Steelers blast Raiders for most lopsided win of the year after slow start

Brian Batko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Oct 13, 2024

Published in Football

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LAS VEGAS — It was only the lowly and beat-up Las Vegas Raiders, but the Pittsburgh Steelers needed that.

They walked into Allegiant Stadium, took it over with their fan base and then did it on the field, too, in a 32-13 win Sunday afternoon. It was their most lopsided road victory since 2020 at Jacksonville, a 27-3 rout.

The quarterback situation was fraught for a while with a shaky Justin Fields piloting an anemic offense and the defense showed up with a proverbial Las Vegas hangover, giving up a touchdown on the Raiders’ opening drive. But the flip switched from there thanks to big plays on both sides of the ball and special teams, all of which was too much for the Raiders — led by second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell — to overcome.

Fields finished with just 145 yards on 14-of-24 passing and George Pickens was mostly quiet again with only three catches for 53 yards. But he didn’t show any sideline consternation after a tumultuous week and the Steelers (4-2) can head back to Pittsburgh happy. The only downside is a potentially serious setback for rookie center Zach Frazier, who exited with a left ankle injury in the second half and didn’t return.

It was over when: In the span of four plays, the Steelers got a vintage Cam Heyward sack, a Donte Jackson interception and rushing touchdown from Fields that made it 29-7 with 8:16 left, putting the Raiders down for the count.

Player of the game: T.J. Watt. What else is new? Just when it looked as if this weekly award could go elsewhere for once — maybe Najee Harris, maybe Jeremiah Moon for his blocked punt — Watt just keeps dominating games. He actually didn’t have a sack for the second time in three weeks, but he always finds a way to take over. Watt had two tackles for loss and forced a fumble on both, punching the ball away from rookie Dylan Laube late in the first half and then stripping veteran Ameer Abdullah early in the fourth quarter. The first set up a touchdown for the and the second saved one. Abdullah actually appeared to score on the previous play but was ruled down at the 1, and when the Raiders tried to quickly punch it in instead of challenging it, Watt had other ideas.

Trending up: Najee Harris. First he had the longest run of his season and longest for him in any year since 2022 with a 26-yarder. Then he blasted that one into footnote territory with his 36-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that made it 22-7. Harris has been running into stacked boxes and offensive lineman backsides for much of the season, but his first 100-yard game of 2024 could get the ball rolling for him. If nothing else, he showed what he can do when he gets a lane in front of him. He finished with 14 carries for 106 yards, a career-high 7.6 average.

Trending down: Fields. He scored twice but struggled mightily in the passing game, missing some easy throws for an offense that couldn't get out of its own way again in the early going. Fields also was intercepted in the final two minutes of the second quarter but it was nullified by a questionable roughing-the-passer call. Fields stayed in the game after that hit gifted the Steelers a first-down instead of a turnover and even finished the drive by rushing for a 3-yard touchdown on fourth down to take a 12-7 lead with 34 seconds left in the half. But for everything that’s been working with his legs — he had 61 yards on nine carries before kneel downs at the end — just as much is going wrong with the rest of his game. And it’s particularly bad timing for him with Wilson getting healthy.

Up next: Back at home and back in prime time for another Sunday night matchup, this one against Aaron Rodgers and the dysfunctional Jets, who play Monday night against the Bills.

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