Colts thumbs up, down: Kyle Kalis and T.J. Green make key errors

INDIANAPOLIS – Here is the best and worst of the Indianapolis Colts’ 20-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

THUMBS UP

>> Colts secondary: This is the best the Indianapolis defensive backs have played against Ben Roethlisberger in about a century. The throwing windows were tight and so was the coverage from cornerbacks Rashaan Melvin, Pierre Desir and Nate Hairston.

Throw in some timely help from safeties Darius Butler and Matthias Farley and what you have is a hard-earned win for Pittsburgh that came in spite of its offense, not because of it.

All-Pro Antonio Brown, who had 342 yards on 23 catches in his past three games against the Colts, had a tough go of things Sunday. He was covered mostly by Melvin, who made life tough on one of the NFL’s most dangerous playmakers. The Colts skillfully used teamwork on him, too, with Butler forcing Brown to short-arm a deep ball from Roethlisberger when the Colts safety closed in for a big hit. Brown dropped the ball.

Roethlisberger finished with decent totals – 19 of 31 for 236 yards and two touchdowns – but he had to earn everything he got. It was a far cry from the galactic numbers he’s posted against the Colts in the past. This time, Big Ben had nothing resembling the 369 passing yards and four-plus touchdowns he’s averaged against the Colts in his previous three games against Indianapolis.

Granted, the Colts couldn’t close the deal. But their secondary gave them a realistic shot to win a game no one expected to be competitive.

>> ILB Jon Bostic: He certainly has limitations, but for the second straight week, we saw Bostic use his football savvy to sniff out plays and have a consistent impact all over the field. He finished with nine tackles and a pass deflection and had clearly impacted the Colts’ run defense. That run defense limited star Le’Veon Bell to 3.1 yards per carry (80 yards on 26 carries), keeping the Steelers in difficult down-and-distance situations throughout the game.

>> WR Chester Rogers: The Steelers were bent on not allowing T.Y. Hilton to beat them. And Hilton (two catches, 23 yards) most certainly did not. This time, finally, another receiver proved to be a reliable option when Hilton wasn’t available to quarterback Jacoby Brissett.

Rogers had a career day with six catches for 104 yards, highlighted by his 61-yard catch-and-run touchdown. The scoring play was something of a busted coverage, but give Rogers credit for skillfully eluding two defenders in the open field on his way to the end zone. Rogers hauled in each of the six passes thrown his way. That’s a rarity in this season dotted with dropped balls for Indianapolis.

THUMBS DOWN

>> RG Kyle Kalis: He had company, granted, but Kalis was a special sort of awful on Sunday. He finished the game with three penalties – two false starts and a holding call. Kalis gave way at one point in the second half to Denzelle Good, who replaced him for a stretch. Coach Chuck Pagano said that was more an effort to get Good some needed snaps after his lengthy stretch on injured reserve – Sunday was his first appearance since Week 1 – but it is a reminder the Colts could opt to replace Kalis after a performance like Sunday’s.

>> S T.J. Green: No Colts player has displayed a greater lack of discipline over the past two seasons than Green. On Sunday, he inexplicably dove into a pileup after the whistle and was promptly flagged for unnecessary roughness. It was a costly penalty because it gave the Steelers breathing room at a time they backed up inside their own 10-yard line.

Green gave the Steelers another gift when he committed a holding penalty on a punt return moments later that pinned the Colts inside their 10-yard line. That gave Green quite the daily double.

>> Rob Chudzinski: The Colts’ offensive coordinator had a tough assignment against a Pittsburgh defense that ranks in the top 10 in most of the major categories.

But at no point in the second half, when the Steelers cranked up their blitzes, did it seem the Colts reacted well to the incessant pressure. Brissett struggled in his own way to recognize and react to the blitzes, but the play calling felt like it needed to take the blitzes into account but did not. A few more screens, for example, would’ve been a good start.