The Oakland Raiders got off to an incredible start against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday with quarterback Terrelle Pryor running for a 93-yard touchdown run on the first play of the game. Pryor’s touchdown run made NFL history as it will go down as the longest touchdown run by a quarterback.
Shortly after Pryor got the team off to a quick start with the historic run, following three and outs by both teams, veteran running back Darren McFadden got in on the action. Although McFadden has been banged up over the last few weeks with a hamstring issue, the Arkansas alum put the Raiders up 14-0 with a seven-yard touchdown run.
With a 14-point lead over the Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger weren’t able to get anything going offensively, but did make an impact defensively with Troy Polamalu picking off Pryor giving the Steelers about two minutes to work with in the first quarter. Ultimately, the drive by Roethlisberger resulted in a 47-yard field goal by Shawn Suisham finally getting Pittsburgh on the board, 14-3.
After a three and out by both teams, the Raiders were able to get on the scoreboard once again with McFadden scoring his second touchdown of the day. This was the first time McFadden scored two or more touchdowns in the same game since 2011 against the New York Jets.
As a result of McFadden’s second touchdown, the Raiders took a 21-3 lead and seemed to be in complete control of this game. Unfortunately, on the next possession for Oakland, Pryor threw his second interception of the game as the result of a catch that rookie Brice Butler couldn’t haul in.
Although the second interception on a drive that would’ve likely ended up in at least a field goal for the Raiders, Oakland lucked out with the Steelers unable to capitalize. Suisham was unable to convert on a 34-yard attempt before heading into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Steelers started to get something going offensively. The run game starting clicking while Roethlisberger avoided the pass rush. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, it was all for nothing as nine-minute drive ended up in another missed field goal by Shawn Suisham.
Despite the missed field goals, the Raiders let the Steelers back in the game with a costly fumble by Jacoby Ford that put Pittsburgh within striking distance. After an overturned touchdown call as the result of an incomplete pass, Roethlisberger connected with Emmanuel Sanders on a 9-yard pass to get the Steelers back in the game.
With the Steelers cutting the Raiders lead down to 11 points, Pryor got back on the field and fails to get anything going resulting in a three and out. The second half struggles continued for the Raiders as the team simply seems to fall apart with the game on the line. The defense does everything to keep Oakland competitive, but Pryor and company can’t keep opposing offense off the field.
As the result of a sack by Vance Walker and an incomplete pass to Antonio Brown, the Raiders offense was given another opportunity to capitalize, but another three and out gives the Steelers another shot.
Fortunately for the Raiders, Tracy Porter came up with an incredible play intercepting Roethlisberger. Porter’s interception was reviewed, but the play on the field was not overturned. Defense played exceptionally well throughout the game while the offense struggled in the second half.
After the turnover, the Raiders were forced to punt yet again as the offense failed to move the chains giving Roethlisberger another chance to capitalize. Roethlisberger was able to move the chains down the field, but then was sacked for the fifth time with Daniel Muir making an appearance on the stat sheet.
Ultimately, the Steelers were able to run it in with a short touchdown run from Le’Veon Bell. Right after the touchdown run, the Steelers went for two and converted cutting the lead to three, 21-18. Rashad Jennings was able to grab the onside kick giving the offense the ball and the chance to run out the clock as the Steelers burn their final timeouts.
Of course, the Raiders simply running out the clock wasn’t an easy task with McFadden having a potential fumble reviewed. It was not ruled a fumble and play continued with the Raiders finding it difficult to even get beyond the line of scrimmage.
After another three and out, the Steelers were given one more chance to get down field, but feel short. The Raiders went on to win, 21-18.
