Right now the Raiders are celebrating another big win. They leave Pittsburgh with an impressive 26-17 victory over the Steelers. The most impressive thing about this Raiders win was that they weren’t firing on all cylinders.
Just like in the season opener against the Ravens, things started off slowly. But the Raiders hung around all game long and pulled away late.
It was like the Raiders were playing with house money much of the game. Two of their first three scoring drives ended terribly.
Their first scoring drive featured two straight fumbles; one on a strip-sack by TJ Watt which John Simpson recovered and the next a fumbled snap. Their third scoring drive went all the way to the two-yard line only to have three offensive line penalties back them up to the 22.
Even with Darren Waller held to one catch for eight yards, the offense stalling and bumbling and stumbling they still headed into the half with a 9-7 lead because the defense was holding up.
The second half saw more find play from the defense, but it was joined by the passing attack taking things up a notch.
They broke through on their second drive with Carr finding Bryan Edwards, Hunter Renfrow, and Henry Ruggs all for sizable gains. The drive finished off with a touchdown pass to Foster Moreau.
Despite not scoring a touchdown until late in the third quarter, the Raiders headed into the fourth quarter with a 16-7 lead.
The run game going nowhere. Josh Jacobs was out with injuries to his toe and ankle, so the starting running back was a recent addition, Peyton Barber. Heading into the fourth quarter Barber was averaging less than a yard per carry.
“You’re missing a superstar in Jacobs, the whole Oline is banged up, all these kind of things,” Derek Carr said after the game. “The AFC North, they want to stop the run, so we knew we were going to have to throw it to have a chance to win.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Steelers got back in it. A 52-yard bomb from Ben Roethlisberger to Chase Claypool set up a 25-yard touchdown pass to RB Najee Harris. But the Raiders saw the deep completion to Claypool and raised them with Derek Carr launching a 61-yard touchdown pass to Henry Ruggs III to bring it back to a two-score lead at 23-14.
A deep ball catch like that, in which Ruggs shows off his breakaway speed, is just what they need from him. Carr had been looking for it all game long and he finally found his moment.
“They gave us a good look,” Carr said. “But Henry’s so fast, and speed kills, and the advantages of his speed showing up that he can get open so fast.”
“When I saw that [play] one it was just run,” Ruggs said. “He threw it up and it was just go get it. And that’s all I could think of. Go get it and don’t drop it.”
A field goal would bring it back to a one-score game, but with 3:37 remaining the Raiders run game showed up just enough to bleed the clock down and allow Daniel Carlson to came out and put the game away with a 45-yard field goal with 20 seconds remaining.
“When we had to run it, it was a beautiful thing, we were able to do it,” Carr said of that final drive. “I’m sure we can look at the film and see we could do this or this better, but that’s every game, win or lose. But very proud of our guys, coach Cable… he’s unbelievable. What he can do with, not just the first string guys, but with anybody. They come in and they play and they’re ready to fight. They did at the end. We were able to run the ball and kill some time.”
Derek Carr’s big-time second half had him finish the game with 382 yards and two touchdowns.
“I just let his performance speak for itself,” head coach Jon Gruden said of his QB. “I’ve been clamoring for Derek Carr since I’ve been here, so hopefully he gets some recognition for doing what he did today. He had some long drives, he was big again at the end of the game against a great defense two weeks in a row and it’s a big reason why we’ve been able to win.”
Leading the way again for the defense was the pass rush. Solomon Thomas put up two sacks while Maxx Crosby had five QB hits.
The secondary was flying around as well, with Casey Hayward and Trayvon Mullen each putting up two pass breakups.
“If George [Atkinson] and Jack [Tatum] were around, they’d be proud of some of the hits, legal hits,” Gruden said of the pass defense. “They were flying around, they had some good vision on the quarterback, they had some good breaks, and made some tremendous plays. Had to have those plays. Thought the rush was pretty good, they threw it quick, stopped the run for the most part, and got off the field on third down in some key moments.”
The Raiders’ leading scorer was Daniel Carlson with 14 points on four field goals and two extra points. He remains perfect on the season and hasn’t missed a field goal try since week seven of last season.
“Just a collective effort. By all three phases,” Gruden said of his team’s performance. “That’s what you have to do to win in this league, on the road against a good team.”
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