Week 8: Oakland Raiders 21, Pittsburgh Steelers 18- Post Game Thoughts

Is it fair to say that this Steelers’ defense is pretty darn good?  They would have completely shut the Raiders down on offense if you took away the 93 yard touchdown dash from quarterback Terrelle Pryor on the first play from scrimmage.  This was the longest run from a quarterback in NFL history and it helped pad the stats for the Raiders, a team who ran for 197 yards in the game.  But, if you take away that touchdown run, they would have run for only 104 yards on the day and accumulated only 186 yards on the day.  Plus the Steelers probably would have won the game, but funky things happen in the NFL and that is why it is a beautiful thing to watch.  It is worth noting that Pittsburgh shut out the Raiders in the second half and were almost able to pull off a massive comeback win as they scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to make this a game once again.  They failed to recover the onside kick and Oakland was able to run the clock out.  Now the Raiders are 3-4 and are getting ready to face a sputtering Eagles team at home next week.  Terrelle Pryor has not lost a home start in his career as he is 3-0 in games played in front of the “Black Hole”.  Plus, as an additional little nugget, he has run for 7.06 yards per carry in his career, the highest by any runner in the league this year with at least 50 attempts.  For the Steelers, this was a game they had to have and with a 2-5 record they may be too far out of it to push for a playoff spot.  Their only hope is to run the table within the division and gun for a wild card spot.  Otherwise the 2-5 hole may be one that is impossible for them to climb out of.