The Steelers will travel to face the Raiders on Sunday in Las Vegas. Here are five things to know about the AFC West foe:
They have a quarterback situation – Gardner Minshew was benched in the middle of his team’s 34-18 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday after throwing a pair of interceptions that pushed his total for the season to five. Aidan O’Connell, who’s started a handful of games for coach Antonio Pierce in the past, was not much better after he entered, completing just 10 of 20 passes for 94 yards. That’s just 4.7 yards per attempt to go with an interception of his own. After the game, Pierce declined to name a starter at quarterback for next week against the Steelers, though Minshew has some recent history in his favor heading into the matchup. The 28-year-old Pro Bowl selection a year ago diced the Steelers for 215 yards and three touchdowns as a member of the Indianapolis Colts last season. That helped him earn a two-year, $25 million contract in Las Vegas during NFL free agency in the spring, so Pierce may want to see if he can get his mojo back against a Teryl Austin defense that didn’t have many answers for him.
Brock Bowers has been as advertised – The rookie tight end from Georgia might already be one of the league’s best. On Sunday against Denver, he totaled 97 yards and a touchdown on eight receptions. That pushed his total for the season to 313 yards on 28 catches. For context, that’s more yardage that Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth had all of last season, when he played 12 games. And Bowers is on pace to challenge Freiermuth’s career high of 63 catches some time around Week 11. Expect him to be a focal point of the passing game, because ...
Davante Adams is injured and unhappy – The star receiver who’s caught at least 100 passes worth at least 1,000 yards in five of the past six seasons has not played since a Week 3 loss to Carolina because of a hamstring issue. Reports last week indicated that he may be healthy enough to play in Week 6. How healthy he will be remains an open question, though, so that’s a situation the Steelers will need to monitor throughout the week. All of this is unfolding amid his request for a trade, with the Steelers being among interested parties, per the Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac. So it’s possible he may not even make it through the week as a Raider. Beyond him, the team’s options at receiver are fairly pedestrian. Number 2 option Jakobi Meyers has 273 yards on the season at an average of 10.6 per catch. Tre Tucker is essentially the No. 3 but still has fewer than 200 yards himself, and had just two catches in the loss to Denver.
The running game has struggled – Optimism abounded for Zamir White as the lead back after he averaged 4.3 yards per carry last season. The veteran in his third season has struggled to find traction in the Las Vegas backfield so far in 2024, however. He was averaging just 3.1 yards per carry before missing Week 5 with a groin injury. Backup Alexander Mattison had been faring better, posting a rushing average of 5.1 yards per tote entering Week 5. His moment as the lead back Sunday echoed White’s struggles, though. He averaged just 2.6 on 15 carries as the running game was bailed out by a few longer runs from teammate Ameer Abdullah against the Broncos. So this is a matchup the Steelers defense should be licking its collective chops for, whether or not White is able to play.
Maxx Crosby is still a disruptor – The veteran pass rusher has battled some minor injuries in 2024 but had two sacks of Denver’s Bo Nix on Sunday. He now has five for the season to lead a defense that otherwise struggles with making splash plays. The Raiders have forced just two turnovers through five games, both interceptions. Paired with the QBs frequently throwing it to the other team, Las Vegas is tied for last in the NFL in turnover margin at minus-7.
First Published: October 8, 2024, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: October 8, 2024, 5:13 p.m.
