Steelers hold off Raiders’ late surge to come away with road victory

It seems that the Pittsburgh Steelers have forgotten about that blowout loss in Week 1.

The Steelers went to Las Vegas and took down the Raiders, 23-18, on Sunday night.

After falling to the San Francisco 49ers to open up their season, they’ve won each of their last two games.

The Raiders got off to a hot start as Jimmy Garoppolo found Davante Adams for a touchdown, but Kenny Pickett responded with a 72-yard touchdown to Calvin Austin to tie the game. That was the beginning of 23 unanswered points by the Steelers.

Chris Boswell knocked in three straight field goals to put Pittsburgh up by nine, but toward the end of the third, Pickett found trust tight end Pat Freiermuth for a 16-yard score, giving them a 23-7 lead.

Following Adams’ touchdown, the Raiders could not get anything going offensively. Their next six drives went as follows: three-and-out, interception, three-and-out, punt, three-and-out, interception, turnover on downs. 

But Adams found the end zone for a second time in the fourth, and the Raiders got their first two-point conversion since 2021 to make it an eight-point game.

Vegas forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with 4:35 right near midfield, but on 4th and 1 at the opposing 24, they were called for a false start, so they opted for a field goal, which was still questionable itself. 

However, the Steelers were called for a personal foul for using leverage against a Steelers lineman to try to block the kick. That gave the Raiders a first down, but oddly, they again decided to settle for a field goal, still cutting their deficit to only five but wasting more time in the process.

The Raiders got the ball back with 12 seconds left at their own 15-yard line, but Garoppolo threw an interception to ice the game.

The Raiders have been without Chandler Jones in each of their first three games now, but earlier this week, he was placed on the non-football illness list, and he will be out indefinitely to deal with a personal issue.

Jones went on a social media tirade this month that brought concern to the Raiders and others around the league about his overall health, per The Athletic. 

Pickett threw for 235 yards while completing 16 of his 28 passes, two of which were touchdowns. Garoppolo went 28-for-44 for 324 yards and two touchdowns, but threw three picks. Adams went for 13 catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns.

The Steelers will visit Houston next week to face the 1-2 Texans, while the Raiders head to Los Angeles for an AFC West matchup against the Chargers.