Another week, another primetime matchup in a storied rivalry for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This time, it’s a trip to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders for the first time inside Allegiant Stadium on Sunday Night Football.
Coming off of a short week that saw them get a bit banged up against the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football, the Steelers have a tough test in front of them with a long trip to Las Vegas for the Week Three matchup against the Raiders.
After coming from behind on Christmas Eve last season to pick up a 13-10 win over the Raiders at Acrisure Stadium, things look a bit different for Las Vegas now with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo taking over for longtime franchise icon Derek Carr, not to mention a number of new faces on both sides of the football.
Neither team is playing particularly well at this point in the season, but both sport identical 1-1 records on the season. As always, the game will come down to a few plays here and there and will be decided by matchups within the game.
What matchups would those be? Glad you asked.
Here are the four key matchups to watch in Sunday night’s Steelers-Raiders tilt.
Raiders EDGE Maxx Crosby vs. Steelers RT Chukwuma Okorafor
For the third straight season these two will match up against one another.
In 2021, Crosby generated six pressures against the Steelers with Okorafor allowing three of them. Then, last season, Okorafor allowed just two pressures in the Steelers’ comeback win, but Crosby was a force throughout the Christmas Eve matchup as the Raiders moved him around, generating nine pressures.
Now, entering the 2023 matchup the focus will be on Crosby vs. Okorafor again.
Through the first two games of the season Crosby has been a menace, generating 10 total pressures and a sack taking on the likes of Denver’s Mike McGlinchey and Buffalo’s Spencer Brown at right tackle. Crosby now gets another shot at a familiar face, one who has not been all that good so far this season.
In the first two weeks of the season, Okorafor sits at a 55.4 overall pass blocking grade. Though he has given up just two pressures, he’s been a problem for the Steelers’ offensive line. He’s had to deal with the likes of San Francisco’s Drake Jackson and Cleveland’s Za’Darius Smith and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo in the first two weeks. He’ll face his stiffest test against Crosby.
Having that familiarity with Crosby and what he likes to do rushing the passer should help Okorafor some, but Crosby has taken his game to a whole new level this season. He’s a terrific run defender, too, and was outstanding against Pittsburgh in that area last season. Okorafor’s strength is not run blocking.
Something’s got to give in this matchup.
Raiders RB Josh Jacobs vs. Steelers’ run defense
The NFL’s reigning rushing leader against the current worst run defense in the NFL.
Oh boy.
The last time these two teams met in frigid temperatures, the Steelers held Jacobs to just 44 rushing yards on 15 carries. Jacobs did rip off a 36-yard run in that game, but it was called back due to a facemask penalty on the Raiders, so Jacobs’ day could have been even better.
Without star defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, the Steelers’ run defense is really struggling. In the first two games of the season, Pittsburgh has allowed 5.6 yards per carry, worst in the league, and given up the most rushing yards in the league through two weeks with 386 rushing yards.
Jacobs hasn’t ben all that good so far this season, generating just 46 rushing yards on 28 attempts. For those doing the math at home, that’s 1.6 yards per carry.
That’s not going to last. Could Jacobs’ breakout game come against Pittsburgh under the dome that is Allegiant Stadium on a fast track artificial turf? Pittsburgh has shown no answers from a run defense standpoint yet. After two poor weeks in that department, Pittsburgh’s going to put even more of an emphasis on stopping the run. We’ll see if it improves.
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth vs. Raiders LB Robert Spillane
Hello, old friend.
Throughout his four-year career with the Steelers, it was well-known that Robert Spillane struggled in coverage. That hasn’t changed in his brief time in Las Vegas, either.
In 75 coverage snaps through two weeks, Spillane grades out at a respectable 70.5 in coverage, but he’s allowed seven receptions on eight targets for 69 yards, good for an 87.5 completion percentage and a QB rating of 102.6. There’s an opportunity there for the Steelers to attack in the passing game.
That starts with tight end Pat Freiermuth. In the first two weeks of the season Freiermuth has been an afterthought in the passing game with just five total targets and two catches for five yards, though he’s found the end zone once.
This is the week to get Freiermuth more involved in the passing game, especially in the middle of the field. In the first two weeks of the season the Raiders have allowed 15 catches for 109 yards to tight ends. Denver had seven catches for 56 yards in Week One, and then Buffalo added eight catches for 53 yards in Week Two at the position.
Freiermuth has been absent from the gameplan offensively, and that needs to change. What better week than to do that against Spillane and the Raiders in Week Three?
Steelers CBs Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace vs. Raiders WRs Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers
Last season the Steelers did a fantastic job limiting Davante Adams to just two catches for 15 yards. Again though, that came in freezing temperatures as the Raiders’ passing attack struggled all night long on Christmas Eve. Now inside a dome, things might be looking up for Adams against the Steelers.
Through two games, Adams has 12 receptions for 150 yards and a touchdown on the year, averaging 12.5 yards per reception. He’s been helped out by the emergence of veteran wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who joined the Raiders in free agency. Though he missed the Week Two game on the road against the Buffalo Bills with a concussion, Meyers had nine receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns in Week One against the Broncos.
Pittsburgh has struggled to handle high-end route runners the first two weeks, facing off against San Francisco’s Brandon Aiyuk and Cleveland’s Amari Cooper in back-to-back weeks. Adams is better than both.
Levi Wallace and Patrick Peterson have been thrown at a ton through the first two weeks. Neither has had an answer. Wallace has allowed eight receptions on 11 targets for 98 yards, allowing a 99.8 quarterback rating when targeted as well as a 16.8 average depth of target. Peterson hasn’t been much better, allowing five receptions on 10 targets for 89 yards and two touchdowns, good for a 120.4 quarterback rating, though his average depth of target is much, much lower at 10.3.
It’s a massive test for Peterson and Wallace on Sunday against Adams and Meyers. The Raiders have done a good job with concepts getting Adams and Meyers into space in favorable matchups. The two veteran corners need to come through in a big way in primetime for the Black and Gold.
