Las Vegas Hands The Steelers Their First Loss of the Season
[Pittsburgh,PA] On a beautiful Sunday afternoon at the heart of three Rivers in Western Pennsylvania, The Las Vegas Raiders rained on the Steelers home opener with a 9 point victory.
The city of Pittsburgh was pumped and ready for their Steelers first home game of the season as 63,000 fans packed Heinz Field after witnessing from afar a victory over the Buffalo Bills a week ago. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was coming off a pedestrian 188 yard passing game against the Bills looking to improve against Las Vegas.
The game did not start off well for Big Ben(27-40 295 yards 1 TD 1 Int); late in a scoreless first quarter Las Vegas put an end to a Steelers five play drive as Trayvon Mullen intercepted a pass intended for Diontae Johnson. The turnover resulted in the first 3 points of the game for Las Vegas as Daniel Carlson booted a 46 yard field Goal. The Silver and Black defense held the Steelers scoreless heading into the second quarter and Carlson kicked another field goal before Pittsburgh finally got on the board.
The Steelers drew blood as Ben connected with Wide out Juju Smith Shuster on a three yard toss and after the Extra point conversion Pittsburgh owned their first lead of the game 7-6. Las Vegas answered at the end of their next possession with another Carlson Field Goal (his third on the day) as the visiting team went into the locker with a 9-7 Halftime lead.
There was only one score in the third quarter after the Steelers and Raiders defenses tightened up Las Vegas found pay dirt as a result of a Derek Carr (28-37 283 yards 2 Tds) to Foster Moreau 9yard TD toss. After back and fourth punts the third quarter came to a close with the Raiders up 16-7.
The Final quarter of the game is where the bulk of the scoring took place. Roethlisberger connected with Najee Harris on a 25 yd touchdown toss early in the fourth quarter cutting the Raiders lead to 2 points (16-14).
Carr and Las Vegas answered on the next possession as the Raiders QB connected with Henry Ruggs III for a 61 yard visit to the house (23-14). The Steelers would not score again until the 3:42 mark of the final stanza with a 56yard Chris Boswell Field Goal ( The longest field goal converted in the history of Heinz field). The Raiders closed out the contest with a a field goal of their own and left with a 26-17 victory.
Note:
Steelers Linebacker T.J. Watt was injured midway through the second quarter and left the game after converting his second strip sack in as many weeks. Early reports indicate he may play in week 3.
Up Next: The Steelers Host the Cincinnati Bengals at Home 1pm Sunday at Heinz Field.
