Perspective Of An Average Steelers Fan: A Pittsburgh Perspective In Las Vegas

Is it too early for a must-win game? The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off two disheartening losses. The Raiders are starting second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell. And the Raiders have a host of injuries, including one to Maxx Crosby, who missed several practices. Robert Spillane, who currently leads the NFL with 54 combined tackles, is an X factor. Leading up to the game, he said, “Leaving [the Steelers] has only [added] to the chip on my shoulder.”

But Pittsburgh should win this game despite its own set of injuries. Depth at the edge has been erased with both Nick Herbig and Alex Highsmith out. At running back, Cordarrelle Patterson remains out. And Pat Freiermuth showed up on the injury list with a calf issue.

But Jaylen Warren resumed practicing and Russell Wilson practiced fully. So, will he be Justin Fields’ backup going into the game? It’s time for the Steelers to put on a full performance.

But hey, enough of the preview. I’m on my way to Las Vegas!

Gameday Experience

I flew to Vegas Friday night. Spent Saturday morning catching up with friends, then headed to the Steelers Rally party at the Nevada Brew Works. I’ve always thought of the Steelers’ fan base being people from Western Pennsylvania and former Burghers who moved throughout the country following the demise of the steel industry and coal mining in the 1970s. My own family moved from Pittsburgh in 1965. But we always felt connected to the Burgh.

Here in Las Vegas, I met Steelers fans from Western Pennsylvania or others traveling in from all over with roots from the Pittsburgh area. However, I also met other big fans of the Black and Gold with no connection to Pittsburgh and who had never even attended a game in Pittsburgh. Folks from North Dakota, Utah, New Mexico among other places who were Steelers fans just because they admired the team. The Pittsburgh Steelers may not be America’s team, but they are truly a national brand.

At the rally party, I got to meet Steelers legend Dermontti Dawson and Duval Love. Great to see players from the 1980s and 1990s enjoying the embrace of fans. Love the continuity that the Steelers alumni have with today’s Steelers.

Afterwards, I drifted to Uncle Jimmy’s pregame festivities. Uncle Jimmy is a longtime Steelers fan who left Pennsylvania over 25 years ago. He’s now in Iowa but his passion for the team remains as strong as ever.

Allegiant Stadium is a 21st-Century Facility

I didn’t make it to any of the tailgates. It was my first time to a game at Allegiant Stadium, so we went in as soon as the gates opened.

Outside it was nearly 90 degrees at mid-morning. But once inside, the climate-controlled stadium was comfortable at about 74 degrees. That’s the way it is no matter what the weather is outside. No rain, sleet, or snow. No searing sun. Just a mild mid-70s polo shirt comfort day. My college buddy, Sugar Bear, treated me to Allegiant Field Club tickets. They excavated when the stadium was built, so you take an escalator down from street level to reach the field level. The field club is opulent with fare to match: jumbo shrimp, lobster tail, roast beef carved to your liking. Racks of sweets and high-priced tequila. A bar with select microbrews and mixed drinks. All included in the price of the ticket. I don’t know what Sugar Bear paid, but it must have been a mint.

Our seats were on the 50-yard line. You could stand at field level behind the Raiders bench. But the equipment obscured the sight lines. Our seats were 30 rows from the field and were perfect to catch play especially between the 30-yard lines. The Raiders placed gray rally flags on each seat. Automatically, 40-50% were wasted based on the number of Steelers fans attending. But I never noticed them during the game. If any Raiders fans were waving them, the drab towels just faded into the background.

Raiders Season-Ticket Holders

Allegiant Stadium opened four years ago. And it is state of the art. Acrisure Stadium is like a small college field in comparison even though they have comparable capacity. I spoke to several Raiders ticket holders. And you get what you pay for. One fan originally from Santa Rosa, California, said he wanted four season tickets but had to settle for two since he just could not afford more at $75,000 per PSL. I met the architect of the electrical and lighting system at Allegiant and several casinos. He confirmed the $75,000. He bought eight tickets in the first and second rows. He said when they met with the Raiders president and Mark Davis, he told them they could trust him. He explained how he had been a Raiders fan since 1973. His all-time favorite Raider being Lyle Alzado. Davis got up from his chair, walked over, gave him a hug saying, “Welcome to the Raiders family.”

Raiders fans have mixed feelings about Mark Davis. But most I spoke with agreed that the move to Las Vegas was the right one for the team. But they still stew over his personnel decisions.

I am very impressed with Allegiant Stadium. It’s glitzy opulence is a perfect match for Las Vegas. But I would not swap Acrisure Stadium for Allegiant. I like a stadium open to the elements and embrace the weather. Acrisure is a much better fit for Pittsburgh from my perspective as an average Steelers fan.

Steelers Fans’ Response at the Game

A lot of Steelers fans showed up in Las Vegas. At first, just a rise in the noise level after a good play. You could hear “Muuuuth” being chanted after his first catch on the opening drive. But then silence, as a good play followed by a miscue. Near silence when the Raiders scored on their first possession, serving the Steelers’ defense like chipped ham.

We got restless during a second-quarter possession. We saw Justin Fields running for 18 yards. But three Pittsburgh penalties, including a delay of game, kept driving them back. Fields missed an open Calvin Austin III on a deep pass and then got sacked. It may have been around here after Minkah Fitzpatrick got injured and was replaced by Terrell Edmunds. T.J. Watt started waving his arms, asking for the Steelers fans to make some noise. And we did. You could see Terrible Towels throughout the stadium, and it sounded like a home game after Renegade is played. Then Watt forced a fumble that Keeanu Benton recovered, and we were rocking. The Steelers scored off the takeaway and the Raiders fans sat in stunned silence.

Raiders Fans Concede

Once Najee Harris scored on his 36-yard run and leap, some Raiders fans conceded. Steelers fans went nuts everywhere. The Raiders lost a touchdown to a penalty as the third quarter ended. Once the fourth quarter started, the official explained that the snap got off in time but there was an ineligible man downfield. A Raiders fan sitting in front of me grumbled about the officiating. I told him Pittsburgh fans were used to getting calls like that against us. Raiders fans started to file out of the stadium following Donte Jackson’s interception with 8:21 to play.

Justin Fields made up for a poor game passing with crazy legs by scoring again to put the Steelers up 29-7. The defense faltered and let the Raiders score with 4:54 to play.

I had a bad flashback going back to 1976, the Steelers up 28-14 with less than five minutes to play. Kenny “Snake” Stabler comes off the bench to score 17 unanswered points off the Steel Curtain defense to win, 31-28. But Minkah Fitzpatrick recovers the onsides kick attempt. And all is right with the world again. The Steelers winning, 32-13.

Special Teams

Special teams are an underappreciated facet of the game where one big play can shift momentum or even decide the game winner. The new kickoff rules should test the special team coordinator’s ability to adapt to the changes.

Here is an overview of the special teams play during the game:

KICKOFFS

Chris Boswell put all eight of his kickoffs into the end zone. Ameer Abdullah returned one from one yard deep for 31 yards to the 30. The rest were touchbacks.

Daniel Carlson kicked off just three times. Jaylen Warren returned the opening kickoff 26 yards to the 29-yard line. The second was a touchback. Las Vegas attempted an onside kick late in the fourth quarter. But Minkah Fitzpatrick snagged it after the ball bounced high in the air and returned it seven yards to ice the game.

THE STATS

*Minkah Fitzpatrick recovered onside kick attempt

Advantage Steelers.

PUNTING

Corliss Waitman punted three times. All three high were high, giving coverage units time to arrive as the returner was catching the ball. Terrell Edmunds set the tone early shoving Ameer Abdullah out of bounds before he gained a single yard. Miles Killebrew made a great open-field tackle to drop Abdullah for a loss at the 16 after a 47-yard punt. Abdullah muffed the third and fell on the ball for no return.

AJ Cole punted four times. One went out of bounds after 43 yards. His second went 61 yards and Calvin Austin III made a fake drawing in the gunner so the ball touched back in the end zone. Smart move. Jeremiah Moon blocked the third coming up through the middle, giving the Steelers excellent position at the Raiders’ 9-yard line. Cole launched a monster 66-yard punt in third quarter, but it went into the end zone. He was unable to pin the Steelers back.

THE STATS

*Jeremiah Moon blocked punt. Steelers get ball at Las Vegas 9-yard line.

*Abdullah muffed catch recover for no gain.

Advantage Steelers.

FIELD GOALS AND EXTRA POINTS

Chris Boswell kicked four field goals, including a 52-yarder to open the game. He also made two extra points. In pregame warmups he hit from 63 yards out with room to spare. Steelers failed on a two-point conversion attempt.

Daniel Carlson made his only extra point attempt. Raiders failed to convert a two-point conversion.

THE STATS

Advantage Steelers

YOUR HOT TAKES DURING THE GAME

Thank you, Ross McCorkle, for keeping us up to date on the game’s Live Update and Discussion Threads. Steelers Depot respondents contributed 1,210 first-half comments. Respondents added  1,186 more second-half comments.  Here are the top three comments from each half. I don’t know the algorithm used by Disqus but here is how they stacked it up:

The top first-half comments included a welcome but then reflected the Steelers’ slow start:

1. First, Alex Kozora welcomed everyone to the live update: “Enjoy the game everyone. Thanks for being here with us today.”
2. Jones was frustrated with the sputtering offense. “Killing our own drives week after week. Not saying it’s the case, but after 5 years of this, is it time to have MT more hands off on the offense? Maybe let Art do his thing, good or bad? We look pretty close to [Fichtner] and Canada still. Have to wonder at this point.”
3. Paul Buccigrossi assigned blame for the erratic performance early in the game: “This is the worst coached team in football. Fields almost ended Austin[‘]s young career.”

The top second-half comments included one from a fan at the game and a couple positive observations:

1. Jer was happy to attend a game with team winning: “I’m about 20 yards from the field. I’m with my family and we are WINNING!!!”
2. Shminone was impressed by Najee Harris: “Holy smokes was that an electric run. Actually, looked fast.”
3. David renamed the Steelers in honor of Chris Boswell: “Behold, The Pittsburgh Threelers.”

We met the 1,000-comment standard in both halves. What a difference a win makes. Hope you all enjoy.

CONCLUSION

I flew home via Los Angeles early Monday morning. I saw several Penn State fans making their way back home after the comeback win over USC. We congratulated each other on both team’s wins. An enjoyable way of finishing the trip.

Justin Fields can be an electric player. But it just seems that the offense is erratic when he plays. I’d like to see if the offense performs more consistently with Russell Wilson under center. To paraphrase Mike Tomlin, Fields has been good at times, but he wants the team to be in the best position to win on a regular basis. Najee Harris was running in beast mode. I liked his postgame comments that it takes 11 players to consistently run well. Pat Freiermuth sprung him loose on the 36-yard touchdown.

I am still frustrated with the defense. The Steelers gave up a score on the opposition’s opening drive for the third game in a row. Yes, they have injuries. But some of these teams have been hampered as well. The Raiders were missing their top receivers. But players like T.J. Watt and Donte Jackson come up with big plays to take away the ball. DeShon Elliott is playing very consistent, hard-nosed football. And Cam Heyward is like fine wine.

Special teams played excellently. Boswell was four-for-four. Waitman consistently boomed high punts. The coverage unit destroyed the Raiders’ return game. And then Jeremiah Moon blocked a punt. Bringing James Pierre and Terrell Edmunds back provides a definite upgrade in coverage.

Next week we’re back to Pittsburgh for the Jets on Sunday night. Here we go!

Your Song Selection

I always like to include a bit of music. T.J. Watt called for the noise. And got it. Mike Tomlin acknowledged the fans both in his postgame comment and weekly press conference on Tuesday. The NFL knows that any stadium becomes a Steelers home game when they come to town. The Steelers have a brick house when it comes to home games. They can be anywhere at any time and we fans will be stacked in the house. And that’s a fact. Here is Brick House performed by The Commodores.