Takeaways from the Steelers’ Week 3 win over the Raiders
Steel City Underground presents post-game takeaways from every Pittsburgh Steelers game of the 2023 NFL regular season.
I was admittedly conflicted about my takeaways from the 23-18 win by the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3 of the 2023 NFL regular season. First, I am elated that the Steelers are now 2-1, sit atop the AFC North division, and walked out of another physical matchup fairly clean without any major injuries. Saying that, I still am not feeling the typical elation of a win. There were some things I mentioned ahead of the game that I felt would be keys to the Steelers finding success on the road. Pittsburgh did address some of them. Still, there are a few things that remain on the chalkboard that need addressing moving forward.
Getting away from zone blocking worked in the run game
The Steelers’ offensive line was not elite in the first two games of the season, and there remain a few question marks as to who the best personnel would be to play along the offensive front. Against the Raiders, the Steelers did a lot more double-teaming on run plays to create the necessary gaps for both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, and it worked. Not only did Pittsburgh find some success up the middle – not a ton, but some – but the offense was able to get several runs to the outside that looked much more palatable than what they’d put out for consumption in the first two weeks of play.
I wrote this before the game: “The runs by Harris and Warren that have had the most success have been outside the tackles, especially when an extra blocker (tight end, receiver, swinging lineman, and even Pickett) has pinned a defender to the inside.”
Well, the Steelers did more of that against the Raiders, despite the fact that Las Vegas was playing to stop the run for the majority of the first half of the game, and it was much more successful. Harris carried the ball 19 times for 65 yards (his longest went for 17 yards) and Warren handled 8 carries for 29 yards (his longest went for 11). That isn’t setting any rushing records in the NFL, but it’s a far cry from consistently negative rushing results. Even Kenny Pickett added 3 carries for 11 yards, and a nice run that was negated by a penalty. As a team, they recorded 105 yards of offense on the ground.
Mixing the targets and carries created a different rhythm
I also said, before the game, that the Steelers’ offense needed to get the offensive backs more involved in the passing game and involve their tight ends. My feeling was that offering more targets to be covered by the Raiders and different schemes would open up the offensive playbook, and keep Maxx Crosby and a Las Vegas defense from simply stacking the box.
The result? Pat Freiermuth caught three passes, including a much-needed touchdown reception, and gained 41 yards total. Warren caught three passes for an additional 23 yards.
https://twitter.com/steelers/status/1706133715397771425
While Pickett was sacked once, and pressured throughout the game, he still found ways to get the ball down the field to Calvin Austin III for a deep pass, catch, and touchdown, proof that the young quarterback can throw deep and accurate throws when he has room to work. Austin was a great compliment to the strong performances of Allen Robinson and George Pickens.
Things that made little-to-no sense
There were a few things in this game, though, that left me with that unsettled feeling. That plays a big part of me just chalking everything from Sunday night me accepting the win, regardless of how it looked on the field or on a box score sheet.
First, Levi Wallace was getting beat, often, at outside cornerback. There were plays where he looked to be playing at half speed, was caught out of position, or that he just gave up on the coverage. And then, the guy miraculously came away with two interceptions. I know I’ll get blasted for focusing on him because the two turnovers were big, including the game-winning pick that sealed the win. I like consistency, not luck. And Wallace seemed to be bailed out several times by teammates.
Whether his style was a product of the scheme or not, I may not be able to find out. Perhaps it was purposeful to keep him in place to prevent any backdoor plays, like the huge Nick Chubb run that was a product of everyone on defense pulling to one side of the field and getting caught when the Cleveland Browns rusher reversed the field in Week 2. Honestly, I’m not sure if I can say that Wallace’s two takeaways were big moments or fortuitous opportunities. I’ll take it, but I don’t think it’s sustainable to have him continue to have that success if he plays the remainder of the upcoming games with what appears to be a lack of effort overall.
Another issue was the fact that the Steelers did something uncharacteristic twice in this game. At the end of the first half, there was still time on the clock and they had two timeouts. Instead of trying to attempt to put more points on the scoreboard, they simply let the time run out. Interesting, but not completely ridiculous.
In the fourth quarter, though, with only a five-point lead, Pittsburgh ran three run plays that were obvious and sniffed out easily resulting in a loss of downs and yardage. They couldn’t have looked any more like they were purposefully giving the Raiders another shot to possibly go on a game-winning drive than if they’d put up a billboard outside Acrisure Stadium on Friday.
Only thanks to a nice Pressley Harvin punt that was muffed and recovered by the Raiders did the Steelers prevent a real comeback from Garoppolo and Las Vegas. The punt play took a huge chunk of time off the game clock. And the result, eventually, was that Garoppolo threw an errant pass that ended up being intercepted.
Again, was all of this by design? Who knows.
Never mind the ticky-tacky illegal formation call on Pickens for adjusting his chin strap or the bizarre roughing the passer call on Minkah Fitzpatrick. Those two plays were definitely bizarre to the point of being nonsensical.
This was a win. Not pretty. Not completely ugly. It just doesn’t quite feel the way a hard-fought victory normally feels.
