Throughout the afternoon Sunday, the Steelers made it very apparent they weren't going to allow Raiders Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller to beat them. They devoted All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to stopping him throughout the first half and doubled him whenever possible, as well.
But in the end, it was the Steelers' attention to Waller that did them in Sunday at Heinz Field in their home opener.
The Raiders used that aggressive nature of the Steelers defense against them, dialing up what was essentially an all-or-nothing-play that turned into a 61-yard touchdown catch by Henry Ruggs to beat the Steelers, 26-17, before a crowd of 63,707.
It was a costly loss -- the Steelers' sixth in their past eight games to the Raiders -- besides being the first of the season for the Steelers (1-1). Nose tackle Tyson Alualu went down in the first quarter with a fractured ankle. All-Pro T.J. Watt, who had been made the league's highest-paid defensive player just over a week ago, had a sack, but exited in the second quarter with a groin injury.
That left the Steelers, who had both linebacker Devin Bush and Joe Haden inactive for this game after both suffered groin injuries in practice Friday, short-handed on defense, down four starters.
Down four key starters on a team built to win with its defense, the Steelers buckled and made critical mistakes.
"I didn't think we had enough detail or enough play-making on possession downs. A lot of that had to do with our inability to make plays in spots when attrition set in, but that's the nature of this thing," Mike Tomlin said. "So put that on me. We’ve got to do a better job of planning and insulating some of our down-the-line guys and we’ve got to get them ready to play better, because it was obvious in the weighty moments, particularly in the second half, possession downs and things of that nature, we didn't play with enough detail, we didn't adjust well enough.
"Particularly when it's close, it's going to come down to those weighty downs, those possession downs. I thought the deep ball on third down that they hit Ruggs for the score was a significant play in the game, obviously. But there were several possession down-like plays that we didn't perform well enough, particularly over the second half of the game, that I thought created the outcome and the reason why we're sitting here at 1-1."
Ironically, it was the mistake of one of the Steelers' remaining stars that led to that score, which came after the Steelers had trimmed the Raiders' lead to 16-14 on a Ben Roethlisberger touchdown pass to Najee Harris with 11:23 to play.
The Steelers had the Raiders facing third-and-10 and the crowd was a factor, forcing a Las Vegas timeout after Carr threw incomplete on first down.
The momentum was clearly changing -- until the Raiders dialed up a play to get Ruggs open behind the defense.
Fitzpatrick didn't go down to the slot as much as he had in the first half over the final 30 minutes of the game, as the Steelers figured the Raiders would come up with a plan to combat that and get their best offensive player the ball.
So, Fitzpatrick went back to his deep free safety spot, but with idea that he would still know where Waller was lining up at all times. And that's what did the Steelers in.
Then, this happened.
"They had (Waller) by himself. He ran directly at me, got me to settle my feet," said Fitzpatrick, who had the deep middle responsibilities on the play. "He’s a big target for them, especially on big plays. I just can’t stop my feet, especially when I’m in center field. I’ve got to be where I’m at. That’s on me 110 percent. I’ve got to play better, do better."
Ruggs, who ran a 4.27 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine two years ago, blew past Ahkello Witherspoon, who was subbing for Haden in the Steelers' dime defense. With the Steelers blitzing, Derek Carr just heaved the ball up as soon as he saw Fitzpatrick bite up on Waller and allowed Ruggs to run under the ball.
"That's one of the advantages of his speed, showing up to where he could get open like that. So fast and so quick," Carr said of Ruggs. "The blitz, it got there but I had time to throw it. It was a progression. It wasn't like, 'This is the time.' We were looking for it all game. They played a lot of coverages, and I would too, to Waller. You don't want him to beat you on one play rather than beat you eight times. They did a lot of things but it was good."
That play, however, what not what the Steelers were looking for.
"We’ve got to keep a lid on it always," Tomlin said. "So there always needs to be a lid on it, regardless of what the structure of the call is or the situation or circumstance, we can't have people running behind our defense."
That made it 23-14 with 9:44 remaining in the game. And even when the Steelers got the ball back after Tomlin decided not to attempt to go for a fourth-and-1 at his own 34, all the offense could muster was a 56-yard field goal from Chris Boswell with 3:47 remaining to make it a one-score game again at 23-17.
Again, needing a stop to get the ball back, the defense was unable to do so.
Facing second-and-7 after a first-down run, the Raiders decided to go to the air again. This time, instead of being a decoy, they went to Waller, who had five catches for 65 yards but say his streak of consecutive games with 100 yards receiving snapped at four, tying a record for tight ends.
With the Steelers feeling the Raiders would stick to the run with time running out, they attacked the line of scrimmage. That left inside linebacker Joe Schobert matched up one-on-one with Waller, who ran a nice route to the sideline, where Carr dropped the ball in to him for a 25-yard gain before Fitzpatrick could get over to break it up.
Game. Set. Match.
From there, the Raiders got into field goal range for a 45-yarder from Daniel Carlson with 20 seconds remaining to make it 26-17.
Carr was 12 of 16 for 119 yards in the first half, but finished with 382 passing yards, going 28 of 37 and tossing a pair of second-half touchdown passes.
"That's what he does," Tomlin said. "He's an experienced quarterback, been working in that system with Coach (Jon) Gruden for a number of years. It's reasonable to expect those guys to gain footing as the game wears on and go on getting familiar with what they're looking at, how to manipulate it and so forth. That's why adjustments that we make are critical. We just didn't make enough of them or execute enough of them in great enough detail to be successful."
• The Steelers might not only be missing those aforementioned four defensive starters next week against the Bengals (1-1) at Heinz Field, they could be missing guard Trai Turner, as well.
Turner was ejected from this game for apparently spitting in the face of a Raiders player after Roethlisberger's touchdown pass to Harris in the fourth quarter. After complaining to officials, Turner turned and ran at Raiders linebacker Marquel Lee, spitting in his direction before defensive tackle Solomon Thomas stepped in.
Thomas and Turner were assessed unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and Turner was thrown out of the game.
"Somebody spit in his face. And so I understand the 15-yard penalties and so forth, gaining control of the game and stuff, I just — Trai is not a young guy, he's not overly emotional; he's a flat-liner," Tomlin said. "For him to respond the way that he responded, what transpired had to transpire. I was stating that case to them. I didn't believe he did enough to be kicked out of the football game. That was just my opinion."
Whether Turner was spit on or not, he was the one caught retaliating. And the NFL could suspend him. At the very least, he's facing a fine.
"I didn't catch the very, very beginning of it, but just in talking to him, he said he got spit on, and so he didn't like that, which I understand and respect as a man, and he went and tried to say something to the guy that spit on him," Roethlisberger said.
• Likewise Robert Spillane, who was subbing for Bush, also likely faces a fine after he was penalized for hitting a semi-sliding Carr in the first half at the end of a scramble. The 15-yard penalty moved the ball from the Las Vegas 47 to the Pittsburgh 38 and set up a 33-yard field goal from Carlson.
"It’s a very tough spot. I don’t wanna hit him, but at the same time, he’s still running the ball," said Spillane, who tied Schobert for the team lead with 10 tackles. "He’s running, making jukes, trying to get extra yardage. I tried to get my head off to the side. There was no intention to try and hit a sliding quarterback. I wish he would have slid three yards earlier. I pull up, and the play is nothing."
Carr was held up just enough when he got caught by Alex Highsmith on the play to create some contact to the head, causing the penalty flags to come out.
• Not only did the Steelers suffer a rash of defensive injuries, wide receiver Diontae Johnson had to be helped from the Raiders' sideline following the game after catching an 11-yard pass from Roethlisberger on a crossing route.
Johnson cut across the field, trying to get out of bounds, but was hit by safety John Abram and injured his knee.
• Tomlin is taking some heat for his decision to punt on fourth-and-1 from his own 34 with 8:36 remaining in the game trailing 23-14.
But it is largely unwarranted.
The Steelers forced a punt by the Raiders following Tomlin's decision to kick, though Las Vegas ran 2:32 off the clock with the possession.
"I did," Tomlin said when I asked him if he considered going for it there. "But I felt comfortable with our ability to stop them. I wanted to play the field position game and I think we punted it and stopped them."
The running game also produced just 29 yards on 14 carries -- an average of 2.8 yards per attempt. Harris, however, did have 38 yards on 10 carries.
"I feel confident in my ability, but like I said, it’s what’s best for the team," Harris said when asked if he could get a yard in that situation. "If he thinks that’s what’s best for the team, then you go for it and you follow him."
Roethlisberger smiled when asked if he wanted to go for it. But in the end, the punt team was coming onto the field.
"Not when the punt team's running on the field," Roethlisberger said when asked if he pleaded his case. "You didn't even have the opportunity. You saw me. I'm standing there. I don't have a choice."
• Unlike the game last week against the Bills, Harris didn't play every snap. But given the results of what Benny Snell did in his few snaps replacing Harris, playing Harris the full game -- or at least going to Kalen Ballage instead -- should be a consideration.
Snell had 1 yard on two carries.
• With Alualu now joining Stephon Tuitt out of the lineup, the Steelers' depth up front is going to be severely tested.
Sunday, Cam Heyward even found himself playing some nose tackle with Carlos Davis among the inactives because of a knee injury, as well.
"I don’t know how much it plays into the game," Heyward said of the injuries. "I know T.J. was raring and had a lot of havoc early in the game. Losing Ty(son)was something we had to adjust to. It took me a while to settle down, but he’s a heck of a player. We’ll see what happens there. Injuries are a part of the game. It’s not something we can run from. That’s what practice is for. A guy is taking less reps — that’s giving reps to somebody else.
"Hopefully we have guys that are able to step up. I gotta be harder on my guys. We gotta make the plays. Having a guy like Tyson or T.J., there’s like a blanket out there. We were already down Tuitt to start with. It’s gotta be a collective effort. It’s not one man to be superman. The group has to pick up the slack."
That means Isaiah Buggs, rookie Isaiahh Loudermilk and Henry Mondeaux, who is currently on the practice squad, will be counted on to play more snaps. Veteran Chris Wormley has already been starting in place of Tuitt.
The Raiders finished with 52 rushing yards on 25 carries in this game -- 2.1 yards per carry. But 21 of that came on five carries in the closing minutes.
It's just another reason the Steelers can't afford to be without Watt for long.
• The Steelers missed a golden opportunity in this one, giving back that win they had last week against the Bills. But if they beat the Bengals next week at home, they'll be 2-1 in September, which is probably where everyone had them in the first month, anyway.
Still, you'd like to get some momentum and keep it. But the season is a war of attrition. And attrition hit the Steelers hard in this game.
• On the positive sign, the offense is starting to show some signs of life -- it just needs to start faster.
Roethlisberger finished with 295 passing yards and averaged 7.4 yards per pass attempt and 10.9 yards per completion.
He was sacked twice and hit 10 times in this game, but nobody expected the line to hold up game in and game out. Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, the reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week, had five quarterback hits, but did not record a sack.
"They're a good defense," Roethlisberger said. "They got after us like we anticipated. I just didn't play well enough."
Roethlisberger did throw his first interception of the season in this game on a third-down play in the first quarter that led to a Las Vegas field goal.
• With Watt injured, it magnifies the signing the Steelers made of Melvin Ingram. He might have been their best defensive player after Watt went out.
With the Raiders doubling Heyward every play, Ingram was left one-on-one. And he finished with four tackles, his first sack with the Steelers, and a team-best three quarterback hits.
But the rotation the Steelers have been using up front is probably out the window. They don't have enough high-quality healthy bodies to limit players such as Ingram, Heyward and Alex Highsmith to less than 80 percent of the snaps.
