The Pittsburgh Steelers will play in front of a jam-packed Heinz Field home crowd for the first time since December 15th, 2019 against the Buffalo Bills in a Devlin “Duck” Hodges led 17-10 loss. The expectation is that Steelers fans will be loud and proud this afternoon and the Steelers will look to give them something to cheer for.
Both the Steelers and their opponents, the Las Vegas Raiders, are 1-0 heading into this game. The Steelers have amongst the hardest schedules in the NFL this season, so a 2-0 start against two quality opponents would be huge for the outlook of their season.
As always, be sure to refresh the page throughout the game as I will curate interesting tweets, live game updates, and more. Also, join the discussion down below in the comment section! Happy Steelers Sunday.
It looks like Eric Ebron is likely to go today after missing practice earlier in the week.
Hopefully the omission of Devin Bush and Joe Haden on Schefter’s list is just a simple oversight and not bad news for the two key Steelers defenders. We will know shortly with the inactives list.
Steelers Inactives
No. 3 QB Dwayne Haskins
No. 23 CB Joe Haden
No, 55 LB Devin Bush
No. 73 DT Carlos Davis
No. 79 OL Rashaad Coward
Raiders Inactives
No. 28 RB Josh Jacobs
No. 33 S Roderic Teamer
No. 44 LB Nick Kwiatkoski
No. 60 G Jordan Simmons
No. 64 G Richie Incognito
No. 82 TE Nick Bowers
No. 97 DT Damion Square
Maybe Ahkello Witherspoon will provide a silver lining here as we get our first look at him in black and gold.
Per Mark Kaboly of the Athletic, Joe Schobert will be wearing the green dot with Cameron Heyward having the backup dot. The backup duty defaulting to the defensive captain.
Pat Freiermuth and Eric Ebron were listed as co-starters for the game.
Ray-Ray McCloud back to receive on the opening kickoff and he made it out across the 30 yard line. On first down, Ben Roethlisberger to Juju Smith-Schuster for a pickup of about 6. After an uneventful Najee Harris rush, Ben went back to Juju for the first down.
The rush game is struggling early. 3rd and 9, Ben pump faked out the camera and escaped the would-be sack and delivered a nice pass to Eric Ebron. Ebron with the drop and the Steelers will punt.
Pressley Harvin III with a nice punt fair caught at the Las Vegas 17. On first, incomplete to Foster Moreau, but the next play picked up 9 over the middle. They were able to punch it across for the first down.
Tyson Alualu down injured. It appears to be a knee or soft tissue leg injury of some sort. Isaiah Buggs perhaps in line to get some snaps here throughout the game.
Hunter Renfrow complete to make it 3rd and 3. TJ Watt with the tackle for loss in the backfield to force a Raiders 4th down.
Ray-Ray McCloud received the punt and got to about the 25 yard line. A flag down on the play for unsportsmanlike conduct called against Ray-Ray, so the Steelers are back at their own 8 yard line.
Ben Roethlisberger nearly got the homerun shot to Chase Claypool, but Hayward Jr. of the Raiders undercut the route to knock down the pass. Claypool would have been gone.
Najee Harris went for about 12 and the first down. Pat Freiermuth appeared to have pulled across for the trap block.
Ben Roethlisberger escaped the pressure and tried to make a backyard football type pass to Diontae Johnson. Johnson stopped running the route for some reason and the ball was intercepted.
Ben appears to be flexing his hand a little bit as if its a little sore.
TJ Watt with a beautiful move around the tackle and in for the strip sack. He nearly recovered as well, but the Raiders retain the ball.
The Raiders had some issues on the snap the next play and fumbled again. They recovered once again.
Alex Leatherwood called for false start. A little jumpy after getting worked by Watt a couple plays before. The Raiders stopped on third down and have to kick the field goal. The field goal is good. 3-0 Raiders.
Tyson Alualu already ruled out for the rest of the game. Concerning how quickly that designation was made. It appears to be an ankle.
Ben Roethlisberger to Najee Harris on first down. Harris stiff armed the first defender to the ground and span away from the second defender. The next play, Diontae Johnson for a first down and a large gain on the left side, but holding on Juju.
Back to Diontae again on the next play for the first down. He was a little slow to get up and ran off to the sideline.
Najee Harris was stopped at the line of scrimmage on first and Benny Snell on second. They picked up maybe 2 yards between the two plays. 3rd and 8 for the Steelers, and a successful WR screen to Juju for the first down.
END OF QUARTER 1.
Darren Waller was targeted 0 times in the first half after being targeted 19 times in week 1.
Ben Roethlisberger sacked on first down by his shoestring. He nearly avoided the sack, but fell right at the line of scrimmage.
On 3rd and 4, Ben deep to Chase Claypool, he just barely wasn’t able to haul it in. The Steelers in no man’s land a little bit and decided to go for it. Ben under pressure and hit hard by Maxx Crosby as the ball flew incomplete. The Raiders will take over around their own 40.
Isaiahh Loudermilk in on the first down tackle. The rookie seeing some playing time. Derek Carr scrambled up the middle and was hit hard. Robert Spillane called for unnecessary roughness.
Derek Carr being protected by the refs it seems. If that was a running back getting hit like that nobody would think twice.
Hunter Renfrow picked up the first down and spun around James Pierre filling in for Joe Haden. Alex Highsmith jumped offsides and the play was blown dead. It looks like Melvin Ingram relieved him after the penalty.
On 1st and 5, Joe Schobert showed off his athleticism, beating the ball carrier to the edge and preventing the first down.
The brick wall that is Melvin Ingram stuffed Kenyan Drake on 2nd down. 3rd and short now. This would be a pretty amazing stop given the 1st and 5.
Darren Waller was targeted on an out route as Derek Carr rolled out to evade pressure and the ball fell incomplete. The Raiders will kick the field goal again. 6-0 Raiders.
Ben Roethlisberger faked the pitch to Najee Harris to the left and then tossed the ball to Diontae Johnson for the first down. Chase Claypool attempted to hurdle a defender in the backfield on the sweep, but was tackled for a loss.
Ben threw well short of the sticks on 2nd down, to set up 3rd and long. Diontae Johnson for a deep reception along the left sideline. It looked like Johnson could have tip-toed the sideline to score, but went out of bounds. A curious effort.
Najee Harris up the middle for a gain of 2. 2nd and goal from the 3 yard line. A little trickeration as Ben handed off to Juju Smith Schuster in motion. In for the touchdown! 7-6 Steelers.
The Chris Boswell kickoff went out of the back of the end zone for a touchback.
Robert Spillane with another huge hit on Hunter Renfrow after the catch across the middle. It was a first down, but a nice statement hit by Spillane. Renfrow might think twice next time.
A big reception the next play to Foster Moreau. Joe Schobert with good coverage on 1st down. Pretty sticky to the receiver. TJ Watt off the field for third down. Justin Layne initially stopped the receiver short on 3rd down, but Layne opted for the german suplex tackle that gave them enough for a fresh set of downs.
Cameron Heyward in for the TFL on 1st down. The Raiders call a timeout on 2nd and 12 just before the two minute warning.
The Steelers out thinking themselves sending Minkah Fitzpatrick on the blitz after hardly blitzing last week. Lets hope that stops in the second half.
TJ Watt possibly injured? He was off the field several snaps in a row.
Darren Waller with his first catch for a near first down to set up 4th and about a yard. The Raiders maybe going for it here. This would be a huge stop for a banged up defense prior to the half.
A QB keeper and easily across for the first down. False start on the Raiders to move them back a bit. A touchdown for the Raiders with James Pierre in coverage, but holding on Leatherwood. 2nd and goal, but about 15 to go for the Raiders. On 2nd, incomplete.
3rd down, and the raiders called for an ineligible man downfield. They are moving in the wrong direction here. 3rd down and the Raiders will kick a field goal to end the half. It should be an easy field goal, but those penalties made it at least a little more difficult.
The field goal is good. 9-7 Raiders.
There is only 2 seconds left in the half, and the Steelers already showed the world they will just kneel it down and send it into halftime last week.
END OF HALF. 9-7 RAIDERS.
Join us for the second half here.
