Steelers Knock Out Raiders in Vegas

The Pittsburgh Steelers were out west last Sunday and with a knockout they defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 32-13. On one drive the Raiders were in the red zone and apparently scored a touchdown from Alexander Mattison, but Jack Powers Johnson was ruled as an ineligible receiver downfield wiping out the score. Two plays later T.J. Watt worked his magic with a skill he has perfected.

As Ameer Abdullah was trying to run into the end zone on third down from the Steelers one yard line, Watt went to make the tackle and punched at the ball knocking it loose allowing Deshon Elliott to scoop up the ball for Pittsburgh squashing the Raiders drive that began on their own 30-yard line. T.J. Watt has mastered the ball punch out better than anyone else in the NFL. It’s amazing how adept he is at forcing fumbles using that technique. 

The first half was sketchy for the Steelers and going into the game there were suspicions of how long Justin Fields could hold on to the starting role at quarterback with a healthy Russell Wilson now moved up to the backup role. There has been much conversation about how the Steelers offense is not producing enough points and the defense doing its part to keep opponents at bay as it has been for the past several seasons.

When the season began, head coach Mike Tomlin pledged that he wanted his team to get off to fast starts. That has yet to happen and while Justin Fields has done some good and at times remarkable things on the field, his inconsistency may cost him the starting job. A single touchdown and a failed two point conversion is all the offense could muster in the first half aside from Chris Boswell’s two field goals from 52 and 49 yards out.

In the third and fourth quarters the offense lit up the scoreboard with 10 points in each quarter while the defense held the Raiders to one touchdown, and they too failed on a two point try. But Justin Fields was helped tremendously by the defense who not just stifled Las Vegas’s offense but forced them into turnovers. The offense was also boosted by the efforts of Najee Harris who turned in his first 100-yard game of the season. 

Harris was running hard and aggressively picking up 106 yards on just 14 carries for a 7.6 yards per carry average on the day. Fields himself ran for another 59 yards and he finished with a per carry mark of 5.4. The running game was key for Pittsburgh in this game as Jonathan Ward filled in with a 4.3 average and 13 yards. Jaylen Warren finally returned to the field after an injury and rust showed as he was handed the ball six times but could only muster seven yards. 

In the air Justin Fields spread the ball around hitting George Pickens, Calvin Austin, Najee Harris, Pat Freiermuth, Jaylen Warren, Darnell Washington, and Connor Heyward with passes that totaled 145 yards in all. Pickens had the most receptions with three but for just 53 yards. He also had the longest catch of the day for 31 yards. This reflects the fact that the Steelers offense is not going downfield long much at all.

Freiermuth was supposed to be a major weapon in 2024, and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith made this known before the season began. Could Russell Wilson under center produce a better passing game? That remains to be seen if in fact Tomlin pulls the plug on Fields. 

This week will produce lots of discussion and arguments on who QB1 should be and with two straight home games coming up against both New York teams, now might be the time to get Wilson some action. Wilson vs. Rodgers against the Jets on Sunday has a little better ring to it than having Justin Fields going at it one more time. Then come the Giants and there is simply no excuse for losing that game no matter who is calling the signals.

When it comes to discussing the performance of the defense against the Raiders, T.J. Watt and company had not been playing up to par during the previous two losses. They revamped and came out huge in Las Vegas. Watt was back to playing Superman and the former Baltimore Raven Patrick Queen had his best day as a Steeler with 13 tackles, six of them solo. DeShon Elliott continues to showwhy he was a great free agent acquisition with five solo tackles. Another free agent signing was Donte Jackson who had one big interception this third of the season which is also third best in the league. Watt himself cashed in with five solo tackles and two big forced fumbles. 

Gardner Minshew was shelved for Aidan O’Connell who out passed Justin Fields in yardage (227-145) and his rating was also better (79.9 to 75.9). But the Pittsburgh defense held the passing game in check while totally shutting down the Raiders running game allowing just 57 yards rushing. While the Steelers defense could only manage one sack of O’Connell, that by Cameron Heyward, Fields was sacked three times which doesn’t bode well for him holding onto the job. Fields also fumbled the ball again but was able to recover the rock. 

One thing to keep in mind, Justin Fields has thrown just one interception in six games. That is impressive. However, in passing yards he finds himself 20th best in the NFL. That won’t work over the course of the season. He’s only averaging 184 yards passing per game and his quarterback rating of 53.7 is awful and is also 20th best in the league. There will be plenty of advocates for Russell Wilson demanding he be allowed to start the next game, so it is pressure on for Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith to make a decision. 

In the kicking game, Chris Boswell is to field goals and PATs what T.J. Watt is to the defense. Both men are studs at what they do. In extra points Bos has yet to miss one tying him for best in the league. His 57 yarder is the 6th best this season. With 58 points overall he finds himself in third place. With kicks over 50 yards he has missed just one of seven attempts. 

From a distance of 40-49 yards Chris Boswell is perfect on four tries. The same numbers appear in his 30–39-yard attempts. He is money nearly every time he steps on the field. They say in the NFL you don’t lose your job to injury but that is what happened to Russell Wilson at last up to now. Punter Cameron Johnston is another. Injured earlier in the season he is out and on IR for the remainder of the 2024 campaign. 

When Johnston was placed on IR Mike Tomlin brought in a familiar face in Corliss Waltman. How he has been performing may end the short Steelers career of Johnston when he is able to return. Waltman has punted 22 times since joining the active roster and while his average of 47.4 is only 22nd best in the league, his other stats don’t rate so high either. He has placed nine punts inside the 20 for ninth best but he is familiar to Steelers fans because he played in two games in 2021. When it comes to the net average, Waltman comes in with a mark of 42.4, which is 14th best in the NFL. There is yet to be a blocked punt. 

Looking ahead, the Steelers remain tied with the Baltimore Ravens with records of 4-2 and with Baltimore having a divisional win thus far, that puts them slightly ahead of Pittsburgh for best record in the conference but places the Steelers with the fourth best record overall. Looming ahead is that showdown with Baltimore but the way Derrick Henry, the league’s leading rusher, is running all over every team he has faced that does not bode well for the Pittsburgh defense. 

I expect two straight victories coming up over the next several weeks and with one already in the books that would be three straight and if the Steelers do in fact defeat both New York (come on man, they are New Jersey teams that is where they play) teams, then that would put the Steelers record at 6-2 with one game before the Ravens game in Washington which means when these two teams meet in the ‘Burgh on November 17, Pittsburgh could easily be 7-2 or 6-3 and be in a very nice position. 

Ahead for Baltimore is a game this week in Tampa that won’t be easy, then they play in Cleveland where the Browns are simply a lost team with no hope of going anywhere this season. One more game before playing on the road against the Steelers will be facing the Bengals in Baltimore where Cincinnati will be desperate. The way I see this playing out is a possible loss to the Bucs, a victory in Cleveland and then another win at home against the Bengals. At the time Pittsburgh and Baltimore meet in the Steel City the Ravens could also be 6-3 or 7-2.



On a final note, Mike Tomlin said he was taken back by the number of Steelers faithful at the game in Las Vegas. He should not be surprised but when I saw the crowd on television, I too was taken back a bit. In a word, seeing all those members of Steelers Nation, it was simply AMAZING! Go Steelers!