Somewhere in the extreme back pages of the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols, I’m fairly certain you’ll find a stern paragraph or two reminding everyone that this is no time to be spitting in each other’s faces.
I mean this is the NFL, and you’ve got to act civilized in spite of that; you can’t be acting like you’re in a grocery store or, worse, a school board meeting.
Fortunately, when Steelers guard Trai Turner was ejected at Heinz Field Sunday for spitting on a Raiders defender, and when Mike Tomlin insisted afterword that it was Turner who was the initial victim of unsportsmanlike expectoration, no one was particularly horrified. On the contrary, it more likely gave everybody in the sun-bathed Pittsburgh crowd a warm remembrance of old-school Steelers-Raiders chemistry, in which everybody hates everybody, bodies are breaking all over the yard, and in the end, somebody heaves an impossibly long pass that snaps the game in half.
All of that unfolded majestically in what seemed like a remounting of a cherished but well-worn theater piece, this time with the Raiders scuttling the Steelers 26-17, as they have 17 times in 30 meetings all-time, regular season and post.
“That’s on me 110 percent,” said Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick of the 61-yard Derek Carr-to-Henry Ruggs III touchdown pass that pulled the carpet from under Pittsburgh in its home opener.
It was Fitzpatrick who stole a glance at Darren Waller just as the ball was snapped, because Waller was trying to become the first tight end in history with five consecutive 100-yard games. He failed, netting 65 on just five catches, but he was such a point of emphasis for Keith Butler’s defense that even Fitzpatrick’s quick glance allowed Ruggs to spring free on a post pattern from the other side of the formation, a sprint and catch that would give Las Vegas a stranglehold that was not to be overcome.
Fitzpatrick said it was his fault, Tomlin said the whole episode was “on me,” and Ben Roethlisberger said he was “not good enough,” and while all those fault lines seemed identifiable by even the novice football geologists, Tomlin actually seemed to lean back to that 61-yard throw that would have made Raiders icons such as late owner Al Davis and quarterback Daryle Pasquale Lamonica “The Mad Bomber” so proud.
“We gotta keep a lid on it, always,” Tomlin said. “There always needs to be a lid on it regardless of what the structure [of the defense] or the call is, or the situation or the circumstance. We can’t have people running behind our defense.”
That’s good advice any time.
Simultaneously on the North Shore, who knew this was the weekend for GroinFest 2021? Devin Bush and Joe Haden, leading men on this Steelers defense, found themselves with groin injuries after practice Friday. T.J. Watt, a leading man on any defense, got his groin injury in the second quarter Sunday. Tyson Alualu, a leader on a rejuvenated defensive line, broke his ankle on the first defensive series of the game.
And that, as they say, is a tough way to play football, with four of your main defensive components spectating while the opposing defense is having its merry way with a Steelers offense that is still largely dormant.
Roethlisberger was lucky to leave in one piece after the harassment he weathered from Raiders defensive end Mad Maxx Crosby (or the ghost of Ted “The Mad Stork” Hendricks), who slammed into No. 7 to force an interception in the first quarter, then drove him into the Heinz Field landscaping to poison Ben’s 4th-and-4 pass for Chase Claypool from the Las Vegas 38 in the second. Of the 10 times the Raiders hit Roethlisberger, Crosby authored five of them.
Crosby gave the Baltimore Ravens nightmares just six nights previous, so look for his dominant September to continue. One suggestion Maxx, if I might, if you’re going to go by Maxx, with two x’s, you should probably make yourself Madd Maxx, with two d’s. Symmetry is huge in branding. So I’m told. I think.
While the Steelers search for some kind of identity that might not come until all of their injuries heal, if then, the Raiders are off to a strikingly unusual start. It’s their first 2-0 start since 1984, and the first time they’ve started with victories over playoff teams in the Super Bowl era (or 1966) according to ESPN.
Tomlin’s team, which last year limited opposing quarterbacks to an aggregate passer rating of 76.7, watched Carr carrve them up for 382 yards and a 126.2 rating across four alarming quarters.
Some distant, futuristic January collision of Steelers-Raiders always seems delicious, but Pittsburgh has a ton of improvement to get through.
“That’s what practice is for,” said defensive end Cameron Heyward.
So true. How does a 1-1 team with a backlog of problems get to the post-season? Just like how you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice, practice, practice.
Gene Collier: gcollier@post-gazette.com and Twitter: @genecollier
First Published: September 19, 2021, 11:20 p.m.
Updated: September 20, 2021, 2:33 p.m.