Steelers 24, Colts 17
Q. Walk us through that final sequence there when you guys called the time-out. Can you recap that a little bit for us?
MATT RYAN: Yeah. Had the run, I guess, on 2nd down. Thought I was maybe a little bit closer than where they spotted it, but that's neither here nor there. That's just how it goes with the new rules when you go forward.
I mean, I don't mind the call. We were going with some tempo, trying to get that first and then probably bang a time-out after that first. We didn't get it, and then had to take a time out on the 4th down call. Credit to them; they did a great job of jumping inside and breaking routes.
It's disappointing. It really is. I think the effort is good, but our execution just hasn't been good enough.
Q. Is aggressive coverage what you saw on film from Pittsburgh?
MATT RYAN: I thought they did a good job in the first half of giving us situationally a few different things from what we had seen, and credit to them. Mike has been in this league a long time. He's a hell of a coach and awesome on the defensive side of the ball, and they did a good job early on. I thought we got into a rhythm as we came out. The return was huge for us, get a short field, but you've got to capitalize. We had another chance to capitalize and didn't, and then got to find a way at the end of the game. It's something we've done decent at times this year, finding ways to get wins. We've made some plays to give ourselves a chance. Really felt like we had the momentum, and just fell a little bit short.
Q. What happened on the fumble on the 1-yard line?
MATT RYAN: Yeah, I'd have to look. I have to look. I'm with you; it didn't feel clean. But I'd have to take a look at what happened.
Q. Does it feel like the same movie so many times this season? You guys have been in a lot of games but you lose them with interceptions and sacks at the wrong times?
MATT RYAN: Yeah, I mean, I'm well aware. It's frustrating. There's no doubt about it. It's hard because it's, like you said, it's kind of one thing one week, it's another thing another week, it's another thing another week, and that part has been frustrating for sure. I think all of us in the building feel that way and are disappointed with where we're at.
Q. Why aren't you getting into a rhythm in the first half and what changed to get you guys more rhythm in the second half?
MATT RYAN: I thought their defense did a good job, specifically on a couple of 3rd downs we had of kind of giving us some unique looks. We just weren't able to get into the flow of a drive in that case.
3rd down conversions weren't good enough in the first half. I thought in the second half, certainly that return helped us get into a rhythm, and when you have a short field and you can punch it in, that's huge, and then to come back and get it going after that again, felt like we were in a pretty good rhythm there in the second half.
Unfortunately it's too little, too late.
Q. Why weren't you throwing the ball down the field more? Were your receivers getting open downfield? Were you getting enough time?
MATT RYAN: Yeah, I think a little bit in the first half, just some of the concepts that we had on were into tough leverages, and that's what -- I give Pittsburgh credit of kind of changing up and varying it during the course of that first half and kind of -- I thought we regrouped at halftime and kind of came out with a little bit better idea of what we wanted to do, how we were going to try and get favorable match-ups. I thought we did a nice job with the tight ends in the second half of getting them on some linebackers, creating some space and pushing the ball down the field.
It felt that way a little bit in the first half, but we'll have to take a look when we go back and look at the film and see if there were some chances I could have taken.
Q. At halftime, how much input do you have?
MATT RYAN: It's collaborative. I think it always is. I think there's a few things that I might mention, there's a few things, I think Scott Milanovich does a good job of kind of giving his input, and I thought Parks did a nice job, too, of kind of saying, hey, this is what they're doing, let's see if we can't change it up a little bit and make some adjustments, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that.
Q. What kind of impact did Jelani make coming back from the shoulder injury?
MATT RYAN: Yeah, I think Jelani makes a big impact for us. He makes plays. He's done that all year, and I think his role, it's unfortunate he had to miss a little bit of time, but his role has continued to expand all year, and I thought he played well tonight.
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