The Pittsburgh Steelers may have technically been on the road tonight, their first away game of the season, but it’s not an exaggeration when players say it felt like a home game. Steeler Nation was loud and proud in Allegiant Stadium in Pittsburgh’s 23-18 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
You’ve heard it from the players. Now you can see it with your own eyes. Our own Ross McCorkle attended the game and saw Steeler Nation infiltrating the stadium early.
Pittsburgh played its best game of the season. The offense more consistently and effectively moved the ball with QB Kenny Pickett throwing two touchdowns for the first time in his career. The run game also made progress, even if there’s still plenty of work to be done.
Defensively, the Steelers’ run defense stepped up in big ways to bottle up stud RB Josh Jacobs. Besides some late-game runs where Pittsburgh was clearly playing the pass, he did little on the ground. Pressure and turnovers remained consistent with four sacks and three takeaways, a trio of interceptions off Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo. CB Levi Wallace had the game-clinching pick, his second snag of the contest.
After the win went final, the Steelers Nation Unite account tweeted out the huge crowd of fans cheering Pittsburgh on.
In postgame interviews, Pickett and OLB T.J. Watt said the Raiders were forced to use a silent count, meaning they couldn’t use their normal vocal cadence to snap the ball. It’s the ultimate sign of a road crowd taking over and something Steelers’ fans routinely do, especially out west.
Here, you can hear how bonkers the stadium went after Wallace’s second pick to officially win the game. Doesn’t sound any different than Acrisure Stadium.
Speaking to reporters following the loss, Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels tried to downplay the Steelers fans’ impact.
“We have great fans and Pittsburgh travels well,” he said. “You deal with what you gotta deal with. That is what it is. We’ve handled that before and we need to handle it again if it comes up.”
But it’s clear the Pittsburgh crowd made quite the impact tonight. They travel well and many of them are already there with such a countrywide and, frankly, global fan base. They’ll look to do the same when they’re on the road next Sunday afternoon at Houston to play the Texans.
