The Pittsburgh Steelers barely escaped with a win against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night.

James Harrison’s late sack of Curtis Painter and Troy Polamalu’s 16-yard fumble return for a touchdown gave the Steelers a second-half lead, and Ben Roethlisberger set up Shaun Suisham for a 38-yard field goal with 4 seconds left to give Pittsburgh a 23-20 victory in Indianapolis.

Ben Roethlisberger turned the ball over three times during an 11-minute span which allowed the Colts to comeback from being down 10-0 in the first quarter. The Steeler running game was non-existent with only 67 yards, and the veteran Steeler defense failed late in the fourth quarter against a third-string quarterback.

The Colts played the game without All-Pro quarterback Peyton Manning, who is out indefinitely after neck surgery. Without their star, Indianapolis lost their opener 34-7 at Houston, then they lost at home against the Cleveland Browns.

The Steelers know it was not a pretty win.

“We don’t care how it looks,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said. “We just want to get out of stadiums with wins, particularly road stadiums and AFC ones.”

The Indianapolic Colts put together one of their best team efforts of the season.

“They were in the game,” Polamalu said. “Everyone would be happy in their locker room if they made one play here or there.”

This was the second time the defending AFC champions were troubled by turnovers on offensive. The Steelers turned the ball over seven times in their season opening 35-7 loss to the Ravens.

Against the Colts, Roethlisberger passed for 364 yards and a touchdown and Mike Wallace caught five passes for 144 yards.

The Steelers struggled to run the ball all game as Rashard Mendenhall finished with just 37 yards on 18 carries.

“They did a lot of stunting,” Pittsburgh center Maurkice Pouncey said. “We just have to adjust to it. We have to do a better job at it. I’m pretty sure we will drill it a lot this week in practice and get better at it.”

The Colts defensive end Robert Mathis sacked Roethlisberger in the second quarter, forcing him to fumble and gave the Colts the ball near midfield. Adam Vinatieri eventually made a 21-yard field goal to cut Pittsburgh’s early lead to 10-3.

Later in the second quarter, Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney sacked Roethlisberger and forced yet another fumble. Colts reserve defensive end Jamaal Anderson scooped up the ball and rumbled 47 yards to the end zone with 1:46 left in the second quarter to tie the score at 13.

On Pittsburgh’s following possession, Roethlisberger made his third turnover of the game. Roethlisberger threw an interception to Indy’s Joe Lefeged, and a personal foul tacked on another 15 yards, giving the Colts the ball at the Pittsburgh 12. Vinatieri’s 25-yard field goal with 15 seconds left in the half gave the Colts their first laed of the game at 13-10. That score stood through the third quarter.

After Polamalu’s touchdown, Painter led the Colts on an 80-yard drive that Joseph Addai capped with a 6-yard leap that tied it at 20 with 2:09 to go.

The Colts left Roethlisberger just enough time to work his magic and drive down the field for a game winning field goal. It was not pretty but a win is a win.

“We just fight, man, keep going,” Pouncey said. “We talked it up at halftime, looked over some stuff in there and went out and adjusted to a couple good things, played good and finished out with a ‘W.”’

Steelers Shutout Seahawks