Sunday the 3-2 Steelers come to Las Vegas to face the 2-2 Raiders. The Steelers started the season 3-0, but have lost two straight. The Raiders are coming off a huge loss to the Broncos, so both teams are currently searching for answers, primarily at the quarterback position.
Here are reason for optimism for the Raiders as they face the Steelers.
Familiarity with either QB
There could be a QB change in Pittsburgh. But it may not matter in terms of the Raiders preparrations because they know both QB’s pretty well.
If they were to stick with Justin Fields, his former OC Luke Getsy is the OC with the Raiders, so few would know Fields better.
If they go with Russell Wilson, well this entire Raiders defense is familiar with him. They beat his three times over the past two seasons as the quarterback in Denver. Not to mention, if you’re turning to Russell Wilson as your answer at QB, that suggests things have gotten pretty bad.
Steelers run game is not strong
While we talk about the Raiders zone scheme not meshing in Las Vegas, the Steelers are having similar issues. In fact, while the Raiders have moved up to 28th in the league in yards per attempt (3.9 ypc), the Steelers are actually below them at 29th (3.7 ypc). Yeah, so neither of these teams are running the ball too well.
Edge rushers banged up
Nick Herbig and Demarvin Leal both left the Steelers loss to the Cowboys last Sunday and neither were at practice on Wednesday leaving the team thin at outside linebacker. They still have one TJ Watt, which goes a long way. But even the best pass rushers are helped by a complementary edge rusher on the other side.