Steelers followed their blueprint vs. Raiders, but the elephant in the room remains
New York TimesLAS VEGAS — To tell the story of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 32-13 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, you have to start a decade ago and several states away in Madison, Wis. “I carried that with me, and it’s been something I try to do, especially when you get in those situations.” With the Steelers down three outside linebackers — Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig and DeMarvin Leal — the Raiders made a concerted effort to take Watt out of the game, sliding protections in his direction, getting the ball out quickly and consistently chipping him with running backs and tight ends. GO DEEPER Steelers run through Raiders for 32-13 win: Takeaways “Can’t say enough about T.J. that hasn’t already been said in terms of his ability to impact the game in a variety of ways,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “And so after that, it felt like it was a little bit of an avalanche.” If the Steelers can run the ball efficiently, get big turnovers from the defense in critical moments and create splash on special teams, they’ll win a lot of games. … Everybody missed throws, whether you’re Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers or whoever.” Later in the second half, after the blocked punt gave the Steelers prime field position, the offense was unable to capitalize.