7 overreactions from the Steelers’ 32-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders

Takeaways, overreactions, and random musings from the Steelers’ first loss of the season

The Steelers are back in the “W” column following a big win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon. As always, there are plenty of takeaways to be had:

1. A win is a win, but…

Not to “Um ackshually” a massive win, but it’s hard to get too excited about the Steelers’ performance on Sunday.

The offense continued to sputter throughout most of the matchup, while the Steelers benefited from several penalties and referee calls throughout the game. Not all were bad calls, to be clear, but it felt like the Raiders were often beating themselves more than the Steelers were winning. Pittsburgh should’ve put this game away a lot sooner.

Sunday’s win still felt closer to the Steelers’ losses the last two weeks in terms of performance than it did a real “bounce back” for the team. It was just a weird game overall. But a 19-point win is a 19-point win at the end of the day. And don’t get me wrong — there were still some positives to build on.

2. Najee Harris is back

There’s a reason why I pumped the brakes on the “Najee Harris is bad” discourse a few weeks ago. Sure, he wasn’t playing his best football, but he wasn’t settling into Arthur Smith’s scheme well, and more importantly, there just weren’t many holes to run through in the first place.

But there’s a reason why most Steelers fans wanted Harris re-signed at the end of last year. When the big running back gets to the second level, it takes some collaboration to bring him down. Harris finally got past the line of scrimmage on Sunday and his old self returned, recording his first 100-yard performance of the season.

Harris had a number of his patented angry runs — not a huge surprise, but a welcome one — but he also showed off some big play ability with a 36-yard scamper and dive for a touchdown.

With Jaylen Warren back in the lineup, Cordarrelle Patterson on his way back from injury, and Harris looking like this, the Steelers’ run game might finally be able to live up to expectations this season. Keeping with tradition, it finally seems to be heating up following a rough start to the year.

Of course, with the Steelers taking another hit on the offensive line with Zach Frazier going down, offensive progress might stall once again.

3. One step forward, two steps back

32 points scored only looks good if you watched the box score. The Steelers’ offense was infuriating more often than not on Sunday. The team’s ugly third-down efficiency returned against the Raiders (3-11 on Sunday), and much of that lack of success was due to how many of those third downs were long distances.

Whenever the Steelers made a big play, a costly penalty or play call was soon to follow, with the team marching backward and killing the drive. Fortunately for Pittsburgh, the Raiders provided two massive roughing-the-passer calls to outdo the Steelers’ incompetency.

In future weeks, that won’t get bailed out that easily. The Steelers’ offense, for how safe they try to play, remains an undisciplined, inconsistent mess. Arthur Smith is quickly running out of the good graces he earned earlier this season. The Steelers can’t sustain drives without help from the other team.

4. The defense steps up

I’ve been very critical of the Steelers’ defense over the last two weeks; it looked like yet another disappointment was brewing as the Raiders effortlessly went down the field and scored on their first drive of the game.

However, outside of a few rough patches, Pittsburgh battened down the hatches after that, holding the Raiders to just 13 points and recording three each of turnovers and three-and-outs. A Raiders offense down Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers didn’t exactly pose a huge threat, but the Steelers have underperformed against offenses they should’ve handled in the last two weeks. It was encouraging to see them return to form.

The Steelers weren’t exactly up to full strength, either. Without three of their top-four edge rushers, Pittsburgh was without the usual consistent pressure the defense is built on but still found a way. It seems like many overreacted as the Steelers went from the NFL’s best defense to a middling one; they’re far from perfect, but they can still get the job done.

5. Don’t take T.J. Watt for granted

It seems like sometimes we all forget just how good T.J. Watt is. His two forced fumble game against the Raiders was celebrated, but it seemed almost routine and expected. If that’s not a testament to just how good Watt has been over his career, I’m not sure what is.

With the Steelers’ aforementioned injuries at pass-rusher, Watt was going to have a tougher time getting pressure than usual. He still found a way to make a major impact as a run defender, even on an uncharacteristic no-sack day. What a player.

But don’t forget about Cam Heyward, either. Playing in a milestone 200th career game, Heyward was still an impact player against the Raiders. His strength hasn’t aged one bit, and during not just the Raiders game but the entire season, he’s been a force to be reckoned with in the interior. He recorded the Steelers’ lone sack of the night against Las Vegas.

I’m old enough to remember the consensus that Heyward’s recent contract extension was a bad deal and a waste of cap space. Well, well, well, how the turn tables. Even at age 35, Heyward remains a key cog in the Steelers’ defense. Without him, this team would be significantly worse.

6. The Justin Fields dilemma

I’m pushing the Justin Fields-Russell Wilson drama to the end of this article because I’m really tired of talking about it. But it’s become a necessary weekly installment in the Steelers discourse.

The Raiders game was a vehicle to entrench you in whatever your prior opinion of Fields was. If you think he’s bad, well, here’s a drive where he can’t hit the broad side of a barn. Do you think he still has potential? Check out his stat line: over 200 total yards, no turnovers, and another multi-touchdown game.

That isn’t to downplay the bad. This was the worst game Fields has played recently, with some truly horrific accuracy and decision-making, including an interception thrown on a silver platter that was luckily nullified with a penalty and an ill-advised backward pass lasered into traffic in the red zone. It’s subjective — the Steelers won, after all — but I’d say the bad outweighed the good this time around.

Easy counterpoint: Fields IS the Steelers’ red zone offense. And it’s not particularly close.

So there’s the dilemma: Do you stick with Fields, who’s led the team to a 4-2 record thus far and been the only reliable scorer this season not named Chris Boswell? Or do you decide to let Russ cook and trust the grass is greener on the other side? The veteran has a fraction of Fields’ mobility, but he has a Super Bowl-winning, nine-time Pro Bowler head on his shoulders and in theory, should be able to hit some of the throws Fields couldn’t on Sunday.

In a vacuum, it’s closer to a 50/50 argument than most realize. But let’s look at reality. Sorry, but the Steelers aren’t Super Bowl-level contenders at the moment, at least with this wide receiver room. So why obsess on the now? Both Wilson and Fields are on one-year contracts. The Steelers have to start considering the future.

Wilson could be better than Fields this year, but the odds of him being a franchise quarterback at this point are either zero or extremely short-lived. He’s 35! Fields, on the other hand, has a shot at turning into something special. The odds aren’t great, but they never are when it comes to developing NFL passers. And look at his play this year compared to last year’s in Chicago. He’s grown a bit as a player in Pittsburgh already.

Maybe this argument is utterly meaningless in the spring when Pittsburgh jettisons its entire quarterback room yet again to explore other options. But until then, sticking with Fields looks like it’s still the best option — not just for this year, but for the sake of the future.

7. Odds and ends

• Something is up with George Pickens. I was expecting some sort of bounce back game, even a modest one, but instead his play looked off again. Three catches for 53 yards isn’t last week levels of bad, but Pickens is still failing in the contested catch situations he built his stardom on. He failed to bring in several passes that hit him right in the hands.
• It feels like tight end Pat Freiermuth is starting to come into his own this season. His jump ball touchdown catch that was called back by a Fields illegal forward pass was the type of big-boy tight end play we’ve needed to see for a while. The Steelers need to find ways to get him the ball more consistently.
• A few more thoughts on the pass-catchers: Van Jefferson has been a complete failure at WR2. Look at his stats from Sunday. Oh wait, there aren’t any. Fields wasn’t exactly a field general against Las Vegas, but Jefferson’s zero catches just aren’t acceptable. A Davante Adams trade or something can’t come soon enough. At least Calvin Austin III seems to be developing into a solid WR3/gadget type. He’d be way more fun in a better offense, too.
• This was probably the best game for Steelers inside linebacker play this season. Patrick Queen, Elandon Roberts, and Payton Wilson all made some plays. It’s October, and Roberts especially is playing like a Halloween monster out there. Not the guy you want to run into in short yardage. The Raiders’ leading rusher was held to 33 yards. That’s the Steeler defense we know and love.
• The Zach Frazier injury is obviously a huge one to monitor, but the position I’m still the most worried about on the offensive line is right tackle. It’s been the year of mental mistakes for Broderick Jones. The Steelers O-line remains a major work in progress, even if they made some run-blocking strides against the Raiders.

• Jeremiah Moon had a game-changing punt block while Ade Ogundeji had a nice play or two. The Steelers missed Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, and DeMarvin Leal, but it was good to see the new guys make an impact.
• Jaylen Warren had just six carries for seven yards. The Steelers were definitely riding with the hot hand with Najee Harris (no complaints here!), but it looks like Warren still isn’t 100% yet.
• Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Donte Jackson and DeShon Elliott are continuing to look like incredible additions in the secondary. Their play was fantastic on Sunday, sure, but Elliott also gave us one of the funniest moments of the young season. What was this fumble recovery technique?

Rejuvenated with the win, the Steelers have a chance to make up for last week’s primetime loss to the Dallas Cowboys by defeating the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football on Oct. 20. Until then, one thing is for sure: 4-2 sure beats 3-3.

What are your takeaways from Steelers vs. Raiders? Agree/disagree with the ones above?Join our Behind The Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!