Roethlisberger looks for first win in Oakland
MEMORABLE SERIES MOMENT
Steelers 29, Raiders 10
Dec. 10, 1995 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
It无毛视频檚 been 23 years and one day since the Steelers last won in Oakland. The Raiders had lost to the Chiefs the previous week and at 8-5 were halfway through a six-game losing streak to end Coach Mike White无毛视频檚 first season. The Steelers scored on a 37-yard pass from Neil O无毛视频橠onnell to Ernie Mills on their second possession, and their lead reached 10-0 before the Raiders scored their only touchdown in the middle of the second quarter. Defensive end Anthony Smith deflected an O无毛视频橠onnell pass that Aundray Bruce plucked out of the air and returned for a 1-yard touchdown. Greg Lloyd无毛视频檚 interception late in the half set up a second O无毛视频橠onnell pass to Mills for a 20-7 Steelers lead, and that无毛视频檚 where the game pretty much ended. The second half featured four field goals 无毛视频� three by Norm Johnson 无毛视频� and Willie Williams无毛视频� two interceptions, along with the running of back-up RB Erric Pegram, who finished with 122 yards on 26 carries. The win sent the Steelers home to face the Patriots with a 10-4 record. The Steelers won that game and went on to play in the Super Bowl.
TALE OF THE TAPE
无毛视频淭hey run a lot of inside zone, but when they get into shotgun they run all of their plays with zone-read ball handling. Their best runner is Doug Martin. He无毛视频檚 not as explosive as when he was in Tampa. He can无毛视频檛 run away from people anymore, but he无毛视频檚 a terrific cutback runner. He runs low, hard and physical. Jalen Richard is their small, quick playmaker out of the backfield on passing downs. But my point is that they have a really good running game. Otherwise, there无毛视频檚 really nobody on the offense who scares me, except maybe their big slot receiver, Seth Roberts. He无毛视频檚 kind of a bigger version of Jarvis Landry; maybe not as good hands but he runs really good routes, is physical and can run.无毛视频� 无毛视频� Steelers Radio analyst Tunch Ilkin.
TOP QUESTION
Can the Steelers cover the Raiders无毛视频� big slot receiver?
As Ilkin noted above, Roberts scares him a bit, and what 6-1陆 slot receiver wouldn无毛视频檛 after the job Keenan Allen did last Sunday? Roberts is fourth on his team with 47 targets and 30 catches, and averages 11.5 yards per catch. If the Steelers haven无毛视频檛 sharpened that part of the defense, perhaps Raiders trainers will. Roberts felt concussion-like symptoms at practice this week and entered the protocol on Thursday. He practiced again Friday and is questionable for the game. It无毛视频檚 his third concussion since training camp.
THREE QUESTIONS: With DC KEITH BUTLER
Q: Are you comfortable with the amount of times you had linebackers on receivers?
KB: 无毛视频淲ho is ever comfortable with that? We ran out of smoke a little bit, what Mike (Tomlin) said. Mike answered the question perfectly, I think. There are some things that happened to us that we couldn无毛视频檛 do anything about, so we had to play the hand we were dealt at the time and we did.无毛视频�
Q: On their final series, on second-and-7, you had an Okie front and Mike Hilton in for Terrell Edmunds in the back, kind of like a nickel behind the Okie. Was that a mix-up or a new package?
KB: 无毛视频淲e have a package like that but we无毛视频檙e not going to let people know what we are doing, who无毛视频檚 in there. Let them figure it out because they do the same thing. They hold people on the sideline and run people out there at the last second. We无毛视频檙e not holding people on the sideline or anything like that, but we are trying to use our personnel the best we know how. Sometimes you get the matchups you want and sometimes you don无毛视频檛. That happened to us last week.无毛视频�
Q: When you ran Jon Bostic out there to replace L.J. Fort on third-and-4, were you expecting run?
KB: 无毛视频淎t the time, yes. Hey, we guess wrong sometimes. That happens.无毛视频�
GAME BREAKDOWN
What to look for from the Steelers this evening at Oakland:
ON OFFENSE
The Steelers enter with relative unknowns in their backfield in reclamation veteran Stevan Ridley and rookie Jaylen Samuels. The two have combined for only 30 carries this season. But the Raiders give up big passing plays. They allow 13.8 yards per completion, the worst in the NFL, and that might have to do with their NFL-worst 10 total sacks. The Raiders无毛视频� best defensive player, DT Maurice Hurst (ankle), is questionable.
ON DEFENSE
Stopping the run is Priority 1 for the Steelers, and Priority 2 is TE Jared Cook. Ilkin calls him 无毛视频渢he tight end version of Randy Moss.无毛视频� The 10-year veteran has 54 catches, two behind team leader Richard, the third-down back. Cook averages 13.1 yards per catch, seventh in the NFL among tight ends. Covering inside receivers Cook and Roberts could be a match-up issue once again for the Steelers, who list dime linebacker/safety Morgan Burnett as questionable with a back injury. For the Raiders, their best offensive lineman, LG Kelechi Osemele (toe), is questionable after sitting out Friday无毛视频檚 walk-through. Martin (knee), Roberts (concussion) and WR Jordy Nelson (foot) are also questionable.
PREDICTION
Because of the Steelers无毛视频� perpetual problems in Oakland, it无毛视频檚 tempting to take the 10 points and the Raiders, who, at 2-10, will be loose and upset-minded after rallying to give the Chiefs a scare last week. But the arrow isn无毛视频檛 really pointing up for the Raiders. In their last five games, they无毛视频檝e allowed 5.1 per carry and 13.5 per completion against the same caliber of competition (.517) as the Steelers (.525). The Steelers should feast on that soft defense, and their own defense should be focused and edgy, considering last week无毛视频檚 blown lead. This one parallel无毛视频檚 the 1995 game 无毛视频� Steelers, 35-16.
BY THE NUMBERS
12: Career-high number of tackles by L.J. Fort last Sunday night.
16: Number of Raiders on injured reserve after WR Martavis Bryant was added this week. The Raiders are tied with the Redskins for the league无毛视频檚 most players on IR.
35: Catches by Raiders WR Jordy Nelson, the savvy veteran who killed the Steelers in Super Bowl 45 with nine catches for 140 yards and a touchdown. Nelson无毛视频檚 in his first season with the Raiders after spending nine with the Packers. In his last four seasons, Nelson无毛视频檚 output has dropped from 98 catches to 97, 53 and now 35. 无毛视频淲e have a lot of plays,无毛视频� Oakland coach Jon Gruden said when asked about Nelson无毛视频檚 health. 无毛视频淲hen the players are healthy, it无毛视频檚 a lot more fun to use some of the plays.无毛视频�
38: Number of sacks absorbed by Raiders QB Derek Carr, fifth-most in the NFL. 无毛视频淗e looks, at times, shellshocked,无毛视频� said Ilkin. Carr has taken 21 sacks in the last five games behind 6-foot-8 rookie tackles Kolton Miller (left) and Brandon Parker (right). Miller was a first-round draft pick out of UCLA and Parker was a third-round pick out of N.C. A&T, the school that gave the Steelers former first-round OT Jamain Stephens. T.J. Watt could have a big day for the Steelers, who lead the NFL with 41 sacks.
3,945: Passing yards by Ben Roethlisberger to lead the NFL. He无毛视频檚 on pace for 5,260, which would smash his team record (4,952) and give him the top eight yardage seasons in team history.
DOWNLOADS
n Jaylen Samuels is the pass-game half of a two-headed backfield the Steelers are bringing to Oakland with James Conner out. An H-back/RB at North Carolina State, Samuels is the school无毛视频檚 all-time leading receiver (202) over Jerricho Cotchery (200) and Torry Holt (191). Samuels is also proud of his 47 career college touchdowns. 无毛视频淚 think I have a good nose for (the goal line), especially when I无毛视频檓 out on the perimeter in open space making guys miss,无毛视频� Samuels said after outrunning Chargers defenders to the pylon on his 10-yard touchdown catch that tied the game in the fourth quarter. It was his second pro touchdown, both in the last four games. 无毛视频淵ou can无毛视频檛 undervalue the guys who put the ball in the end zone,无毛视频� said offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner. 无毛视频淚 think it无毛视频檚 inherent. 无毛视频� He kind of just smells the goal line. I无毛视频檓 kind of excited about more playing time for him. I know James is, and I know Coach Sax (James Saxon) is, too.无毛视频�
n Ryan Switzer, of Charleston, W.Va., was traded from the Cowboys to the Raiders last draft day. He was in Oakland four months before they traded the 5-8, 185-pounder to the Steelers for a swap of fifth and sixth-round picks. Switzer averages 8.5 yards per punt return, 19.6 yards per kickoff return, and has caught 29 passes (7.7 avg.) and rushed for 18 yards (3.6 avg.). 无毛视频淲e talk to him all the time about emergency quarterback, too,无毛视频� Fichtner said. 无毛视频淗e tells you he was at one time the all-time leading rusher in the state of West Virginia high school football, so, he thinks he can do everything, and I无毛视频檓 like, 无毛视频楧ude, you无毛视频檙e little. Those guys are big. I don无毛视频檛 want you up in there too often.无毛视频� But no, he无毛视频檚 more than willing, and because he无毛视频檚 capable we无毛视频檒l have some fun with him in certain things.无毛视频�
n James Washington has derisively been called 无毛视频淟imas Washington无毛视频� by some in the Pittsburgh media. Well, the Steelers无毛视频� second-round rookie WR didn无毛视频檛 get any help shaking that tag when Fichtner said of his deactivation last week, 无毛视频淲hen I was coaching Limas Sweed we had to do that at one point and kind of bring him back to us. What happens to the third wide receiver, sometimes you might only be in X amount of reps in a practice, so if you无毛视频檙e not getting the scout-team work you无毛视频檙e kind of getting out of swing.无毛视频� But Washington showed up once again with an explosive practice week. He also had his first sitdown chat with Roethlisberger and could be on the verge of a big game.
n The Raiders are 30th in the NFL in allowing an average of 75 receiving yards per game to opposing tight ends. Travis Kelce caught 12 for 168 and two touchdowns for the Chiefs last Sunday, and the previous week Mark Andrews of the Ravens caught a 74-yard pass. The Steelers无毛视频� three-headed TE group has combined to average 51 receiving yards per each of the last four games.
n Raiders coach Jon Gruden was the NFL无毛视频檚 youngest coach to win a Super Bowl, 38, when he led the Bucs over the Raiders following the 2002 season. His secondary coach, Tomlin, became the youngest to win the Super Bowl at the age of 36 following the 2008 season.
PARTING SHOT
无毛视频淵ou see what they did last week against of one of the best teams in football and fought them all the way to the end, so we can无毛视频檛 worry about records. Like I said, I无毛视频檝e never won there so that becomes a challenge as well.无毛视频� 无毛视频� Ben Roethlisberger.