PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers have an opportunity with two home games to finally make a statement in the AFC North when they play Indianapolis and Baltimore, two 5-2 teams, at Heinz Field in the next two weeks.

At 4-3, the Steelers need at the very least a split. A sweep, though, would put them right up there among teams with the better records in the AFC.

But quarterback Andrew Luck and the Colts would seem to be everything the Steelers cannot stop. The Steelers have major issues on defense, particularly in their secondary, and Luck may find it easy pickings in Sunday’s 4:25 p.m. ET matchup.

“We have to work to minimize Andrew Luck and what he is able to do with his legs and with his arm, and how he administers the offense,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.

That would seem to be too much to ask a defense that has only 10 sacks, four interceptions and cornerbacks in disarray. Neither of the two starting corners to open the season will start Sunday. Ike Taylor has been out with a broken forearm and Cortez Allen was demoted from starter to making appearances only in the nickel defense last Sunday.

Safety Troy Polamalu has become so poor at covering receivers that they try to minimize what he does in that area by keeping him in the linebackers’ zone near the line of scrimmage.

Luck has a bevy of receivers — wide, tight and running backs — to throw to and the Steelers have not seen the likes of him yet. Baltimore’s Joe Flacco is the only top 20-rated quarterback they faced so far.

They also are without starting nose tackle Steve McLendon. Because of that, they played 36-year-old defensive end Brett Keisel nearly the entire game last Sunday, and he was one of their best defenders, swiping a pass and pressuring the quarterback.

They will need to force a few turnovers — Luck has thrown seven interceptions — and not give any up in order to pull this one off.

“They are a formidable group on offense with a variety of weapons with a guy under center that has proven that he is capable of doing it at a high level,” Tomlin said.

“They are up in the 40s in terms of some of the points that they have scored in recent weeks. They average 37 minutes in terms of time of possession. We have to work to minimize that. Obviously, it’s going to require a great effort by us.”

In news off the field, wide receiver Antonio Brown cursed officials on Twitter, where he included a photo of him with both feet inbounds on a catch that was ruled a touchdown Monday night but overturned by officials at NFL headquarters. He backed up what he said.

“When you’re passionate about something, you speak your mind,” Brown said.

However, vice president of officiating Dean Blandino used the league’s television appendage, NFL Network, to show why Brown’s single frame representation of the play was inaccurate. Blandino stood by the official call.

“When you look at these plays, it’s hard to take a still shot and have that be definitive evidence,” Blandino said during an interview on Tuesday night’s NFL Total Access on NFL Network and in a video that is posted on NFL.com.

“When we look at this play, I can freeze it on the video at that point, and it looks like the foot is in, but the foot’s not down yet.

“Now when we take it a couple of frames forward, you can see the foot up against the white. So you gotta be really careful with still frames and photos and making calls like this. I’ll show you one other look from behind the play where you can watch the foot being out of bounds there, and then when it comes up, you’ll see clearly, in the white, that’s an incomplete pass.”

NOTES: OT Marcus Gilbert (concussion) will have to pass all of his tests this week before he is cleared to play again. He did not practice Wednesday. … LB Ryan Shazier (MCL sprain) has not played since the third game of the season. He was supposed to practice Wednesday but left early and it does not appear he will be ready to return to the lineup. … SS Shamarko Thomas (hamstring) went through a limited practice Wednesday and he has a chance to play after missing the past two games. … CB Ike Taylor, who broke his forearm in the third game of the season, went through a limited practice for the first time on Wednesday, but will not play in the game. … NT Steve McLendon (shoulder) did not practice.