Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' matchup vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers in what is a matchup of epic proportions with playoff implications on the line. It was a fight to the finish, but in the end the Raiders fell just short as they fall to the Steelers in Pittsburgh 35-38.
Add this game to the list of "what-ifs" if the Raiders failed to qualify for the playoffs this season. This is another heartbreaking defeat this season. But I won't deny that this game was a valiant effort by the Raiders in a very hostile environment in Pittsburgh, but moral victories don't count. I don't know what else to say other than this game hurts.
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Michael Crabtree, 7 receptions, 108 yards, 2 TDs. Like I said in the halftime report, as the season winds down, maybe it's time to give Crabtree a contract extension. Cooper saved face by tacking on 88 receiving yards and a TD, but he dropped some sure-handed catches, the rest of the receivers dropped some balls this game, but Crabtree stepped it up and followed up his spectacular performance last week against the Jets. He grabbed a TD to give the Raiders the first strike and grabbed another TD to tie it all up late in the 4th quarter. Reggie McKenzie needs to hear us now and offer a long term contract to stay.
Derek Carr, 24 of 44 passes, 301 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT. I'll be honest, in the first half, Derek Carr wasn't getting anything going for him. He made a couple of overthrows and lead his receivers way out of bounds when he was making some throws off the bootleg. But he still made some TDs to Crabtree, Cooper, and Walford to keep this team within striking distance. But what was striking about adding Carr is that he lead the Raiders to a game tying drive. If you look at that last drive, Latavius Murray was out, Rodney Hudson was out, Carr threw a pick the drive prior to the last drive of the game for the Raiders, but he still managed to will the team and tie the game up. This was especially on the road as well. Tremendous poise by Carr despite all the situations that happened this game.
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Secondary. In case we haven't heard the news, the secondary is still atrocious with the exception of Charles Woodson. Let's look at Antonio Brown's numbers: 17 receptions, 284 yards. That is a career high for Brown. The guy is just uncoverable and there was absolutely nothing the secondary can do about it. The Raiders need a shutdown corner and a ball hawk safety because D.J. Hayden, David Amerson, Larry Asante, Taylor Mays, Antonio Brown burned all of them big time this game.
Run defense. The Steelers were without Le'Veon Bell, this is going to be easy picking for the run defense to bruise up DeAngelo Williams, right? The Steelers did to the Raiders' run defense what the Raiders did to the Jets' run defense. DeAngelo Williams had 27 carries for 170 yards and just rammed this defense down. Then again, he has an amazing wide receiver in Antonio Brown so that likely opens up the run game.
Turnovers. If there's one knack on Latavius Murray, he doesn't hold on to the ball or lets the ball bounce off his chest for a potential circus INT. Murray had two fumbles, one that almost was scooped for a TD had Mike Mitchell stayed in bounds. Taiwan Jones also had trouble handling the ball. Most may argue that Derek Carr's INT was costly, but Taiwan Jones' fumble off the kickoff was more of the back breaking turnover because that helped set up the Steelers to gain a two possession lead. Turnovers hurt this game, especially when the defense can't get a breather from trying to stop Antonio Brown.
Conclusion
Chicago, Denver, and now Pittsburgh. The Raiders' only legit loss was against the incumbent, undefeated Cincinnati Bengals in the first game of the season. The three losses against Chicago, Denver, and Pittsburgh will play a huge role down the stretch. With the Jets winning today and the Steelers toppling the Raiders here, the Raiders are tentatively out of the wild card picture. Overall, this game was an adrenaline rush the whole way, but like I said the Raiders competed their butts off, but the effort fell short. There's no time to mope now, the Raiders can rebound at home next week against a surprising Minnesota Vikings team. These next three games vs. Minnesota, @ Detroit, @ Tennessee will be critical and then the Raiders have a divisional matchup with the Chiefs before their rematch with the Broncos in Denver. But for now, focus on Minnesota because they've been red hot lately and the run defense is going to be tested against Adrian Peterson. This is the matchup we, the Raider Nation have been waiting for and also what the Vikings fans have been waiting for: Teddy Bridgewater vs. Derek Carr for quarterback supremacy among the 2014 draft class. It should be an exciting game. I'll see you guys next week vs. the Vikings.
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