OAKLAND, Calif. _ For the third straight week, the Raiders trailed by one score in the fourth quarter against a team favored by double digits.
They trailed the Ravens by three, the Chiefs by three and the Steelers by four to start the fourth quarter on Sunday at the Oakland Coliseum. In Weeks 12 and 13 the Raiders couldn't complete the comeback against an opponent far superior on paper.
That wasn't the case Sunday. The Raiders were able to pull of the 24-21 upset win.
Despite taking a three-point lead late in the fourth quarter, the Raiders allowed Ben Roethlisberger to march 75 yards in six plays and 2:25 to re-take the lead. JuJu Smith-Schuster's second touchdown catch of the afternoon came with 2:55 remaining and the Steelers led, 21-17, the Raiders only carrying one timeout after a failed challenge earlier in the half.
Derek Carr saw Roethlisberger's feat and matched the future Hall of Famer. He drove the Raiders 75 yards in eight plays and 2:34, finding blocking tight end Derek Carrier from 6 yards out on 4th-and-goal to give the Raiders the lead.
Unlike their first fourth quarter lead, this one held, as the Raiders grabbed a miraculous win that hurts their draft stock but lifts a team in dire need of something like this. Even after Smith-Schuster's 48-yard hook-and-lateral gain gave the Steelers a 40-yard field-goal attempt to send the game to overtime, kicker Chris Boswell slipped on his attempt and the Raiders somehow escaped with their third win of the season.
"That was a lot of fun," Carr said. "I think I've said this before, too. I wish we didn't have to win them like that. I wish we could win by a touchdown or two, but we'll take it."
