Storyline: There’s no way Oakland should have given up the game-winning drive to backup QB, Landry Jones. But, gee, I forgot about Antonio Brown.
There have been horrible days for the Oakland Raiders defense over the past decade, but Sunday in Pittsburgh topped them all. The Raiders gave up a franchise record 597 yards in a 38-35 loss to the Steelers. Sometimes statistics don’t tell the entire story but, in this case, the numbers were spot on. The Silver & Black defenders defined the term “Swiss cheese” on this day.
Courtesy: G. Shamus, Getty Images
Going into the game I knew it would be extremely tough for the Raiders to hang with the Steelers passing game because QB Ben Roethlisberger was getting healthy. Big Ben was going to accumulate passing yards and the Steelers were going to put up points. This was a given: the Steelers have offensive potency and the team is desperate with only a 4-4 record heading into Sunday. But I didn’t expect WR Antonio Brown to obliterate every notion of what a receiver can accomplish on the football field.
Brown was a WR God this past Sunday. He ran the entire route tree and burned the Raiders with it all–screens, sideline toe-tap catches, comeback routes, and post routes. He even chipped in a 22-yard end around for good measure. Then, with the game on the line, Brown took a simple pass and left CBs David Amerson and D.J. Hayden flailing as he sprinted 57 yards to set up the winning field goal.
Here’s a major salute to Antonio Brown on this day as he racked up 284 receiving yards, a Steelers franchise record. Props, too, to the Raiders for keeping Brown out of the end zone.
I may not have expected such gaudy numbers, but Brown torching the Raiders secondary didn’t surprise me. The team’s biggest weakness all year is pass coverage. Oakland simply can’t stop the opposing passing game. The stats bear it out, too: Oakland is dead last in the NFL at 314 yards per game through the air.
If the Raiders end up falling short of a playoff berth it will be most likely because of that pass defense. CB Amerson has been a nice addition, and he might be the team’s best coverage man right now, but he was picked up off the street in September. Hayden competes and had been playing better, but on Sunday he was Brown’s own personal piece of toast.
Hopefully things will get shored up with the return of free safety Nate Allen. With Allen back, the Raiders best corner– T.J. Carrie–can move back to his original spot (after filling in for Allen). That move pushes everyone down the depth chart, so I would expect to see Hayden moving to the nickel and not having to start on the outside. That’s all the Raiders can do in 2015 because Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes aren’t walking through that door.
The passing breakdown against Pittsburgh may have been expected, but getting gashed by running back DeAngelo Williams was not. The Raiders came into the contest with the league’s 2nd ranked rush defense, but Williams tore the D apart with 170 yards on the ground and two TDs. The Steelers played more desperate and physical, and that showed up in the trenches.
Head Coach Jack Del Rio was not pleased with the defensive showing and explained it away as a step backwards and loss of fundamentals. “Many of the things that we had shown a lot of improvement in, and I’m talking about basic fundamentals — shedding blocks, leveraging the ball and tackling — we really went backwards in terms of our execution.”
Yes, it was a horror show on defense and it was an opportunity lost, too. But there were some positives in the defeat. The Raiders competed against a Super Bowl contender on the road, and they took the game down to the wire in a playoff-like atmosphere. There are no moral victories in the NFL of course, but this young Raiders team can learn from every happening on the field…like maybe learning to double team Antonio Brown every so often.
Game Day Observations
Courtesy: withthefirstpick.com
I’ve rambled on about Oakland’s defensive failings enough, so let’s just appreciate the Raiders offense for a second. The team scored at least 34 points for the third straight game. QB Derek Carr continued his hot streak since the bye with a third straight game with over 3 TDs (he had 4 TDs in each of the last two games). WR Michael Crabtree had his second straight hundred yard game and added two TDs. RB Latavius Murray has rushed for 294 yards in the last three games at a healthy 5.6 yards per-carry clip.
Murray ran well for the most part, but both he and Taiwan Jones had major issues with ball security. Each RB lost the ball early in the game. Luck intervened on both plays as the Raiders kept possession. But they weren’t as lucky later on as each player fumbled and that led directly to the 35-21 deficit.
The game may have been high scoring, but it was an extremely physical contest. Several players from both sides left the game with injuries, and there were straight up vicious shots being doled out. I think one of the major differences in the game was the Steelers running attack. The Steelers punished the Raiders front seven at the point of attack. You rarely saw any penetration from the Raiders front seven, The Raiders may have survived the aerial show if they could have halted the Steelers rushing attack.
Del Rio second-guessed himself on being too conservative at the end of the first half, but I had no issue with it. The offense had the ball at their 20-yard line with only 29 seconds left but kicking is always treacherous at Heinz Field. There was no problem with just heading into the half down by a TD.
I’m not sure I was truly expecting the Raiders to win because of the venue, the desperation of the home team, and its all-star offense. Then fate intervened: Big Ben went down and the Raiders showed moxie and tied the game at 35. On the one hand, there’s no way Oakland should have given up the game-winning drive to backup QB, Landry Jones. But, gee, I forgot about Antonio Brown.
Player of the Game
We all know it isn’t going to a defensive player, so once again I am going with QB Derek Carr. He had another game over 300 yards and 4 TD tosses. Carr who now has 19 TD passes on the season and only 4 interceptions. The resiliency Carr showed in leading his team to the tying touchdown was impressive, especially after throwing a pick in the end zone. Carr continues to prove he’s legit.
