INDIANAPOLIS _ The Steelers combined a productive offense with a defense that twice stifled Indianapolis at the goal line to whack the Colts, 28-7, on Thanksgiving night.
Ben Roethlisberger threw three touchdown passes to Antonio Brown, and Le'Veon Bell ran for another. It was the first time in Brown's career he caught three TD passes in a game.
Bell had another workhorse performance and rushed for 120 yards on 23 carries. Brown caught five passes for 91 yards.
Twice the Steelers defense stopped separate Colts' series on fourth down at the 1-yard-line. Playing without starting quarterback Andrew Luck and losing a handful of other starters to injury as the game wore on, the Colts (5-6) hung on gamely through three quarters but scored only once, and that was after a fake punt kept the drive going.
Their second straight victory lifted the Steelers into first place alone in the AFC North at 6-5, half a game ahead of Baltimore, which plays host to Cincinnati Sunday.
Quarterback Scott Tolzien, making his third NFL start and first in three years, was sacked three times and intercepted twice by the Steelers. Mike Mitchell picked that one off in the fourth quarter and returned it 26 yards to the Steelers' 36.
Roethlisberger (14-20, 221 yards, no interceptions or sacks) hit tight end Ladarius Green with a 35-yarder to start the series, and Brown ended it again with his third touchdown, a 22-yard catch that put the game away at 28-7 with 5 { minutes left.
Brown caught scoring passes of 25 and 33 yards and Bell ran for 5 yards as the Steelers hit the end zone on their first three series of the game.
The Colts' only score of the first half came after a fake punt in the second quarter. They had an opportunity to score a second touchdown with a first down at the Steelers' 2 late in the second quarter. However, two runs by Frank Gore picked up only 1 yard, rookie safety Sean Davis saved a touchdown by tackling Tolzien on an option around right end and then Mike Mitchell broke up a fourth-down pass in the end zone.
Trailing 14-0, the Colts dropped into punt formation from the Steelers' 43. Instead of kicking, punter Pat McAfee rolled to his right and completed a pass to tight end Erik Swoope for a 35-yard gain to the Steelers' 8. Two plays later, Scott Tolzien rifled a pass to Donte Moncrief, who made a diving catch in the front of the end zone.
The fake punt helped put the Colts back into the game, 14-7, early in the second quarter.
What also helped Indianapolis on that drive was a 15-yard penalty against Brown and Bell for celebrating the previous Steelers touchdown. Kicking from the 20 after the penalty, they allowed halfback Jordan Todman to return it 43 yards.
But Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense were on point again for the third straight year against the Colts. They made it three drives, three touchdowns with Roethlisberger's perfectly thrown pass to Brown in the back of the end zone for 33 yards and a 21-7 lead. Brown again beat cornerback Vontae Davis and toe-tapped his second foot to stay in bounds.
Indy came back to score, thanks to a roughing-the-passer penalty on Lawrence Timmons and a blitz by the Steelers that did not work. Cornerback William Gay was part of a five-man blitz, but Tolzien threw quickly to T.Y. Hilton over the middle. Hilton beat Timmons to catch the ball at the 2 for a 32-yard pickup.
The Steelers defense slammed the Colts on the night's first series, pushing them back from their 25 to the 10. Gay, who would later add an interception, stripped the ball from Tolzien for a sack and 10-yard loss on first down. Javon Hargrave stuffed Robert Turbin for a 5-yard loss after a swing pass.
That allowed their offense to start the game from their 48. Seven plays later Bell ran 5 yards around left end for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Two plays earlier, on third-and-8, Roethlisberger hit Eli Rogers over the middle and he scooted for a 30-yard gain to the 8.
After Adam Vinatieri missed a field goal attempt wide from 52, the Steelers came right back with their second straight TD drive, this one 58 yards. On third down, Roethlisberger found Brown for a 25-yard touchdown pass. He caught it over Davis at the 2.
