The Oakland Raiders made their presents felt against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the autumn day in Oakland the Raiders were able to hold off the Steelers 21-18.
Looking back at the history of these two non division rivals date’s back to the days of the Eleven Angry Men (late 60’s Raiders defense) and the Steel Curtain( 70’s Steelers Defense). The Silver and Black led the series going into Sunday’s game 11-9, included an 8-5 record as the home team.
Sunday game was no different than the usual defensive battle, but the game started out with an added dimension to sparkle the excitement of Raider Nation. Young quarterback Terrelle Pryor made the top play of his career in style.
The Raiders had the ball their own seven yard line after the kickoff return it was 1st and 10. The Steelers defense was totally caught off guard with a fake to running back Darren McFadden the majority of the defense actually thought he had the ball but before you can count to three there was Pryor on the opposite end of the field running with the ball, all the way to the endzone for a record run by a quarterback of 93-yards, sneaky to say the least.
Pryor set a record by a quarterback previously held by Kordell Stewart of the Steelers back in the 90’s where he ran 80-yards against the Carolina Panthers. This also sets Raiders rushing record previously held by Bo Jackson of 92-yards.
Of course the game was not one dimensional, it was all Raiders in the first half as they pulled a few other tricks out of their hat with the help of their running back Darren McFadden they added another two touchdown’s plus the Raiders defensive unit continued to hold the Steelers But the first half wasn’t all that great for the young gun. He had two interceptions in the second quarter that were both not actually all his fault. The first one was a bit overthrown missed by the receiver and ended up in the hands of the great safety Troy Palumalu, the second came on a decent pass that popped right out of Brice Butler’s slippery hands and was intercepted on the 43 yard line. But luck be as it may, in the first half the Raiders went into the locker room with a 21-3 lead over the Steelers.
Coming back out of the tunnel onto the field in the second half lied a entire new game ahead. Remember this is battle regardless of records and the Steelers were not going away too easily. In the beginning of the second half the battle went back and forth it was more or less a battle of possession. It was kinda a funny one might say, just after cornerback Mike Jenkins intercepted a pass at the 16 yard line from Ben Rothlisberger and go figure right after in the next possession wide receiver Jacoby Ford gave right back at the 11 yard line.
The Steelers finally capitalize and scored a touchdown on the following possession. But the excitement for the Steelers did not last long is was back to the defensive battle that this time came back to the Raiders. As veteran cornerback Tracy Porter recovered a fumble after a Roethlisberger pass on 3rd and 3 and the Raiders took over on their own 19 yard line. The Steelers were able to hold the Raiders for another three-and-out and started at their own 17 after the punt and the return to get one last shot at the endzone.
Pittsburgh scored their second touchdown of the day followed by a two point conversion as the score was 21-18 with the clock winding down.
Raiders running back Rashard Jennings recovered the onside kick but with time running out the Steelers were only able to have the ball on the Raiders two yard line with 18 seconds left. After one pass completion from Big Ben time ran out and the Silver and Black snatch this one.
The Raiders improve their record to 3-4 this season as next week they will play host to the Philadelphia Eagles. While at the same token the Steelers fall to 2-5 as they fly out to New England take on the mighty Tom Brady and the Patriots.
Okay, boys and girls this was a sure wild one to tell you the truth no quarterback was at his best other than Pryor incredible opening run.
The game ball in this one would not come at easy price but the defense of the Raiders certainly deserves it they had five sacks on Roethlisberger.
But as a token of the Steelers defense they did play their part in the passing game as the held Pryor to worst quarterback passer rating of the season (10-for-19 for 88 yards and two interceptions.)
Left said well by Raiders guard Mike Bristel “We’ve gotta learn to finish (off) people a little better, but you know what, we had a heck of a first half.”
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
