PITTSBURGH — Injuries mounted for the defense, another slow start plagued the offense and the Steelers won’t be starting 11-0 again in 2021. The Las Vegas Raiders came to Pittsburgh on a short week and left Heinz Field with a 26-17 win against the Steelers, who had a real regular-season crowd for the first time since 2019.
Derek Carr was more crisp than Buffalo All-Pro quarterback Josh Allen in Week 1, hitting 28 of 37 passes for 382 yards and two touchdowns. But the Steelers weren’t their usual selves on defense, missing cornerback Joe Haden and inside linebacker Devin Bush going into the game, then losing two more starters in defensive lineman Tyson Alualu and all-everything outside linebacker T.J. Watt to injuries in the first half. The Raiders held a 9-7 lead at halftime and never trailed again the rest of the way, though the Steelers got as close as 16-14 until …
It was over when: Carr dropped back, fired off a deep ball just in time and hit speedy 2020 first-round pick Henry Ruggs for a 61-yard touchdown with 9:35 left. The Steelers sent rookie defensive back Tre Norwood on a blitz, and Norwood seemed to hesitate as he tried to close in on Carr in the pocket. By then, Ruggs had burned cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon — making his Steelers debut a couple weeks after they traded a 2023 fifth-rounder for him — and free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick couldn’t bring help fast enough to the middle of the field. Carr placed it perfectly in Ruggs’ chest for what was a clear and decisive dagger on the Raiders drive immediately following the famous “Renegade” highlight video that charged up the nearly 64,000 fans in attendance.
Player of the game: It would be easy to give the game ball to Carr, who sliced and diced a beleaguered Steelers defense, but that’s what we’ll do anyway. Carr made just about all the key throws he needed to, picking on the right Steelers defender at the right time, be it an outside cornerback or slot cornerback, inside linebacker or outside linebacker. Four of the five times he connected with shifty slot receiver Hunter Renfrow, it went for a first down, with two of those being third-down conversions. The deep ball to Ruggs was a beauty, and Carr quickly shut down any momentum for the Steelers on the final drive when he found stud tight end Darren Waller for a 25-yard grab with Joe Schobert in coverage as the clock ticked below three minutes to go. The Steelers ended Waller’s streak of four consecutive 100-yard games, but Carr made sure his presence would be felt eventually.
Trending up: Najee Harris put a quiet NFL debut behind him, amassing just 38 yards rushing but 43 more through the air, including his first pro touchdown on a 25-yard catch-and-run in the third quarter. Ben Roethlisberger found Harris at the 20, and the first-round pick did the rest, getting to the corner and racing up the left sideline before finally diving past the pylon for the score. He didn’t play every snap again like he did last week, but Harris proved what he can do on more than just that touchdown, adding a 14-yard scamper and consistently getting more than what was blocked by a less-than-dominant offensive line.
Trending down: There are many options to choose from here, but we’ll try our best to single-out one. The health of the defensive — literally and figuratively — should cover a lot of bases. From a pure availability standpoint, not having Haden or Bush set them back two starters before the game even began. Once Alualu left early in the game, Chris Wormley was their No. 2 defensive lineman behind Cam Heyward. And with Watt sidelined by a groin injury, they lost their two-time team MVP and had to use more of undrafted outside linebacker Jamir Jones, who didn’t make much of a splash on his handful of snaps. The guys who were out there were regularly lost in coverage against Carr and his modest group of pass-catchers, possibly due to devoting so much attention to Waller, who had just four catches for 40 yards. Still, backups like Norwood and James Pierre, who have been thrust into starting roles, were beaten for big plays that led to points for the Raiders.
Next up: A second consecutive home game against the Cincinnati Bengals, who — like the Bills and Raiders — beat the Steelers last time they met. But that was with Ryan Finley at quarterback last year. This year’s Bengals have 2020 No. 1 pick Joe Burrow back under center, but are now 1-1 after losing at home to the Bears, 20-17, in Week 2.
