The Steelers will look to end their two-game losing streak when they travel to face the Oakland Raiders on Sunday afternoon. Here are five things to know about the struggling AFC West squad.
1. They put some heat on Kansas City — After falling behind 33-16 late in the third quarter Sunday, Oakland responded with a furious rally. Quarterback Derek Carr threw two touchdowns to pull his team within 33-30 with about seven minutes remaining in regulation. The Chiefs answered with a score of their own and held on to win, 40-33, after recovering an onside-kick attempt. Still, the AFC’s top seed had to sweat it out. It was a strong signal that the Steelers can’t take this team lightly despite its lousy 2-10 record.
2. Carr is dangerous — The veteran in his fifth season has been quite efficient. While he’s only thrown 16 touchdowns, he’s completing a healthy 69.2 percent of his passes and averages 7.4 yards per attempt. That’s impressive when you consider the relentless pressure he’s faced from opposing defenses this season. His offensive line has allowed him to be sacked a staggering 38 times so far, so it says a lot that he’s continuing to be reasonably productive. Give him too much time to look down field, and he can make a defense pay.
3. Jared Cook makes plays — The tight end in his 10th season has flourished in coach Jon Gruden’s offense. He leads the team with 709 receiving yards on 54 receptions. More importantly, he’s found the end zone six times. Three of those scores have come in the past three games, so the Steelers will need to keep an eye on him in the red zone. He’s probably the best pass-catching tight end they’ve seen since Kansas City’s Travis Kelce gashed them in Week 2 and should be a nice test ahead of the looming matchup with nemesis Rob Gronkowski and New England next week.
4. They don’t run it often, but they run it well — Like the Steelers, the Raiders are a pretty pass-happy group. They rank 22nd in the NFL with just 287 rushing attempts. They make the most of them, though. Doug Martin has stepped in for the injured Marshawn Lynch and averaged 4.2 yards per carry. His only real setback came this past week, when the Chiefs held him to just 61 yards on 18 carries. The Steelers have proven vulnerable to the run in recent weeks, so they can’t let Oakland’s quietly productive attack take them by surprise.
5. The front seven is weak — Oakland is dead last in the NFL in sacks with just 10. To put in perspective how bad the pass rush has been, consider that the New York Giants and New England Patriots are the next closest teams to the bottom but have almost double the sacks at 19. This group isn’t much better against the run, either. It’s allowed 5.0 yards per carry and an average of 153.3 rushing yards per game. That mark ties with Cincinnati for the worst in the NFL. The Steelers’ offensive line has to be licking its chops for this matchup.
Adam Bittner: abittner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @fugimaster24.
First Published: December 4, 2018, 12:00 p.m.