The Steelers appeared to get a handle on things defensively during a three-game winning streak, but the last two weeks have shown few signs of things going well on that side of the ball.

They gave up 33 points in a Week 7 loss to the Bengals and they gave up 35 points to the Packers last Sunday, which isn't where they'd like to be as they head into this Sunday's matchup against the league's top offense. A loss to the Colts would cut their lead over the Ravens in the AFC North to one game, so it would be the perfect time for the defense to rediscover its footing.

One of the group's veteran leaders made that exact point on Thursday. Defensive end Cam Heyward criticized his team's inability to handle adversity after the Packers loss and said that he's challenged everyone to come up with a more complete effort this time around.

"Anything I say to y'all, I'll say to them first," Heyward said, via the team's website. "We all have to get better. I challenge everybody. I challenge myself first and foremost. That's always the way I've been raised. You can't look at anybody else. You've got to look at yourself. The way to get this bad taste out of our mouth is just play better football. Let's fight. Let's play ball. I'm not going to shy away from it. I think we've just got to play better ball. If we have a problem with it, let's handle it on the field. Everybody's been open with me. I'm not running from it. Just know it's coming from a good place, and I want our defense to be successful."

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin dismissed the idea of making any significant changes to the defense after losing to Green Bay, but another poor showing will put that back on the table so that the Steelers can find a way to right the ship while it can still make a difference.