Steelers lose to Raiders????
If you’re wondering why there are question marks in the title of this article, it’s because I’m still not certain whether the Steelers won or lost Sunday’s game.
Let’s review.
The Steelers dominated the time of possession, just like they’ve done in the first two games of the season. Once again, the Steelers held the ball for over 36 minutes, while the Raiders had it for less than 24 minutes. That’s a twelve minute advantage. That’s pretty impressive.
Ben Roethlisberger threw for 384 yards, 4 touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 123.2 passer rating. He completed passes to 10 different receivers. Heath Miller caught 2 touchdown passes. Mike Wallace had 123 receiving yards, and a touchdown. Antonio Brown also scored a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Raiders’ quarterback Carson Palmer only passed for 209 yards, while being sacked once and throwing an interception.
Surely that type of statistical disparity resulted in a Steelers win, right? But that’s where the confusion begins. You see, according to the final scoreboard, the Raiders won the game 34-31. Obviously that had to be an equipment malfunction.
Heath Miller had 2 TD’s
The Steelers couldn’t possibly have allowed Darren McFadden to take a hand-off from Carson Palmer and run it 64 yards for a touchdown. And Jonathan Dwyer couldn’t possibly have lost a fumble deep in Steelers’ territory that allowed the Raiders to score a short touchdown. Nor could Antonio Brown have possibly fumbled a reception that then led to another Raiders score. And there’s no way that the Steelers could have been penalized 10 times for 81 yards, while the Raiders only had 3 penalties for 25 yards.
Nope, I’m 100% certain that the Steelers wouldn’t allow that many terrible things to happen in one game. So I’m just going to go to sleep for a bit, and when I wake up I’m sure that I’ll find that it was all just a terrible dream. Frankly, that’s the only possible answer. After all, the Steelers couldn’t possibly have lost to the Raiders, could they?
And to top that off it’s off to root for New England..
Ouch!
1They generated zero pressure on Carson, defensed few passes, did not tackle crisply, made no standout plays on defense and at crunch time the Raiders defense made a stop while we did not. This defense looks very mediocre. Ryan Clark is a solid player but when he’s your best defender week after week, you will not be dominate.
2The only good thing, or maybe it’s a could-have-been-worse-thing, was that Ben apparently wasn’t hurt when they Raider dived at his knee. The entire season flashed before my eyes. I didn’t stop cursing until second down.
Didn’t they pass a rule about that after Carson Palmer got hurt? Isn’t player safety a top priority? Not when it comes time to pay a few hundred thousand dollars to a referee.
Man, it’s a sad when I miss the old refs.
3@HP – To add insult to injury, I was rooting for the Patriots, and they still LOST to the Ravens. Now I feel like used. It’s like I lowered myself for nothing. Yuck!
4@Dan – Wow! What can we say to that? You’re obviously right, but you still just ruined my day.
5@Jim,
6At first, I thought that replacement refs would be fine. After all, nobody really complains about the refereeing that goes on in college football games. But so far, they have blown quite a few calls. Hopefully they’ll get better.
Hello steeler nation! Does anybody think we need to draft a playmaking corner? For the last few years I’ve been telling people our corners are suspect..and that includes ike. It is a passing league. Thusly, we need quality corners who are good in man and zone. we don’t have that…linebackers cant cover speedy and shifty receivers. yeah we drafted a few corners in the past but are they quality corners? somebody like a morris claiborne in the first round. We should address this in the draft or we will continue to get exposed.
7The only good thing to take out of that game is the offensive production and it justifies getting rid of Arians – Ben is still Ben but he’s playing to stay healthy. Turnovers and sloppy defense contributed to the loss – that has to be dealt with. . However there is an opinion that Eastern teams who have to play on the West Coast are affected by jet lag and will lose 60% of the time – so this isn’t the shape of things to come
8Penalties and turnovers. The Raiders played like the Steelers, the Steelers played like the Raiders. I hate saying that, but it’s true.
I’m concerned about the defense. I think we need a shift in philosophy on the defensive side of the ball. For years, the Steelers were content to let teams complete short passes, because teams would foolishly run against them, and the Steelers were always good at defending the deep ball. Now though, the short pass is a staple of everyone’s offense, and can no longer be ignored. Carson Palmer cannot tear us up with comeback and dig routes all game.
Also, Ryan Mundy needs to go. I dread moments when I see a pass in the air around #29. We need to revamp the secondary, because Troy may retire sooner rather than later. Perhaps a new FS, sliding Clark over to the SS spot to finish out his career? Seconday players that won’t get called for PI constantly.
I wich Sean Spence wasn’t hurt. We could use his speed on defense. I guarantee you that McFadden wouldn’t have that 64 yard run if Polamalu was healthy too. The combo of Worlids and Carter haven’t adequately replaced Harrison, and Hampton just doesn’t have it anymore. I want to see more McClendon.
The offense was stellar, aside from the running game. If Ben keeps playing like that, I can deal with not running the ball well. Remember when a portion of Steelers nation thought Redman could potentially replace Mendenhall in the long-term? Now we’re pining for #34 to return.
Also, the OL blocked well, but the penalties there, in the secondary, and special teams killed us.
The season is not over, not hardly. But, adjustments need to be made, mainly on defense.
9Also: I think it’s time we treat the #68 like we treat the #14. The number is clearly cursed, possessed only by terrible offensive lineman. Kelvin Beachum makes Trai Essex look like Jake Long.
10Hell, even the Packer’s butt kicking (haha) didn’t cheer me up.
11PAPER CURTAIN DEFENSE..!..not pressure over Palmer are you playing in Nfl guys..? please you need a lesson of the Jack lambert master.
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