Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Oakland Raiders: Keys To a Pittsburgh Victory

Did the Pittsburgh Steelers go from AFC front-runner to a second straight season of missing the playoffs?

Many would have you believing so this week.

The New England Patriots apparently developed a ‘blueprint’ to defeat the Steelers.

Throwing short passes and gaining yards after catch? No surprise, teams have had success for years doing that. Attacking William Gay? He is the weak link in the secondary. Applying pressure to Ben Roethlisberger? Not many quarterbacks are sacked more.

A blueprint was not developed, it was just executed to the fullest extent by the Patriots. That is what they do best, attack a team’s weaknesses.

The Steelers, however, do not do that. They come out on a weekly basis with the same plan, regardless of their opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.

Earlier this week on ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike, Jerome Bettis said that the Steelers do not game-plan for their opponent.

“The problem that the Steelers had was that adjustment going into the game,” said Bettis. “The one thing the Patriots do is they game-plan, so they say we are going to take away one thing from you. The Steelers on the other hand, don’t follow that same philosophy.”

For the Steelers, it is the same thing every week. Dick LeBeau’s defense stops the run first and foremost, forcing teams to pass on them. They also work to prevent the big play. Offensively, well, I am not quite sure what they try to do on offense. Whatever it is, Bruce Arians does the same thing every week.

The stubbornness and outright arrogance of Mike Tomlin and his coaching staff means that the Steelers get in the way of themselves every so often. Sunday night’s game against the Patriots was a perfect example of this.

So as the Steelers prepare for the Oakland Raiders, everyone knows what the Steelers will do, but I offer up what they should do.

Stop The Run

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PITTSBURGH - SEPTEMBER 12: Nose tackle Casey Hampton #98 of the Pittsburgh Steelers stands next to his teammate defensive end Aaron Smith #91 during the game against the Oakland Raiders at Heinz Field on September 12, 2004 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Th

Pittsburgh will get this one right.

Oakland is surging right now, winning their last three games behind the second ranked run offense in the league, averaging 162.2 yards per game.

Darren McFadden has led the way with 757 yards and an impressive 5.4 yards per carry average.

The Steelers will get some help with Lawrence Timmons likely returning to the lineup, but they will still be without defensive ends Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel.

Nick Eason and Ziggy Hood will have their biggest challenge yet, trying to stop the Raiders ground attack. The Steelers may need to rotate Chris Hoke in at end to get both him and Casey Hampton on the field at the same time.

While their pass defense is weak, Pittsburgh needs to force the Raiders to put the ball into Jason Campbell’s hands.

Let Troy Be Troy

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PITTSBURGH - SEPTEMBER 12: Justin Fargas #20 of the Oakland Raiders runs with the ball while tackled by Troy Polamalu #43 and Larry Foote #50 of the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 12, 2004 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers won 2

Troy Polamalu has not been his usual self this season.

That does not mean that he is playing poorly, he is just not making the same impact plays that he usually does.

Timmons has taken a lot of the roving duties away from Polamalu this year, but it is time to let Polamalu do his thing and wreak havoc along the line.

Having Polamalu play in the box should help the run game. His speed pursuing from the outside will force the Raiders running backs to make quick decisions and run into closed holes.

Polamalu should also be a force in disrupting Campbell, as he is no Tom Brady.

Even if Polamalu is slowed with an Achilles injury, LeBeau needs to have him all over the field to make things happen on defense.

Establish The Run

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PITTSBURGH - DECEMBER 06: Rashard Mendenhall #34 of the Pittsburgh Steelers tries to get around the tackle of Michael Huff #24 the Oakland Raiders during a first quarter run on December 6, 2009 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Grego

Once again the Steelers will face a poor rush defense. As of late, that means they will completely be shut down.

Arians cannot abandon the run early as he did last week. Oakland has a good defense, highlighted by their second ranked pass defense.

Under normal circumstances, Arians would run a few times early and after getting stuffed have his offense finish the game with 40 passes and 15 rushing attempts. That will play right into the Raiders hands as they will be able to apply pressure and add to their 27 sacks, which is good for third in the league.

The Raiders allow 124.8 yards per game on the ground at an average of 4.5 yards per carry.

It is time to let Rashard Mendenhall run wild. Though he may get stopped for short gains, he has been breaking off big runs this year and is a threat at any point to score from anywhere on the field.

By establishing the run, Pittsburgh will keep the Raiders offense off the field and as is mentioned virtually every week here, they can establish the play-action pass so Roethliberger can connect with Mike Wallace for a big play.

Ben Roethlisberger: Offensive Spotlight Player

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PITTSBURGH - DECEMBER 06: Ben Roethlisberger #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrates a second quarter touchdown while playing the Oakland Raiders on December 6, 2009 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

When Rashard Mendenhall is listed here he is often ignored, so let’s go with the player that Bruce Arians will likely feature—Ben Roethlisberger.

Roethlisberger has not beaten the Raiders in his career, losing to two very bad Raiders teams.

Coming off a loss in which he started just 7-20 passing, Roethlisberger will look to bounce back in a big way against Oakland and keep his team from slipping into the same free fall that it had last season when injuries and sloppy play became too much to overcome.

Casey Hampton and Chris Hoke: Defensive Spotlight Players

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PHILADELPHIA - AUGUST 25: Defensive tackles Chris Hoke #76 and Casey Hampton #98 of the Pittsburgh Steelers stand on the field during a preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles on August 25, 2006 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylv

Given the strong running attack of the Raiders, Casey Hampton and Chris Hoke will have to come up big.

Both players see a lot of time in the base defense and they will have to occupy multiple blockers to free up the linebackers.

Pittsburgh’s defensive ends, Eason and Hood, are a significant drop-off behind the starters and struggled last week.

If Hampton and Hoke can dominate, not only should the Steelers shut down the Raiders run game, they will also provide more lanes for the pass rushers to go through.

Game Notes

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PITTSBURGH - DECEMBER 7: Hines Ward #86 of the Pittsburgh Steelers is chased by Tyler Brayton #91 of the Oakland Raiders during the third quarter on December 7, 2003 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers defeated the Raiders 27-7. (Ph

• Ben Roethlisberger has not defeated the Oakland Raiders.
• Hines Ward’s consecutive game streak with a reception ended at 186 games. He was not permitted to re-enter the game after suffering a concussion but is expected to start this week.
• After a 6-2 start last season, Pittsburgh lost five straight games, including a home game to the Raiders.

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