The Pittsburgh Steelers already had to play against one of their own in the season opener. Even though he’s been gone for a few years now, going up against DT Javon Hargrave was not fun—though his former teammates certainly enjoyed catching up.
Now facing the Las Vegas Raiders, they are ready to reacquaint themselves with another familiar face who spent the past four years here in ILB Robert Spillane. Departing in free agency, he has played every snap this season for the Black and Silver—and is ready to dish some of that old Pittsburgh physicality right back at his former team.
“They’re downright physical and tough. Coach [Mike] Tomlin used to say that’s AFC North football, so I’m bringing a little AFC North football out to the west and return some in their favor”, he told reporters this week as he prepares to face his old team, via Vegas Sports Today.
Although he never secured a regular starting role, Spillane still managed to play a great deal, at least when healthy. He saw a career-high 588 defensive snaps in 2022, taking over on a full-time basis late in the season for Devin Bush.
He posted a career-high 79 tackles a year ago, including four tackles for loss and a sack, though he’s had more productive years. He had a pick-six against Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson back in 2020. For the Raiders, he already has 21 tackles and a sack along with two tackles for loss across 142 snaps. And he’s going to know the guys he’s tackling quite well—as he’ll tell his teammates.
“There’s some preparation, knowing the guys and trying to help out my teammates understand who these guys are a little bit better”, he said. “That’s what we’ve been doing, but at the end of the day, we stick to fundamentals. We communicate as a defense, we get 11 hats to the ball, and good things will happen”.
The only players he might be learning for the first time, really, are Isaac Seumalo at left guard and Darnell Washington, the rookie tight end. Beyond that, there isn’t much new in this offense. WR Allen Robinson II as a slot weapon would also be in his purview. But he’s up for any challenge.
“It’s that blue-collar mentality, and I grew up with that blue-collar mentality”, he said. “It’s always about that next play and going out there and really bringing your will to the opponents and forcing your will on them, and we hope to so that this weekend”.
Frankly, it will be interesting to see how Spillane holds up with a full season of work. Outside of his tackling—he’s always been prone to missing in the open field—he’s been pretty solid for the Raiders through two games. He had his struggles against the Buffalo Bills this past week, so he’ll be looking to his former team as something of a palate cleanser to get himself back on the right track.
