The Steelers’ 51-34 win over the Colts on Oct. 26, 2014, was one of those afternoons when Ben Roethlisberger looked like he could do whatever he wanted. By the time it was over, he had rewritten team history with six touchdown passes, 40 completions on 49 attempts and 522 passing yards, a mark that still stands.
Pittsburgh entered the game at 4-3, with Indianapolis sitting at 5-2, and the matchup quickly turned into a shootout. Adam Vinatieri opened the scoring with a 31-yard field goal, but Roethlisberger answered by steering an 80-yard drive in nine plays and hitting Markus Wheaton for an 18-yard touchdown. Shaun Suisham added the extra point.
That was only the start. On the next possession, Roethlisberger kept rolling, guiding a 76-yard march that ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Martavis Bryant.
Then William Gay made his mark, picking off Andrew Luck and taking it 33 yards for a touchdown. Indianapolis came back with Luck finding Dwayne Allen on a 52-yard score, but Pittsburgh kept coming.
An offside penalty extended one Steelers drive after Suisham had already kicked a field goal, and Roethlisberger made the Colts pay with an 8-yard touchdown strike to Antonio Brown. After a three-and-out by Indianapolis, Pittsburgh started at its own 23 and needed only four plays before Roethlisberger connected with Brown again, this time on a 47-yard touchdown.
The Colts answered with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Luck to T.Y. Hilton, but the Steelers closed the half with more points after Roethlisberger’s punt was blocked. Indianapolis settled for a 23-yard Vinatieri field goal, and Pittsburgh carried a 35-20 lead into halftime.
Roethlisberger stayed sharp in the third quarter, completing five passes and mixing in short runs from Le’Veon Bell before throwing a 2-yard touchdown to Bryant. Indianapolis kept battling, with Ahmad Bradshaw scoring on a 12-yard run and Luck later hitting Donte Moncrief from 31 yards out.
Pittsburgh still led by eight entering the fourth quarter, and the defense helped finish the job. When Luck tripped over his center on the goal line while trying to throw, officials ruled intentional grounding and gave the Steelers a safety.
Roethlisberger wasn’t done yet. He led a 56-yard drive and, on fourth-and-1 at the 11, faked a handoff, rolled right and found Heath Miller in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown.
Anton Blake then intercepted Luck to shut the door.
Afterward, Roethlisberger’s words fit the day perfectly: “Why does it have to stop here? Why can’t we keep doing this?” One week later against the Ravens, he threw six more touchdown passes and set another NFL record.
The Steelers finished that season 11-5, then hosted Baltimore in the wild-card round. Without an injured Le’Veon Bell, they lost 17-30. Baltimore fell to New England in the divisional round, and the Patriots went on to beat the Colts in the AFC Championship Game before defeating the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.
The win also fit into a long-running pattern for Pittsburgh against Indianapolis. Overall, the Steelers are 28-8 against the Colts, including 18-2 in Pittsburgh and four straight home wins over Indianapolis.
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