Tomorrow night the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Las Vegas Raiders in Las Vegas for the first time since the Raiders moved from Oakland (for a second time). Playing the Raiders on the road has not been kind for Pittsburgh throughout their history, and it is one of three demons Pittsburgh can vanquish on Sunday Night Football tomorrow night.
Demon One: Beating The Raiders On The Road
The last time Pittsburgh won at the Raiders was back in the year 1995. To put that in perspective, the song on the top of the music charts at the time was One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, the original Toy Story was still in theaters, and current Steelers QB Kenny Pickett was not born yet.
Pittsburgh’s luck playing the Raiders in Oakland was awful and it felt the team lost in very cartoonish ways. Kicker Chris Boswell slipping as he tried to tie the game in 2018, quarterback/turned wide receiver Terrelle Pryor scampering 93 yards for a touchdown in 2013, and a four interception performance from QB Ben Roethlisberger against a Raiders team that won a total of two games in 2006 are just some of the Steelers lowlights when the team traveled to Oakland to play the Silver and Black.
However, with the team no longer playing in the Oakland Coliseum the Steelers can prove their woes against the Raiders away are in the past. Playing in Las Vegas should be much friendlier than the Black Hole in Oakland, with their being a projection of 60-percent of the fans at the game Sunday Night being fans of Pittsburgh. Another plus is the field should be much better than the Oakland Coliseum which was split between football and baseball.
The Steelers will still have to show up, but there is something about not having to travel to Oakland to play against the Raiders that’s comforting. Beating the Raiders away is going to be hard, but playing in Las Vegas should be a bit easier than Oakland.
Demon Two: Get The Offense Going
It is no secret the Steelers offense is awful this season. In fact, it has been pretty bad going back to the 2019 season. However, if the Kenny Pickett-era is going to kick off and if offensive coordinator Matt Canada can prove he is NFL caliber, it must start this week. The Raiders defense has struggled and the Steelers should have the opportunity to both run and pass the ball.
It is only a two game sample size, but so far the Raiders are allowing 355 yards per game which is 22nd best in the league and isn’t far off from where they were last year when they allowed a 365.6 yards per game. Their defense is porous and in the dry desert, Canada and the Steelers offense should be able to exploit it. Running back Najee Harris could finally get going this week as it is in the best interest of Pittsburgh to take the pressure off Pickett and let Harris hammer away at the Raiders weak run defense which is allowing 138.5 yards per game.
No game in the NFL is easy or a gimmie, but after going up against two elite defenses in the San Francisco 49ers and the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh’s offense has a chance to get going this week. The team showed potential in the preseason and even down the stretch last season, they have to prove it was not a mirage and that the offense is actually competent.
Demon Three: Run Defense Steps Up
Currently the Steelers have the worst run defense in the NFL, allowing 193 yards per game. Without DT Cameron Heyward the Steelers run game is not good, and when the team lost Stephon Tuitt prior the 2021 season the run defense was awful as Pittsburgh allowed a league worst 143 rushing yards per game. Pittsburgh has to prove they can be competent in stopping the run with one of their starters out on the defensive line. What better way to prove it than going up against last year’s leading rusher in RB Josh Jacobs?
It will be a tall task to stop Jacobs who ran for 1,653 yards at an impressive clip of 4.9 yards per carry last season. But this season Jacobs doesn’t look like himself. Jacobs has struggled in his first two games after an offseason contract dispute, averaging a measly 1.6 yards per carry and he doesn’t even have 50 yards yet on the season. In fact, last week against the Buffalo Bills Jacobs ran for -2 yards. He doesn’t look like the Jacobs of last year yet and Pittsburgh has to capitalize on that.
Letting teams run on you is demoralizing, and without Heyward it is going to be difficult to stop the run. If Pittsburgh can get some confidence, they can be fueled by that he comes back later in the season. Being able to contain last year’s rushing leader will go a long way in proving Pittsburgh’s run defense can hang on and not be their Achilles heel, especially with a match up with the Baltimore Ravens looming in just a few weeks.
