Well, that was different.
For the first time in what seems like a long time, the Pittsburgh Steelers took care of business early and didn’t have to sweat it out against a bad team Sunday in Las Vegas, rolling to a 32-13 win over the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium, taking advantage of a three-phased attack.
Najee Harris had his best game of the season and maybe one of the best games of his career, giving the Steelers a potent rushing attack. The defense forced three turnovers, and special teams came up with a clutch blocked punt. Justin Fields added two rushing touchdowns and Chris Boswell drilled four field goals.
Just like that, the Steelers are 4-2 and back on track after two tough losses in back-to-back weeks.
Let’s get to some grades.
QB — C+
As a passer, Justin Fields displayed the full Justin Fields experience on the afternoon. He had some great plays as a passer and some head-scratching ones, including a handful of missed throws and at least one bad decision that was negated by a penalty.
Fields finished just 14-of-24 for 145 yards passing. Outside of a late 31-yard throw to George Pickens off play-action, he was relatively quiet on the day. Accuracy issues were troubling, as he missed three throws in a row early in the game on plays that were undoubtedly there. He misfired a few more times later in the game.
The passing game just isn’t clicking all that well right now. Fortunately for Fields, his legs are incredibly dynamic.
Fields rushed for 59 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, scoring on runs of 3 and 7 yards. He is incredibly difficult to defend in the red zone as a runner, and he exploited the Raiders in a big way on the ground.
But the struggles passing for the second straight week are concerning, especially with Fields missing some throws. He has to get locked in there again or the noise about a QB change to Russell Wilson will only get louder.
RB — B+
If this grade were for Najee Harris only, it would easily be an A. Harris was outstanding on the afternoon. He ran hard, was efficient and consistently had the pile moving forward.
Harris finished with 106 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, scoring on a 36-yard run in the third quarter, capping a great drive in which he earlier had a 26-yard run. He made defenders miss in the hole, dragged defenders with him in piles, and probably won himself another Angry Runs scepter in the process.
Heck of a showing from Harris.
Outside of him, though, the three other running backs in Jaylen Warren, Aaron Shampklin and Jonathan Ward weren’t very good.
Ward finished with three carries for 13 yards, all coming in the final minutes. He looked good on his 6-yard run in the fourth quarter, but he continues to try and bounce every run in search of the home run. Warren had just seven yards on six carries and really didn’t do anything well. He added three receptions for 11 yards and just wasn’t good on the night in his return from injury.
Shampklin had one carry for -2 yards and was largely invisible for the Steelers from a snap-count perspective.
WR — C
George Pickens made a great diving catch on the 31-yard completion from Fields to put a bow on the game. He again showed off his great body control and hand-eye coordination. But outside of that catch he had an up-and-down day.
Pickens dropped what should have been his first touchdown of the season and dropped his first target of the game on a throw that hit him right in the face mask after he got his head around late. He played the most snaps of any receiver, but three receptions for 53 yards isn’t anything to write home about.
Calvin Austin III was the only other receiver to catch the ball on the afternoon, hauling in two passes for 36 yards, including a long of 20 yards. Austin did a great job of getting open on a scramble drill from Fields and then made a great play over the middle. He just missed on a big play in the first half after a throw from Fields sailed just over his fingertips.
Use Austin more in the passing game.
TE — C+
Pat Freiermuth had just two catches for 16 yards, so he wasn’t much of a threat in the passing game. He did have a touchdown negated because Fields was over the line of scrimmage on the throw.
Fortunately for Freiermuth, he was solid as a blocker and had the key block to spring Harris on his 36-yard touchdown down the left sideline.
Darnell Washington was sound as a blocker throughout the game, though he did have a holding call on Maxx Crosby in the first half. The Steelers utilized Washington heavily as a blocker again and he was as advertised. Washington also had one catch for nine yards, dragging defenders with him.
Connor Heyward was fine as a blocker. Not all that impactful but just fine. He had one catch for 4 yards, too. It’ll be nice to get MyCole Pruitt back soon, though.
OL — C+
Running for 183 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries, averaging 5.2 yards, is nothing to scoff at. The Steelers did a nice job in the run game of winning at the point of attack, creating displacement and getting hats on defenders at the second level to spring Harris and Fields.
It was a strong performance in that aspect.
Where the concern is with this group is in pass protection — again.
The Steelers allowed three sacks of Fields, eight tackles for loss and six quarterback hits. Fields was under duress quite a bit and had a number of scrambles due to pressure. There were also numerous penalties that really hindered the Steelers. Broderick Jones had a rough game against Maxx Crosby while Dan Moore Jr. allowed a sack to K’Lavon Chaisson.
Hopefully C Zach Frazier’s injury isn’t too serious. This offensive line can’t afford to lose more talent to injury.
DL — B+
Cam Heyward is going to be a dominant force for years to come. He took over the game against the Raiders at times due to his play against the run as well as the pressure he was able to generate getting after the passer.
Heyward finished with four tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss and two quarterback hits in the win. He controlled the line of scrimmage and did quite a bit of damage that won’t show up in the box score.
Keeanu Benton quietly had a good game, too, playing sound football against the run and generating some interior pressure rushing the passer. He had a key fumble recovery and was around the football consistently.
Larry Ogunjobi and Montravius Adams were quiet on the night, combining for just three tackles. But they played the run well and stayed sound in their assignments, leading to good defensive football overall.
LB — A
T.J. Watt had another monster game doing T.J. Watt things.
Watt had two huge forced fumbles, including one at the goal line on running back Ameer Abdullah to keep the Raiders off the scoreboard. His ability to land punches on the football and knock the ball loose are Charles “Peanut” Tillman-like. Remarkable.
He wasn’t all that impactful as a pass rusher, but the two forced turnovers were monumental.
Opposite Watt, Jeremiah Moon didn’t have much of an impact defensively. He finished with two tackles. Adetokunbo Ogundeji had a pass breakup in the win and had a few nice pass rushes late in the game.
Inside, Patrick Queen and Elandon Roberts had very strong games.
Queen finished with 13 tackles and a tackle for loss. He was constantly around the football and tackled well after some rough showings in that department early in the season. Roberts provided the physicality and really helped set the tone. He finished with five tackles, one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit.
Payton Wilson had six tackles and a tackle for loss, seeing the field often and making plays when out there. Coming out of the win over the Raiders, it feels like the Steelers have a very good trio at inside linebacker moving forward.
DB — B+
With the Raiders without Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers, the Steelers kept them largely in check in the passing game.
DJ Turner had a big 30-yard catch over Joey Porter Jr., and tight end Brock Bowers made plays against Porter, DeShon Elliott and Minkah Fitzpatrick in coverage, but for the most part the secondary was solid.
Elliott had some huge tackles in space, continuing to be a steady presence. Fitzpatrick flew around and helped force Donte Jackson’s interception to set up Justin Fields’ 7-yard touchdown run.
Beanie Bishop Jr. had a nice bounce back, too, with a huge tackle for loss and a key pass breakup, playing well in the slot.
Special Teams — A
Anytime Chris Boswell goes 4-for-4 on field goals, it’s going to be a strong performance from the Steelers’ special teams units. Boswell was money all game. He connected on field goals of 52, 49, 37 and 36 yards.
In the punting game, Corliss Waitman was called on three times and averaged 45.7 yards, downing two of his punts inside the 20-yard line. Ameer Abdullah had three punt returns on the day for -1 yards. Heck of a job from the coverage unit.
The special teams capped it off with a huge blocked punt from Moon, giving the Steelers a short field. Danny Smith schemed it up perfectly to get Moon free up the middle, and it led to a blocked punt on AJ Cole, shifting the game in the process. That’s now four blocked punts in the last year and a half for the Steelers.
