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Steelers 26, Colts 24

PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger still has some work to do in picking up the system of new Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

The veteran quarterback had an uneven performance Sunday night against the Indianapolis Colts in a preseason game at Heinz Field as he played into the second quarter for a total of four series. Roethlisberger completed 5 of 9 passes for 81 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

In the preseason opener at Philadelphia 10 days earlier, Roethlisberger was 7-of-8 for 49 yards.

"We're making a little bit of progress," Roethlisberger said during the game, won by the Steelers, 26-24, on a field goal by second-string kicker Daniel Hrapmann with 20 seconds remaining. "I still think we're leaving a lot out there. We're not playing as good as we could or should (be), but we're making progress."

The Steelers hired Haley after firing Bruce Arians at the end of last season. The Kansas City Chiefs fired Haley as their head coach last season.

"We did a little better, a step closer to what we want to be," Pittsburgh wide receiver Antonio Brown said. "We are going in the right direction, but we're still not where we want to be. We have the preseason to iron out the kinks and get better. We needed to get on the same page with the new offense and executing the game plan."

Arians is now Indianapolis' offensive coordinator, and all eyes are on rookie quarterback Andrew Luck, the No. 1 selection in the draft from Stanford. Luck played the entire first half and came on strong after a slow start as he connected on 16 of 25 passes for 175 yards while being intercepted twice.

"It showed the character and maturity of Andrew to come back after the early interceptions, make plays, move the ball down the field and have two nice drives," Colts coach Chuck Pagano said.

Pittsburgh broke out to a 14-0- lead in the first quarter.

Antonio Brown took a wide receiver screen from Roethlisberger and zigzagged 57 yards for a touchdown midway through the period.

"I had a two-way option on the play and I gave it to (Brown)," Roethlisberger said. "I thought he'd get the first down and he ended up getting a little more."

Cornerback Ike Taylor then picked off a Luck pass and returned the interception 49 yards for a touchdown. Luck tried to pass to Reggie Wayne on the left sideline but Taylor jumped the route and scored, a rarity as he has had only one interception return for a touchdown in the regular season during his 10-year career.

Nickelback Cortez Allen also picked off Luck on a throw that bounced off wide receiver T.Y. Hilton's hands, which was welcome news for the Steelers. Pittsburgh is looking for more interceptions and fumble recoveries following a season in which it led the NFL in total defense and scoring defense but forced the fewest turnovers in the league with 15.

"It's a big goal of ours this year," Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel said about increasing the takeaways. "We have to get more turnovers and get our offense back on the field. If we can do that, I think we'll win a lot of games.

Indianapolis answered with 17 points in the second quarter to move ahead 17-14.

Luck led the Colts on a pair of 10-play, 80-yard scoring drives with Donald Brown and Luck culminating them with 1-yard touchdowns. Adam Vinatieri's 53-yard field goal at the end of the half put Indianapolis ahead.

Taylor's interception notwithstanding, Luck and Wayne were in sync throughout most of the first half as the veteran wideout caught six passes for 74 yards.

Hrapmann also connected from 25, 39 and 43 yards before his winning kick, which evened the Steelers' exhibition record at 1-1.

Indianapolis (1-1) scored once in the second half when Griff Whalen caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Drew Stanton in the third quarter.

NOTES: Pittsburgh's Charlie Batch, battling Byron Leftwich for the No. 2 quarterback job, completed 7 of 10 passes for 84 yards. Leftwich did not play after completing 3 of 5 passes for 14 yards and one touchdown last week. ... Indianapolis lost three starters to injury in the first half: linebacker Robert Mathis (shoulder), wide receiver Austin Collie (possible concussion) and defensive end Cory Redding (knee).