The Good, Bad and Ugly from Steelers loss to the Raiders

Welcome to a new format for our Good, Bad, and Ugly series. Our newly revamped weekly feature will highlight three instances that were “good”, “bad”, and “ugly” in the Steelers most recent game.

The cynic in me wants to just do “ugly” times three this week following the Steelers loss Sunday to a previously 2-10 Oakland Raiders team.

However, I’m going to play by the rules of this weekly feature; and since there was something positive to talk about it, there’s no need to deviate from the norm.

Let’s have a look at what I believe fits into the categories of “Good”, “Bad”, and “Ugly” from the Steelers game against the Raiders.

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Good: JuJu Smith-Schuster

JuJu single-handedly kept the Steelers in the game and saved Ben Roethlisberger’s butt.

There: I said it.

Smith-Schuster was likely the lone bright spot on a dismal day of poor football by Pittsburgh. His toe-tap catch (below) made the SportsCenter Top 10, and gave the Steelers a chance to win the game early on.

He also had some spectacular catches throughout the game, including another along the sidelines that got Raiders coach Jon Gruden to burn a challenge, lose it, and lose a valuable timeout in the process. (And let’s not forget the pitch play from Big Ben that was nearly picked off, but hauled in by JuJu for a TD.)

Smith-Schuster even laid-out (above) and nearly died trying to snag one of Ben’s errant passes. He’s that committed to winning.

Then, who can forget the lateral play which could’ve potentially won the game at the end? It may have, had JuJu not slipped. Instead that play gave K Chris Boswell a chance to tie the game, had he not slipped himself…

Oh well. Good JuJu was “Good JuJu” on Sunday. He now has 91 receptions for 1,234 yards and six touchdowns on the season.

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Bad: Ben on the bench

When asked about his decision to keep Ben Roethlisberger on the sidelines, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had this to say in his postgame press conference:

You know, he got looked at at halftime and he got treatment and he came back out. We were waiting to see if he was going to be able to come back in and he was. [He] probably could’ve come in a series or so sooner but we were in a rhythm and flow of the game, he was ready to go when he got back out there.

What might convince a coach to leave a future first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback on the sidelines in lieu of playing someone who has a single career snap under center in the NFL?

That’s what a lot of people are questioning following the loss to the Raiders. I’m conflicted in my answer here and it’s why it shows up as “Bad” and not “Ugly”. On one hand, none of us knows the severity of Ben’s injury. If Tomlin sends him back out there, while having the lead, and then Roethlisberger goes from a fractured/cracked rib to a totally broken one (or multiple broken ribs) then you lose your franchise QB for the immediate future, and perhaps even the playoffs. (If the Steelers would survive against those next three opponents, the Patriots, Saints, and Bengals, that is.)

On the other end of the spectrum, Joshua Dobbs nearly turned the ball over and couldn’t get the offense going. The Steelers went into a shell of what they were doing compared with when Ben finally came back into the game and led a scoring drive almost instantly.

I’m going to flip a coin on this and say it’s a bad look based on what Tomlin said. I’ll also say his forward-thinking judgment while being ahead in the game and having confidence in his backup quarterback, in hindsight, was poor judgment.

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Ugly: 4th quarter defense

The Raiders were content with helping the Steelers out to the tune of 13 penalties for 130 yards. However, the Steelers still found a way to lose this game.

Yes, Chris Boswell and his missed field goals could’ve fallen under this category, but let’s face it: if the defense does something here it never comes down to a slip and fall field goal attempt to tie the game.

Rather, this loss rests on the defense. I argued were being exposed at the hands of the offense: that is, the offense isn’t moving the ball or maintaining possession, which was certainly the case in the fourth quarter. The Raiders had 10:44 of possession to the Steelers 4:16, 2:25 of which was the drive where Ben Roethlisberger re-entered the game and led the final scoring drive.

Those ten minutes were brutal for the Steelers defense, who could not force a stop and/or get off of the field. They were seemingly in position to make plays and came up short each and every time.

On Oakland’s first of two touchdown drives in the final quarter they converted two third downs and a fourth down attempt on a 14-play, 73-yard possession. The game-winning drive saw the Raiders complete a 39-yard pass downfield and Derek Carr connect on fourth down for the go-ahead touchdown.

No splash, no pressure, no nothing during these two possessions is more than enough blame to put on the defense regardless of how long they were on the field. It’s also up to them to make sure they get off of it and give the offense a chance to score points!


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