Antonio Brown hat-trick powers Pittsburgh Steelers past Indianapolis Colts

Tomlin's team has proven they can do that.

Antonio Brown caught eight passes for 118 yards and two scores and added a 71-yard punt return for a touchdown in the final minutes, celebrating by jumping on the goal post and sliding down to the delight of his teammates, if not coach Mike Tomlin. Yet when Ben Roethlisberger is healthy, Pittsburgh is just as explosive as Todd Haley promised during the offseason when the uber-aggressive offensive coordinator predicted his unit should average 30 points. "I still feel like we left some out there". One week after the Steelers only attempted 14 rushes in a loss to the Seahawks this performance was more indicative of what the rushing attack has done on a consistent basis this season.

"You got a small sample last night when we put him in that he can function in our offense, " Pagano said. "I think just being in the hunt to make the playoffs... just being in position to make it where we are now, we're happy with that (and) I think we're anxious to get back on the field after that win". That was close. Come to the sideline, and then four plays later, a DeAngelo Williams fumble was recovered by Colts defensive tackle Billy Winn, and the Steelers defense was thrown back onto the field at their own 25-yard line, again being asked to hold a fort where some fool kept leaving the gate unlocked. On Sunday night, Roethlisberger completed 24-of-39 passes for 364 yards, had four touchdown passes and a 126.4 passer rating.

"Each and every one of us takes pride in the game", Brown said, "and we're doing a great job of getting better each and every week as a team". "Today we showed that". But he made the Indianapolis run defense look too young, as he rushed for 134 yards in 26 carries. The Colts fans should be pleased with what Hasselbeck has done for their team during Luck's absence, but they need to acknowledge that Luck is still the team's best option at starting quarterback.

"I don't know about that yet", Hasselbeck said. The veteran mustered only 162 yards, was intercepted twice and led the Colts to only three points on three drives that began in Pittsburgh territory.

"We got our asses kicked, " he said. But since I always give MVP to a Colt player (since this is...you know...a Colts blog), we'll give it to Gore.

Matt Hasselbeck was pulled late in Sunday's lopsided 45-10 loss in Pittsburgh after injuring his neck on two separate plays.

Roethlisberger led Pittsburgh into the red zone, and kicker Chris Boswell tied the game with a 29-yard field goal.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Four touchdown passes were not enough to satisfy Ben Roethlisberger. With usual starter Andrew Luck (kidney) still out, if Hasselbeck is unable to play in Sunday's upcoming game against the Jaguars, third-stringer Charlie Whitehurst would figure to start at quarterback.

Roethlisberger provided the exclamation point with a 48-yard pass to Brown, three plays before the wide receiver hauled in his second touchdown catch. The Colts' leader in receiving yards was RB Frank Gore, who caught three passes for 49 yards. But this night was a rough one, Hasselbeck's worst this season.