Coming into the Week Three matchup on Sunday Night Football against his former team in the Pittsburgh Steelers, new Las Vegas Raiders inside linebacker Robert Spillane was looking forward to the opportunity to give the Steelers a taste of their own medicine when it came to AFC North-style football.
It sounded good coming from Spillane, who was quite the developmental story for the Steelers before signing with the Raiders in free agency.
It didn’t turn out great through for the veteran linebacker and captain of the Raiders. Pittsburgh’s offense had its best game of the year and one of the better games of the Matt Canada tenure, racking up 333 yards of total offense and 23 points, hitting an explosive 72-yard touchdown pass in the process before holding on late for a 23-18 win.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Spillane was a bit frustrated and couldn’t properly reflect on the emotions of playing his former team and losing, but he had high praise and love for head coach Mike Tomlin and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
“It still takes time to reflect on it and adrenaline is high,” Spillane said, according to the transcript provided by the Raiders. “I got a lot of respect for those guys starting at the top of the organization and all the way down. Love Coach Tomlin, love Minkah [Fitzpatrick], those are some of the closest relationships I’ve formed on the football field over the years, so I’m thankful for my time there, and we just got to get things cleaned up and keep pushing forward.”
Spillane had a fine game against the Steelers, recording seven tackles in the loss. He was around the football quite a bit and was a hammer at times coming downhill against Pittsburgh’s run game, which was his calling card while with the Steelers.
But in the end, Spillane’s play wasn’t enough to help the Raiders’ defense get back on track and pick up a win over his former team.
The Steelers were able to run the football downhill against the Las Vegas front, generating 105 yards on 31 carries, providing real balance offensively. Additionally, Pittsburgh was able to take advantage of some serious coverage issues against tight ends as Pat Freiermuth won in the middle of the field a few times and was wide open on his 13-yard touchdown on a designed bootleg in the third quarter, giving Pittsburgh a 23-7 lead.
Spillane is quite the story in the NFL, going from undrafted and cut by the Tennessee Titans to landing with the Steelers and working his way into a prominent role in four years, taking over full-time at inside linebacker late in the 2022 season over Devin Bush. Spillane turned that development into a two-year, $7 million deal with the Raiders in free agency.Â
He’s settled nicely into his role with Las Vegas, earning a captain’s role right away. But his goal of giving AFC North football medicine back to the Steelers backfired on him as the Steelers got the better of him in the matchup in the end.
