Steelers Offense Comes Alive in Win Over Raiders

The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense woke up and propelled them to victory over the Raiders.

PITTSBURGH -- For the first two weeks of the 2023 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers had been carried by their offense. In Week 3, with a national television audience watching, it was time for the offense to pick up the slack and they did. 

A balanced Steelers offense was the driving force behind a 23-18 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday Night Football at Allegiant Stadium. The many Steelers fans in attendance had plenty to cheer, not jeer, as Kenny Pickett threw for 235 yards and a pair of touchdowns, the defense picked off Jimmy Garoppolo three times and the team moved to 2-1 and a three-way tie for first place in the AFC North. 

The Raiders won the toss, but deferred, bringing Kenny Pickett and the offense out to open the game, but only briefly. The Steelers went three-and-out after three straight runs. The Raiders did the same and Pittsburgh returned the favor once more before either offense could make anything work. 

After another three-and-out from the Steelers, Las Vegas picked up the first first down of the game with a nine-yard pass to Devante Adams and a five-yard run from Josh Jacobs. Adams gained 19 through the air to get the Raiders over midfield, and the Steelers thought T.J. Watt had forced a fumble from Jacobs on the next play, but he was ruled down. 

The Steelers stuffed Jimmy Garoppolo on a third down quarterback sneak, only for him to hit Adams with a deep ball past both Levi Wallace and Patrick Peterson for the game's first score and the Raiders led 7-0 at the 7:10 mark of the first quarter. 

Pickett didn't take long to respond. He hit Calvin Austin III streaking down the middle of the field three plays later for a 72-yard touchdown, the first of Austin's career, to tie the game. Jaylen Warren's blitz pickup was crucial to giving Pickett enough time. 

T.J. Watt sacked Garoppolo to put the Raiders behind schedule on their ensuing drive, which eventually ended in another punt. 

The Steelers' next drive began ominously, with Pickett tossing a ball right into Marcus Peters' arms. Luckily, Peters was unable to hang onto what would have been a pick-six. After the Steelers punted for the second time, the first quarter ended in a 7-7 stalemate. 

Adams continued to burn helpless members of the Steelers secondary for gains of six and 19 yards. But the progress they made was cut short by Wallace, who stepped in front of Michael Meyer to intercept a pass from Garoppolo at the Pittsburgh 31-yard line. 

Pat Freiermuth got the offense moving with a 14-yard reception, his first of the game. Then Harris bullied his way for nine yards and an unnecessary roughness penalty on Maxx Crosby moved the Steelers up further. But the drive stalled inside Raider territory and Chris Boswell came on to put Pittsburgh ahead 10-7 with a 43-yard field goal at the 8:37 mark of the second quarter. 

The Steelers were able to take the ball back after forcing the Raiders into another punt. Pickett completed a first down pass to George Pickens, then became the beneficiary of a defensive pass interference call against rookie Jaquorian Bennett, who was covering Austin. 

Warren and Pickett moved the chains with consecutive runs and the Steelers had a fresh set of downs at the Raider 25-yard line with just under 3:30 to go until halftime. Peters dropped Harris for a five-yard loss, setting the Steelers up with a 42-yard field goal following the two-minute warning. Boswell knicked it through to extend Pittsburgh's lead to 13-7 with 1:56 to go until halftime. 

The Raiders attempted a futile two-minute drill that ended when Watt sacked Garoppolo at an awkward angle. He came up gimpy as the Raiders punted to close the half. 

Garoppolo was back on the field to open the second half, but completed just one of three passes on the Raiders' first possession after halftime and the Steelers' forced a punt. 

The Pickett to Pickens connection was good for a 32-yard catch and run and that was all Boswell needed to get in range for a 57-yard field goal, which he aced to extend the Steelers' lead beyond a full touchdown at 16-7 with 9:33 to play in the third quarter. 

Garoppolo gave the ball right back to the Steelers while trying to improvise on a second and 10 from around midfield. After trying to direct traffic, he lofted a ball to none of his receivers in particular and Peterson came down with the interception. 

Pickett and the offense began to develop a rhythm with their next possession. Harris picked up 17 yards on his lone carry and Pickett connected on all four of his passes for 60 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown strike to Freiermuth to put the visitors up 23-7. 

The Raiders began to mount a response with long gains to Jakobi Meyers and Adams, but Keeanu Benton halted their march in its tracks with the first sack of his career. Then two consecutive penalties on Dylan Parham set Las Vegas back to a third and 34. The Raiders did well to get back to fourth and five, but failed to convert on that final down thanks to a pass breakup from Wallace and the Steelers took back over at their own 21-yard line. 

The Steelers ate up just 2:29 over three plays before punting and the Raiders began to pick up steam with their next possession. Garoppolo completed three straight passes and Jacobs barrelled for 15 yards on two runs to move inside the Pittsburgh 30-yard line.

 Minkah Fitzpatrick sacked Garoppolo on second and 10, but a roughing the passer penalty gave the Raiders second life and they cashed in with a touchdown pass to Adams. And after another penalty - pass interference on Chandon Sullivan - the Raiders converted the two-point try and made it a one-score game at 23-15 with 5:41 to play in regulation. 

The Steelers proceeded to go three-and-out in just 50 seconds and the Raiders took the ball at their own 4:35 down just eight points. 

Garoppolo hit Adams for 12 yards to move past midfield. Then a short reception to Meyers and short run from Jacobs set up fourth and one, but the Raiders committed a snap infraction with 3:15 left to make it fourth and six. Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels called for a field goal but it didn't matter because DeMarvin Leal used his hand to aid him while he jumped to try and block the kick, which is a penalty. 

It cost the Steelers half the distance to the goal, which moved the Raiders all the way up to the 14-yard line. The Steelers bowed up on fourth and four, with Peterson defending Meyers as he fell out of bounds to catch a fade route. The Raiders attempted another field goal and Dan Carlson knocked home the 26-yard attempt to make it 23-18 with 2:22 to play in regulation. 

The Raiders burned their second timeout with 2:12 left and on a third and two after Harris picked up eight yards on the ground. Pickett then delivered a clutch first down throw to Allen Robinson for a first down right before the two-minute warning. 

The Steelers ran with the clock down to 23 seconds with runs from Warren up the gut before calling timeout and punting. Harvin unleashed a 56-yard punt and DeAndre Carter muffed it along the sideline but recovered it. Still, it was all for naught as Garoppolo was picked off one more time by Wallace and the Steelers knelt out the rest of the clock. 

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