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Feats of Strength: Timely T.J. Watt turnovers, Najee Harris' breakout day lead Steelers to win in Las Vegas | TribLIVE.com
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Feats of Strength: Timely T.J. Watt turnovers, Najee Harris' breakout day lead Steelers to win in Las Vegas

Tim Benz
Tim Benz

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Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90) and linebacker Patrick Queen (6) celebrate with teammates during the first half of an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders in Las Vegas, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024.

When a guy lands big punches in Las Vegas, usually it’s during a championship boxing match.

On Sunday, though, it was T.J. Watt throwing haymakers for the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2). When they landed, the football popped loose from the Las Vegas Raiders (2-4).

Those plays from Watt were the knockout blows for the Black and Gold against the Silver and Black as the Steelers won 32-13 in Sin City.

That’s also where we start this week’s “Feats of Strength” and “Airing of Grievances.”

Feats of Strength

T.J. time: T.J. Watt’s forced fumble in the second quarter was a game-changer.

Leading 7-6 with 2 minutes, 39 seconds left, the Raiders allowed a rookie sixth-round draft choice, Dylan Laube, to have a carry from their own 30-yard line.

That was a mistake.

Watt punched the ball away from Laube. Keeanu Benton recovered it for a turnover deep in Vegas territory.

Thanks to a very dicey roughing the passer call that negated an interception, the Steelers were able to turn that possession into a touchdown.

Watt punched a ball loose for a second time early in the fourth quarter. DeShon Elliott — who had a strong overall game for coordinator Teryl Austin’s defense — pounced on it at the Steelers’ own 1-yard line, saving a touchdown.

Even though Watt didn’t have any sacks, he ended up with five tackles, two for a loss.

Fields’ feet: For much of the game, quarterback Justin Fields’ running ability was the best part of the Steelers offense. He ended up with 59 yards on 11 rushing attempts. Some were scrambles. Some were designed runs.

Fields also scored the first TD of the game on the ground. It was Fields’ fourth rushing touchdown of the year.

Fields added a second rushing touchdown later in the game. He has accounted for five of the Steelers’ six scores on the ground so far this season.

At one point in the third quarter, Fields was averaging 6.3 yards per rush and 4.9 yards per pass.

Special teams’ splash: It was a good day for coordinator Danny Smith’s special teams unit. Jeremiah Moon got his first start as an outside linebacker. He also blocked a punt.

The ensuing drive started inside Vegas’ 10-yard line. It lost 10 yards before the Steelers settled for a Chris Boswell field goal.

Speaking of Boz, he nailed all four of his field-goal attempts and both of his extra points. Corliss Waitman punted three times, dropping two inside the 20-yard line and averaging 45.7 yards per attempt.

Vegas logged just one kick return for 31 yards. The only time a punt return was attempted, Ameer Abdullah lost a yard. Minkah Fitzpatrick also secured an onside kick attempt.

It’s about time: The Steelers finally got a big game and an explosive touchdown run from running back Najee Harris.

After a second generous roughing the passer call (on a third down that came up short to keep the drive alive), Harris paid off the gift two snaps later. He galloped 36 yards for a touchdown.

That was Harris’ first touchdown run and his longest run of the year. He also accounted for his first 100-yard performance of 2024. Harris ended up with 106 yards on 14 carries.

Collectively, the Steelers chewed up 183 yards on the ground.

Defensive turnaround: The Raiders shoved the ball down the throat of the Steelers defense during the first drive of the game en route to a touchdown. They got some garbage yards and a TD while trailing by 22 points in the fourth quarter.

In between, Austin’s unit was dominant.

When the game was not yet decided (22-7 in the fourth quarter), Vegas was averaging under 4.5 yards per play. The Raiders only racked up 57 rushing yards and were 2 for 11 on third downs.

The defense managed three turnovers, a sack and seven tackles for loss.

Airing Of Grievances

Terrible start: The Steelers defense was abysmal on its first drive. It let quarterback Aidan O’Connell get way too comfortable in his first start.

Las Vegas marched 70 yards on 10 plays in just under six minutes. The Raiders offense never even saw a third down.

Running back Alexander Mattison carried the ball six times for 25 yards, including a touchdown.

O’Connell never had to attempt a risky throw. He completed four passes on the drive, one to Mattison and three to his tight ends.

All week long, we talked about how tight end Brock Bowers was the only healthy receiving threat of note for Vegas. Yet he got himself open easily on that first series.

Early offensive ineptitude: The Steelers first offensive drive got off to a good start but stalled after Jaylen Warren picked up a first down at the Raiders’ 38-yard line.

The next two snaps were negative plays from Warren, a loss of 2 yards on a run and a loss of 3 yards on a reception. The third-and-15 was a typical Arthur Smith/Matt Canada short-of-the-sticks special. Warren got 8 yards. At least it was enough to get in field-goal range, and Boswell nailed a 52-yarder.

The second drive was a pathetic three-and-out that featured a Connor Heyward false start and a loss of 5 yards when Harris was hit as soon as he was handed the ball. After a pickup of 8 by Pat Freiermuth, George Pickens dropped a pass that went through his hands and hit him in the facemask.

I’m sure Pickens will tell you that was the officials’ fault. To be fair, if Pickens had caught the pass, it would’ve been short of the sticks anyway.

Shocker, I know.

The third drive stalled out with three incomplete passes just outside of Vegas’ red zone as the Steelers settled for a field goal. Smith’s offense had to punt after an incompletion on third-and-28. The second-down snap was a botched trick play that resulted in a 13-yard sack of Fields, followed by a delay of game.

A fourth possession — after Watt’s first forced fumble — would’ve ended in an interception from Fields. But the Steelers got that weak roughing the passer call. So the ball was given back to Pittsburgh.

Fields cashed it in with his legs, running three times for 11 of the remaining 12 yards.

Good, but not good: The officiating was shoddy, but it worked out for the Steelers.

If either of those two roughing the passer calls had come against Watt, we’d be complaining about it all week.

There was a penalty against Las Vegas’ Jackson Powers-Johnson for an illegal man downfield near the goal line that was (to be very kind) overly officious. It erased a touchdown for the Raiders before Elliott’s fumble recovery.

The play before that goal-line fumble by Abdullah, he lunged for the goal line and was ruled short. Vegas should’ve challenged that. The decision may have been upheld. But if the officials gave Harris his score on a similar dive, they might have given Abdullah the benefit of the doubt.

Then again, with the way things were breaking against the Raiders on Sunday, probably not.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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