The Pittsburgh Steelers bring with them a seven-point lead into the second half, scoring 21 points to the Oakland Raiders‘ 14. DeAngelo Williams has two rushing touchdowns and a successful two-point conversion reception, and Chris Boswell made two field goals. For the Raiders, Derek Carr has touchdown passes of 22 yards to Michael Crabtree and 15 yards to Amari Cooper.
The Raiders have had to make do periodically without safety Charles Woodson, while for the Steelers, Darrius Heyward-Bey is questionable to return. Oakland begins the second half with the football.
Oh, and Antonio Brown has 10 receptions for 180 yards.
Anthony Chickillo made the special teams tackle out past the 25-yard line on the opening kickoff. On first down, after a false start, Latavius Murray was stopped after a two-yard gain. Murray stumbled out of the backfield after a one-yard gain. On third and 12, Murray slipped after catching a screen pass, stood up, and Ryan Shazier popped the ball loose. Mike Mitchell recovered, but because he never re-established himself inbounds, the recovery did not count.
The Raiders’ ensuing punt was tipped by Bud Dupree and traveled just 20-something yards to the 46-yard line, so the Steelers still start with good field position. Williams was stopped for no gain on first down. He punched his way for three yards. Heyward-Bey was the target on third down, off his hands on a throw behind him as Pittsburgh had to punt. Jordan Berry‘ punt was fair caught at the 10-yard line.
On first down, Murray spun into the hole for two yards. Mitchell hit Cooper after a 14-yard reception low, and the receiver favored his right thigh getting up, coming out temporarily. From the 25, Murray picked up 15, and Carr found his receiver to the Steelers’ 42.
Ross Cockrell did well to tackle Crabtree on a screen pass after a short gain. On second and seven, Murray escaped initial pressure at the line to fall forward for a two-yard gain. On third and five, Carr found Roberts for 36 yards just short of the goal line as Allen made the tackle shy of the goal line. From the one, Murray was held up short of the line. On second and goal, Shazier was beaten by Clive Walford for the score as the Raiders tied up the game.
Jacoby Jones continued his rough season, returning a kick deep and brought down at the 12. On first down, roethlsiberger’s soft toss to Heath Miller resulted in a short gain, but a defensive illegal hands to the face call resulted in an automatic first down. Martavis Bryant caught his first pass on a screen for two yards. On second and 13, after a false start, Bryant dropped a huge throw down the field. Roethlisberger stepped up in the pocket and threw across his body for an interception by David Amerson, cutting in front of Brown, as the Steelers’ game seemingly begins to slip away.
From the 32, Carr scrambled for four yards on first down. Mitchell came up with the big hit on Murray on a pitch out, knocking the ball loose and recovered by Jarvis Jones. Williams escaped for 12 yards on first down. Roethlisberger found Williams on a check down for 22 yards. After an incompletion on a forced pass, Bryant this time held on to a ball in traffic just beyond the first down, fighting for extra yardage.
From the 26, Roethlisberger overshot Bryant in the end zone, who was not behind the cornerback. On second down, Roethlisberger’s pass to Brown was low and incomplete. On third and 10, Brown caught the ball for about four yards. Chris Boswell‘s 41-yard attempt was wide left as the Steelers failed to reclaim the lead.
Carr and Cooper hooked up for 20+ yards across midfield to the 48. From there, his pass led Crabtree a bit too much downfield. Stephon Tuitt wrestled the back down after five yards. On third and five, Walford lost possession after a big hit from Allen. Cockrell nearly picked it up off the ground, but as it stands, the defense forced the Raiders to punt, downed at the nine.
Williams fought for two yards on first down. He ripped off a 53-yard run on second down to put him over 100 yards for the third time this season, out to the Raiders’ 37 to end the third quarter.
After matriculating the ball down to the 15, Bryant caught a screen pass that he took to the end zone for the score, with Jesse James throwing the key block.
Roosevelt Nix came up with the huge special teams play, knocking the ball loose on the kick return and recovered by Anthony Chickillo. Two plays later, Roethlisberger rewarded his rookie tight end with the four-yard touchdown pass, the first score of James’ young career in his NFL debut.
Boswell’s ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, which puts the Raiders at the 40-yard line. Carr and Cooper hooked up for about 12 yards. he found Robert for 19 on the following play, down to the 29. Another first down pick the Raiders into the 20 zone. The backup fullback, Jamize Owalawe, was the beneficiary of two missed tackles as he raced into the end zone for the 19-yard score, cutting the lead back down to one touchdown.
Following a touchback, Brown caught a 15-yard pass to give him 210 yards, the first 200-yard game of his career. Williams cut back and shed a couple tackles for a 22-yard gain. Todman spelled Williams again, with Roethlisberger throwing the ball away. His pass to Miller was incomplete on second down. Alejandro Villanueva was beaten by Aldon Smith for the sack on a three-man rush. Roethlisberger’s foot was caught underneath Smith.
On fourth and 21, Heyward-Bey and Thomas combined to complete a very good Berry punt, tackling the returner at the seven-yard line. From there, Reese was chased down from behind by Allen. On second and six, Crabtree could not haul in the desperation pass with Carr under pressure. Carr’s pass on third down sailed incomplete. Brown fumbled on the punt return and the Raiders recovered at the 39-yard line.
This time Crabtree was able to snare Carr’s sideline pass for 12 yards. His pass under pressure was incomplete on the following play. On second down, Cooper was held to four yards on a short pass. On third and six, Shazier was flagged for roughing the passer, going low on Carr after an incomplete pass. Now first and goal from the 11, the pass was incomplete. Cooper nearly secured a touchdown over Blake in the back of the end zone, but could not get his second foot in. On third down, Cockrell picked off the second-year quarterback in the end zone for his second interception of the season, returning it to the 24.
Williams carried for one yard on first down. On second and nine, Brown secured his Steelers-record 15th reception for 14 yards and a first down. Under three minutes, Jones went back to Brown for a short reception of three yards. Williams picked up about one yards up the middle to set up third and six. Before the play, the center was flagged for a false start. Now third and 11, Brown caught the pass underneath and beat the first defender for the first down, but Wheaton was flagged for setting the illegal pick and making it third and 21. Jones threw the ball into the dirt behind Williams on third and 21.
Berry’s 40-yard punt was fair caught at the 31, leaving the Raiders with 2:15 to play with a timeout. Plenty of time to tie the game.
On first down, Cooper was tossed out of bounds by Cockrell to bring the game to the two-minute warning. He could not hold on for the second-and-one pass. On third and short, Carr found Mychal Rivera for six yards. From the 48, Rivera fell down as the ball bounced between two defenders. On second and 10, Carr’s pass into double coverage fell incomplete, with the two defenders interfering with each other. Blake knocked the ball away. On third and 10, a first-down completion to a wide open receiver out of bounds to Crabtree gave way to a 38-yard touchdown pass on the next play, tying the game at 35, the first time the Steelers have given up more than 28 points this season.
Now with Jones in at quarterback, he has 1:15 and two timeouts to orchestrate some points before regulation ends.
A holding penalty negated a 20-yard draw on first down, resulting in a first and seven. A short pass to Miller out of bounds set up second and two. A deep shot to Bryant fell incomplete into double coverage. On third and two, Jones found Brown for a huge catch and run for 57 yards to the 15. From there, Williams took a hard shot in the hole after a five-yard gain. Williams got another carry down to the one-yard line. Boswell from 18 yards out won the game with his third field goal of the game.
