As Justin Fields’ knee hit the turf on the Raiders’ 26-yard line at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the book closed on a commanding 32-13 Steelers’ victory over a very short-handed Las Vegas Raiders team, bringing their record to 4-2. It was not pretty at times, but, for once, fans’ hearts were not in their throats in the fourth quarter, as the end of the game was not overly contentious.
The game did start ominously. Pittsburgh got the ball first and moved the ball effectively—that is, until Arthur Smith decided to institute the halfback pitch. Consecutive negative runs from the Vegas 37 led to a 3rd-and-15 from their 42, and an 8-yard pass to Jaylen Warren would set up Chris Boswell for a 52-yard field goal, which he would nail.
Defensively, the first drive for the Steelers was nothing short of pathetic. Aidan O’Connell—making his first start of the season for Vegas, following the benching of Gardner Minshew—and running back Alexander Mattison carved up the league’s highest paid defense, marching 70 yards in 10 plays—with only one of those plays not going for positive yardage—in just under six minutes, as Mattison’s 3-yard rushing touchdown put the Raiders up 7-3. It appeared as though the black-and-gold were in for another long game.
This was exacerbated by an offensive three-and-out immediately after, during which the Steelers lost two yards during the series as a result of a false start and a minus-five-yard run by Najee Harris. The Steelers defense forced a three-and-out of their own, getting the ball back for Justin Fields et al. at their own 26.
The Steelers took the ball from their own 26 to the Vegas 31, where three-straight incompletions (two of which were complete overthrows) forced the team to settle for another field goal attempt, which Boswell would convert. I must admit, watching the passes sail aimlessly over the heads of Pat Freiermuth and George Pickens angered me to the point that I was asking for Russell Wilson to be inserted into the lineup for the next series.
Following the field goal, the Steelers defense forced another three-and-out and got the ball back at their own 20 following a touchback. The offense picked up a few first downs through Fields—both with his arm and legs—until the drive stalled out in extremely unceremonious fashion once the Steelers entered Raiders’ territory. After a first down incompletion, one of the worst trick-plays that I have ever seen was called by Arthur Smith, to the point that, after Justin Fields was inevitably sacked for a 13-yard loss, play-by-play man Ian Eagle exclaimed, “Get that out of the playbook!” They would end up punting.
The Raiders got the ball on their own 13. After a minus-three-yard run by Mattison and a 14-yard completion to tight-end Harrison Bryant, it was 1st-and-ten from their own 27 with 3:18 left in the first half. Mattison ran for 3 on 1st down. On second down, rookie running back Dylan Laube came in and was handed the ball. TJ Watt punched the ball loose with his right fist, and the fumble was recovered by Keeanu Benton at the Vegas 30-yard line with 2:42 remaining in the half. It was a huge momentum shift. Fields would throw an interception on 3rd-and-4 from the 24—but it would be wiped away by a roughing-the-passer penalty. On 4th-and-1 from the 3 with 40 seconds left in the half, Mike Tomlin could have opted to kick a field goal to go up 9-7, but, with Vegas getting the ball first to start the second half, he opted to keep the offense out there. Fields rolled out to the left on what appeared to be a designed bootleg passing play, but, as no one was open, he took matters into his own hands, getting to the edge and turning up the sideline, scampering into the end zone. Steelers 12, Raiders 7. The Steelers would go for 2 to try and extend their lead to 7, but would fail.
At halftime, the score would remain the same. Vegas would get the ball to start the second half. They picked up one first down before bringing out the punt team on 4th-and-17. AJ Cole, the Raiders’ punter, would see his punt deflected behind him, as Jeremiah Moon was able to break through the punt protection and block the kick. The Steelers would set up shop at the Vegas 9 in a goal-to-go situation.
Unfortunately, they could only get three points from such good field position, as a Fields fumbled snap on 2nd-and-goal from the 6 put them in a bad situation on 3rd, and a touchdown on 3rd-and-goal from the 15 was taken off the board as Fields stepped beyond the line of scrimmage before he let the ball go. Regardless, it was now 15-7.
Vegas would go three-and-out, and the Steelers would get the ball back at their own 20. A drive dominated by Najee Harris (and extended by a questionable roughing-the-passer call) was capped off by Najee’s first touchdown of the season, a 36-yard run for which he dove for the last 5 yards, a Superman-like effort for the final 15 feet. Najee had his best game of the season by a wide margin, rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown on 14 totes, and adding 16 more yards through the air on two catches. It was now 22-7, the high-water mark for a lead that the Steelers had at any point in the season.
The Raiders would drive the length of the field on their next drive, one that extended into the fourth quarter. They got all the way to the one-yard line. On third-and-goal from the one, backup running back Amber Abdullah was handed the ball and rushed to the right, where TJ Watt again used his right fist to punch the ball out, forcing his second fumble of the game. DeShon Elliot recovered this time, and was able to bring the ball back to the 11 before being tackled.
After one first down, the Steelers would punt, but two Raiders offensive plays later, Aidan O’Connell was picked off by Donte Jackson, who returned the ball all the way to the Vegas 7. The ensuing play, Fields ran for his second touchdown of the game, making it 29-7. Vegas would make it 29-13, but a Boswell field goal with 3:58 remaining to extend the lead to 32-13 would be the last change to the scoreboard.
Now, the Raiders were decimated. They were without Davonte Adams and Jakobi Meyers (their top two receivers) and Zamir White (one of their top two running backs). Christian Wilkins, their best interior defensive lineman, was placed on injured reserve in the week leading up to the game as well. However, the Steelers were not without injury either. Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig—their starting and backup outside linebackers opposite TJ Watt—were both inactive, leading to a rotation composed of Isaiahh Loudermilk and Jeremiah Moon. Star rookie center Zach Frazier left the game and did not return, adding to the litany of offensive line injuries Pittsburgh has already sustained throughout the first six weeks of the season.
Therefore, while it was not the most formidable of opponents, such a resounding victory was quite a relief after the two recent gut-wrenching defeats at the hands of the Colts and Cowboys.
That game specifically was a microcosm of what old-school Steelers football used to represent—controlling the pace of play through running the ball and playing good defense. The passing attempts to rushing attempts ratio for the Steelers’ offense was 24:35, passing the ball just under 41% of the time. Rushing yards were also over 62% of the Steelers’ offense this week.
The defense also stood tall after the first drive of the game, allowing just 6 points after the opening touchdown and forcing three turnovers.
There are still plenty of questions to be answered about this team. For one, who is QB1? Fields was not very successful through the air. However, his ability to run—especially when the offensive line was beaten (or when right tackle Broderick Jones forgot that there was a game being played)—proved to be an invaluable asset in neutralizing game-wrecker Maxx Crosby. Also, what is the plan for getting George Pickens open more often? He was only able to reel in three of his eight targets. Sure, a few of the throws were poor, but not having a reliable receiver opposite him to take away some pressure makers it so much more difficult to maximize the team’s ability to get the ball to its best playmaker. Finally, I stated last week that you cannot consistently win in this league with a defense-first archetype, such as a team with the makeup of the Steelers. I still believe that—if we were playing a better team than the Raiders, a similar performance to yesterday’s would have been met with significantly more resistance.
Regardless, these questions can be answered in the aftermath of a win. It is paramount that the Steelers beat the Jets and Giants in their next two games (both primetime contests at home), as they have a ridiculously difficult schedule after the bye week.
It was fun watching old-school, throwback, Steelers bully-ball. Is it sustainable? Probably not. However, it worked in the moment. A new game plan should be devised for a good Jets defense for Sunday night.