If the Pittsburgh Steelers were feeling better about their chances to emerge as contenders in the AFC, Sunday’s 21-18 loss in Oakland should effectively flatten those good vibes. A flat-footed defense, an unorganized offense, untimely turnovers, failure to capitalize on opportunities, two missed field goals, poor clock management, and questionable play-calling all added up to a disastrous outcome to the Raiders (3-4). Pittsburgh is now 2-5, still in last place in the AFC North, and is further out of the running for a Wild Card berth as midseason approaches.
Raiders QB Terrelle Pryor, the Jeannette native and former Ohio State Buckeye, took the first play from scrimmage 93 yards on a fake to his running back Darren McFadden, for a very early first quarter touchdown. Just 19 seconds into the game, the Raiders had a 7-0 lead and Pryor had broken the NFL record for longest TD run by a QB and the Raiders franchise record for longest run for a TD by any player, besting Bo Jackson’s previous mark of 92 yards. Oakland scored again later in the quarter on a McFadden run, and it was 14-0.
Pittsburgh managed a second quarter field goal by Shaun Suisham, perfect on the season to that point, but Oakland answered with another score by McFadden. A Cortez Allen interception, Pryor’s second of the game, allowed good field position for the Steelers but Suisham’s first failure of the season kept Oakland ahead 21-3 at halftime. A missed field goal by Suisham after a nine-minute drive to open the second half left Pittsburgh feeling as if nothing would go right on this evening. Roethlisberger was intercepted early in the fourth quarter but on the next play, Oakland receiver Jacoby Ford fumbled and gave Pittsburgh the football in the red zone. An apparent Heath Miller touchdown was reversed by referee John Perry after an Oakland challenge, but Emmanuel Sanders scored two plays later and it was 21-10.
More conservative offense by the Raiders allowed for Pittsburgh to save minutes on the clock and get possession back quickly, but a Steelers punt and an interception after Antonio Brown bobbled a pass ruined two opportunities to cut into the lead. Another three-and-out for the Raiders set the Steelers up for a 12-play, 83 yard drive that took about three minutes off the clock. The drive ended with a two-yard TD run by Le’Veon Bell, but only after Roethlisberger inexplicably wasted a timeout on a 2nd-and-3 situation in the red zone with under two minutes remaining. Emmanuel Sanders converted a two-point conversion on what looked like a broken play before he reversed his direction and managed to get into the end zone, bringing the score to 21-18 with about 1:30 to go.
Three handoffs to Darren McFadden earned only seven yards for the Raiders on the subsequent drive after a failed onside kick attempt, but the Steelers could only stop the clock twice after that seemingly unnecessary timeout. Marquette King’s punt was returned for negative yardage by Antonio Brown to the OAK 5, a penalty started the Steelers at the 3, and they had time for only one play before time expired. Pryor finished the game 10-19 for just 88 yards with no touchdowns, two interceptions, and a 25.7 QB rating. Roethlisberger also threw two picks, going 29-45 for 275 yards and a touchdown as well. Pittsburgh’s running woes continued, totaling just 35 yards on 19 carries as a team.
Pittsburgh scored the final 15 points of the game and held Oakland to 34 yards of offense and one first down in the second half, but the earlier errors were too much to overcome. This was the first time in over ten years that Oakland won the game after its bye week. Pittsburgh has not won there since 1995, also losing at the Coliseum in 2006 and 2009.
