For the longest road trip of the season for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they will be facing the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium for the second-straight year. Last year, they came away with a 23-18 win. Despite the familiar matchup, both teams have quite a few changes from last season. The Raiders have a new head coach and quarterback, while the Steelers have new quarterbacks and a new head coach.
Speaking of the quarterbacks, Russell Wilson will be active for the first time all season, and backing up Justin Fields. That means the opportunity is very much present for the Steelers to make a change in game if it becomes necessary. A couple bad plays for Fields, or another three-point first half could spur change.
The Raiders will be starting Aidan O’Connell instead of Gardner Minshew, so there should be a bunch of quarterback intrigue in this game. Both teams also have several notable players out of the lineup. For the Raiders, Davante Adams is unavailable with a hamstring as he is attempting to be traded away from the organization. The Steelers are without Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, DeMarvin Leal, and Cordarrelle Patterson.
Surprisingly, Jaylen Warren is going to be active after missing some time with a knee injury. He was initially labeled doubtful to enter the week, so that is a huge development for this struggling run game. Also join the discussion at the bottom of the page in the comment section.
For those of you who have never joined us for a game thread, welcome! Update the post throughout the game for play-by-play updates, curated tweets, video highlights, and more.
Steelers’ Inactive Players
QB Kyle Allen (3rd QB)
TE MyCole Pruitt
OLB Alex Highsmith
S Damontae Kazee
RB Cordarrelle Patterson
OLB Nick Herbig
G Max Scharping
Raiders’ Inactive Players
RB Zamir White
WR Jakobi Meyers
WR Davante Adams
CB Sam Webb
LB Tommy Eichenberg
T Thayer Munford Jr.
DE Janarius Robinson
No surprise here, but the Steelers fans have taken over Las Vegas.
START OF GAME
The Steelers opened the game on offense.
1st and 10, Fields complete to Najee Harris in the middle for 11 yards.
1st and 10, Harris up the middle for 13 yards.
1st and 10, Harris off right tackle for 1 yard. 2nd and 9, Fields complete to Freiermuth for 8 yards. 3rd and 1, Warren around left end to convert for just a yard.
1st and 10, Warren toss right for a loss of two. 2nd and 12, Fields complete to Warren for a loss of 3. 3rd and 15, Fields complete to Warren for 8 yards. Chris Boswell’s 52-yard field goal is good. 3-0 Steelers.
They stalled out, but at least they managed opening drive points which is a rarity for this team.
1st and 10, O’Connell complete to Harrison Bryant for 8 yards. 2nd and 2, Alexander Mattison up the middle for 4 yards.
1st and 10, Mattison up the middle for 7 yards and Brock Bowers got the best of T.J. Watt on the play. 2nd and 3, Mattison up the middle for 3 yards.
1st and 10, O’Connell complete to Bowers for 10 yards. Elandon Roberts hit him as he threw.
1st and 10, O’Connell complete to Bowers on a screen for 8 yards. They are marching right down the field. 2nd and 2, Mattison around the left end for 9 yards.
1st and 10, Mattison caught a pass and turned up for 19 yards.
1st and goal, Mattison up the middle for a loss of one with Elandon Roberts making the play. 2nd and goal from the 3, Mattison up the middle to score. 7-3 Raiders.
The Raider never even faced a third down on that drive.
1st and 10, Connor Heyward called for a false start. 1st and 15, Harris up the middle for a loss of 5. 2nd and 20, Fields complete to Pat Freiermuth for 8 yards. 3rd and 12, Pickens dropped what would have been a 9-yard reception. The punt went 51 yards to the 21.
This team needs a spark, and Russell Wilson is on the sideline. It won’t happen yet, but the game is still early.
1st and 10, O’Connell complete to Ameer Abdullah for a loss of one with Patrick Queen making the tackle for loss. 2nd and 11, Keeanu Benton knocked the ball down at the line of scrimmage. 3rd and 11, the Steelers crowd is very loud, Abdullah up the middle for 7 yards. They forced a punt and will get the ball at the 26-yard line.
1st and 10, a deep attempt to George Pickens, but it fell incomplete. He very nearly had it with an acrobatic attempt. 2nd and 10, Fields scrambled for 14 yards up the middle.
1st and 10, Warren up the middle for 2 yards.
END OF 1ST QUARTER: 7-3 RAIDERS
2nd and 8, Broderick Jones called for holding to bring back a 9-yard scramble. 2nd and 18, Fields complete to Pickens for 15 yards. 3rd and 3, Fields complete to Pickens for 7 yards.
1st and 10, Harris up the middle with multiple great efforts to break through tackles for 15 yards. That was an angry run!
1st and 10, Fields incomplete to Pickens deep left. 2nd and 10, Fields incomplete to Freiermuth with too much air under the pass. He had a checkdown in the middle that could have maybe converted. 3rd and 10, Fields on the run and he missed big time. Three straight incompletions to stall the drive. The 49-yard field goal is good. 7-6 Raiders.
1st and 10, O’Connell incomplete with Isaiahh Loudermilk nearly sacking him. 2nd and 10, complete to Bowers for 7 yards. 3rd and 3, DeShon Elliott made the stop on Bryant for just a yard to force the punt.
Calvin Austin III faked out the entire coverage unit to make them stop running as the ball rolled into the end zone for a touchback.
1st and 10, Fields complete to Connor Heyward for 4 yards. 2nd and 6, Najee Harris picked up the first down, but Darnell Washington held Maxx Crosby. 2nd and 16, Harris over the middle for 4 yards. 3rd and 12, Fields on the move and complete to Austin for 20 yards.
1st and 10, Warrne up the middle for 4 yards, but Isaac Suemalo called for holding. 1st and 20, Warren toss left for 7 yards. 2nd and 13, Fields up the middle for 18 yards.
1st and 10, Fields incomplete to Austin deep, just a hair too high for the short receiver. 2nd and 10, a trick-play sacked for a loss of 13. Delay of game called as well. 3rd and 28, Fields incomplete to Austin well short of the sticks. The punt went 38 yards to the 16.
1st and 10, Mattison tackled for a loss by Watt. 2nd and 13, O’Connell complete to Bryant for 14 yards and Minkah Fitzpatrick was injured on the play. Seems to be his shoulder, but it didn’t look too serious.
1st and 10, Mattison up the middle for 2 yards. 2nd and 8, Dylan Laube had the ball punched out by T.J. Watt and recovered by Benton.
1st and 10, Harris up the middle for 3 yards.
Two-Minute Warning
2nd and 7, Harris up the middle for 3 yards. 3rd and 4, Fields threw an interception but it was called back by a roughing the passer penalty.
1st and 10, Fields escaped pressure and raced to the sideline for 7 yards. 1st and 3 from the 5-yard line. 2nd and 3, Fields scrambled for 1 yard. 3rd and 2, Harris in the pile called short, but I think that might be worth a challenge. They are going for it instead. 4th and 1 with Heyward at fullback, Fields scrambled for the touchdown. The two-point conversion failed. 12-7 Steelers.
Minkah Fitzpatrick is back in the game.
1st and 10, O’Connell complete to to Bachman for 11 yards.
1st and 10, O’Connell complete to Turner for 7 yards. The Raiders called their final timeout with 12 seconds remaining. 2nd and 3, the pass fell incomplete and it looked like the receiver tripped on the play. 3rd and 3 with 7 seconds, incomplete pass. 4th and 3, a deep heave fell incomplete.
END OF 1ST HALF
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