indianapolis is No. 6 in Football Outsiders' rushing defense DVOA metric and No. 3 in stuffed rate. These three are working through issues to make it happen, too, as Buckner has the elbow issue, Stewart is playing with a shoulder injury and Franklin has been sick the past two weeks.

5. One positive for the Colts' offense was the return and emergence of Jelani Woods. The rookie tight end emerged as a size-speed mismatch in the middle of the field in the second half to finish with eight catches for 98 yards on nine targets, exceeding the eight catches for 98 yards he had total on the season coming in. Woods was coming on as a red-zone specialist before he suffered a shoulder injury and missed two games, and in that span he dealt with the heartbreak of losing three of his college teammates in the shooting at Virginia. A lot of developing rookies is about building confidence through the high stakes and ups and downs of the NFL, and tonight was a great sign.

6. The Colts did a mostly good job neutralizing T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, one of the top edge tandems in the league that combined for one sack in this one, though it was a costly one from Highsmith against Bernhard Raimann on the final drive. Saturday's arrival has served as an extra offensive line coach, and he's helped clean up the protection plans in a way that Parks Frazier has complemented with play calls that limit the progressions and drops Ryan is taking before he throws. It's all part of the risk-reward of managing what's still an underperforming offensive line. That only helps so much in preparation for downs where the defense knows the Colts have to throw, and two straight weeks, Raimann has gotten beaten on the final drive for a sack.

7. Michael Pittman Jr. scored a go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter when he beat man coverage to the left corner of the end zone. It was his first score since the opener in Houston, which is shocking to think about now that the Colts are in their 12th game. The lack of touchdowns has been a thorn in Pittman's side as a pro, as he's so often cut down at the 1-yard line or just misses on the connection in those quick-hit scenarios with tight spacing on all the route concepts. But it's something he believes he should be great at at 6-foot-5 with a 36.5-inch vertical. He's been sharper on the details since Ryan checked back in as the starting quarterback, though the volume is staying low in this risk-averse version of the offense. He finished with seven catches for 61 yards and a score.

8. Kenny Pickett has had a tough debut as the highest drafted rookie of the class, entering tonight with three touchdowns and eight interceptions. He showcases the growing pains that can come with a rookie quarterback, and you saw that with some of the pressures he didn't see coming and the simple offense he ran. But he also made some nice plays, like scrambling to extend drives and throwing effectively on the run, such as with the two-point conversion throw to George Pickens. The Colts and Steelers have bad offenses and are mediocre teams this season, but one comes in the growth process of a young quarterback ascending by the week. This is the spot the Colts need to be in a year from now. Let the futility add up to something meaningful.

9. I was not a fan of how the Colts managed the final drive. Ryan ripped off a 2nd-and-17 scramble and slid down three yards shy of the first down. Rather than call one of their three timeouts to preserve nearly a minute of clock remaining, they tried to hurry up and run off tackle on 3rd-and-3, knowing they had two downs to go. The run didn't work, and the Colts were stuck in 4th-and-3, with 34 seconds to go 26 yards. An earlier timeout could have allowed for a new play caller to set up and communicate the two-play sequence better, because the fourth down they actually ran resulted in Ryan throwing into double coverage to his shortest wide receiver.

10. Yannick Ngakoue had a second straight game with multiple sacks, moving him to 8.5 on the season, and he's like a magnet to eight sacks a year. This is the eight consecutive season to start his career that he's recorded at least 8. A few of them have come unblocked or on clean-up efforts, and that was true again tonight when the Steelers left him completely unblocked on a third down and he even seemed surprised by the matchup. But he's playing with a little better edge on second-effort plays in recent weeks, and he said his back is feeling a little more fresh after some maintenance early in the season. He's stepping up at the right time with Kwity Paye hurt and Tyquan Lewis out for the season, though it's getting late in the season to have the impact everyone planned on.

Contact Colts insider Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts: 10 thoughts on a 24-17 loss to the Steelers