The Steelers, for all intents and purposes, put the game away early in the fourth quarter with a Warren 2-yard touchdown run. The drive was set up by a Jack Sawyer interception. The rookie edge-rusher was the recipient of a batted pass by blitzing inside linebacker Payton Wilson. The Steelers drove the 59 yards with intermediate passes to Washington, Kaleb Johnson, and Austin. A 13-yard slant to Washington put the ball at the Indianapolis 1, and Warren scored two plays later for a 24-7 led with 14:16 to play.

“Man, the sun’s always shining on Jack Sawyer.” Tomlin said with a chuckle. “He’s a five star.”

The Colts answered with a 52-yard Michael Badgley field goal to cut the Steelers’ lead to 24-10 with 10:45 left, and then got the ball back with 8:28 left. But on second-and-1, Highsmith, roaring off the right edge, belted Jones and forced a fumble that was recovered by rookie defensive tackle Derrick Harmon.

With the ball at the Indianapolis 34, an 11-yard pass to Gainwell set up Boswell’s 46-yard field goal to set the Steelers’ lead at 27-10 with 6:51 left.

The Colts — like their high-flying predecessors from the 2005 era — made a late rally with a 4-yard Jones touchdown pass to Josh Downs that cut the lead to 27-17 with 4:30 remaining.

Connor Heyward recovered the onside kick, and the Steelers appeared to be in the process of killing the clock, but Roman Wilson caught a pass, hurdled a tackler, and fumbled back to the Colts with 3:34 remaining. However, Joey Porter Jr. — fittingly, with his dad watching along with the rest of the 2005 Steelers Super Bowl XL team — intercepted a Jones pass to finish off the Colts, who added a 53-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining.

“I just got to acknowledge that ’05 team,” Tomlin said. “It was really good to see them. It’s really good to perform for them this weekend. Man, they are deserving of that. I know a lot of those men and worked with a lot of those men. Man, they’re a special group, and I hope that they had a great, great time fellowshipping and reminiscing and doing the things that come with these type weekends. But certainly, that was a significant play by Joey. We had a lot of significant plays and a lot of contributions from a lot of people.”

The Steelers now own a 18-2 record against the Colts in all series games (including playoffs) played in Pittsburgh.

Statistically, Rodgers completed 25 of 35 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown without turning the ball over. His passer rating was 95.3. His favorite target was Austin, with 5 receptions for 56 yards.

But it was the Steelers’ defense that took top billing. Wilson led the way with 13 tackles and an interception. Highsmith had 2 sacks and forced a fumble.

Tomlin was asked if the defense has turned things around this season.

“We keep writing that story,” he said. “We responded today. See you next week.”