Entering the Week Three matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday Night Football inside Allegiant Stadium, the Pittsburgh Steelers knew that in the secondary they were going to be in for a very difficult matchup against Raiders wide receivers Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers.
Turns out, they might have underestimated that matchup just slightly as Adams went off for 13 catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns and Meyers added seven catches for 85 yards. The two single-handedly helped bring the Raiders back into the game.
In the end though, the Steelers were able to get the win as cornerback Levi Wallace, picked on quite a bit throughout the game, picked off Las Vegas quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on the Steelers’ sideline for his second of the game, sealing the win late.
After the 23-18 win over the Raiders, Wallace stated that going against “a dude” in Adams and knowing how good Las Vegas’ wide receiver room is that the Steelers secondary just had to keep scratching, clawing and fighting. They did just that, doing just enough in the end for the win.
“It was, listen, those receivers over there, [No.] 17 is a dude, you know what I mean? And even [No. ]16 [Meyers] is a hard matchup and so we tried to minimize them as much as we can,” Wallace said after the win, according to video via Steelers.com. “Those guys are really good, and this week we just knew we had to keep fighting. That’s what it came down to.
“Just be physical, contest balls, just fight, claw, scratch away. Whatever was necessary.”
It wasn’t pretty and the numbers put up by Adams and Meyers were gaudy (20 combined catches for 257 yards and two touchdowns), but it wasn’t enough to give the Raiders the win.
At times, Wallace was a mess in coverage, giving up far too much cushion and overall space in routes to Adams, who picked apart the Steelers whether it was in man-to-man coverage or in zone. He made plays when it counted though, picking off Garoppolo in the first half after jumping a late crossing route over the middle and then picking off the final pass of the game.
He also had a key breakup on a fourth down pass to force a turnover on downs.
The Steelers largely had no answer for Adams and continued to play him in off-man, which was a major disadvantage, putting Wallace in a lose-lose situation. But he persevered and made plays when it counted, helping the Steelers come out with the all-important win.
It’s not going to be pretty with the Steelers cornerbacks this season, just based on the first three weeks of the season. But if they can keep scratching, clawing and fighting and making plays when it counts, it might not matter when it comes to winning football games.
