LAS VEGAS -- Elandon Roberts sniffed out something behind the line of scrimmage and, as he's known to do, he rocketed himself like an R-360 Neptune missile ... then, um, carefully considered the consequences later.
"Man," he'd tell me much later with a broad grin, "that's just who I am."
No doubt. But it's also who these Steelers are at their core strength:
PUNCHED OUT BY @_TJWatt 💪
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 13, 2024
📲 Stream on NFL+: https://t.co/COxKRnrEBK pic.twitter.com/1NdONSDjNE
That's T.J. Watt with the punchout, the first of two forced fumbles, both of which resulted in recoveries, in a 32-13 rout of the Raiders on this Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium. Keeanu Benton pounced on the first of those, DeShon Elliott on the second. And there'd be a late Donte Jackson interception that turned out the lights as much as anyone can in a 24-hour town.
But there were also plays within all those plays that, even if they didn't directly connect, created chaos that contributed.
Same sequence as above, full view:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) October 14, 2024
Watch nothing but No. 50 this time. And how Roberts takes the extra second to size up the scene before completely committing to ... not just taking down the Las Vegas running back, Dylan Laube, but taking him down with force.
From there ...
"It makes the play," Watt would tell me. "Now that runner's coming back my way. Which wasn't the way he way he was supposed to go."
"Everybody has to sell out," Roberts would elaborate. "If we're all doing that, and we're all trusting each other to do it, that's when we're at our best as a defense."
And, in turn, as a football team.
Listen, I get that this isn't all awesome. I get that there'll be a gazillion more complaints than credit over this performance, if only because that'd just be the Nation being the Nation. No one's satisfied with anything shy of a Lombardi and, even then, someone's going to want someone fired for not being able to cover Larry Fitzgerald or something.
What's more, there are legit complaints to be had, including a crush of them here: The offense still couldn't craft much of anything through the air. Justin Fields flat-out misfired on more than half his 10 incompletions among 24 attempts, on top of a red-zone interception that'd be nullified by a roughing-the-passer flag. George Pickens had an acrobatic catch late but only three total. And even the defense was ... wow, wholly dissected on the Raiders' opening touchdown drive despite the home team being without the No. 1 quarterback, the No. 1 running back and the Nos. 1 and 2 wide receivers.
Sprinkle in yet another annoying trait and, as Mike Tomlin would assess, "I thought penalties slowed us down some, particularly early in the game, self-inflicted wounds, holding calls, things of that nature, kind of stopped our fluidity. I thought once we got over that, we were playing the style of ball we desired to play."
That's correct. All of it.
Because, if we're all being honest through the 2024 season's first half-dozen games, here's the 'style of ball' they'd prefer, in ascending order:
3. Run the ball, then run some more
2. Win every form of field position
1. Defense does its thing
Sound about right? Especially that last one?
I'd say so and, infinitely more important, so would they. With cause: Jackson's interception was the Steelers' seventh, tied for fifth in the NFL -- and this with Minkah Fitzpatrick still at zero -- their three fumble recoveries are tied for 11th, and their 11 total takeaways are tied for fifth.
And in this one alone, T.J's two forced fumbles, the second of which came at the Pittsburgh 1 to preserve a two-score lead ...
PUNCH OUT 🥊 @_TJWatt
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 13, 2024
📲 Stream on NFL+: https://t.co/COxKRnrEBK pic.twitter.com/rsFaCwnD5L
... either prevented or led into a 10-point swing, while Jackson's team-best third interception ...
ACTION JACKSON 🎬
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 13, 2024
📲 Stream on NFL+: https://t.co/COxKRnrEBK pic.twitter.com/MbsBbrkZYy
... led right into the last touchdown.
"We want the ball," Jackson would tell me, referring to the defense. "We talk about it all the time. We work on it. We want the ball, and then we want to make things happen with it."
Kinda like Jackson, I just had to tease, pointing the way for Beanie Bishop to block for him on that return?
"You saw that, huh?" he'd beam back. "Hey, I'm a ball-carrier there. Doing my job."
"None of this is an accident," Isaiahh Loudermilk would tell me. "It's not like we're just playing well, and the takeaways come. We're going for the takeaways. I mean, this week alone, we put so much of our practices on this. This didn't just happen. This was what we wanted to happen."
Even though ...
"It's not always the safest play, to go for the pick or to go punching at the ball," he'd proceed. "But we believe it's the best way for us to succeed."
So does a relative newcomer.
"The one thing about this defense is that it's high-risk," Patrick Queen would tell me, with that enunciation being his own. "It's high-reward, too, so don't misunderstand me. But there are real risks we take out there to make some of these plays. And that's fine. That's the right fit for the personnel here, the right fit for the mindset this team's had for a long time. It's who we are."
They just might be getting stronger as they go, too.
Not T.J., of course.
"I'm not surprised by it, but it's still special," Tomlin would say. "If you've been around him during the course of his career here, you just know that he's going to seize those moments. He's going to rise up and be what we need him to be in some form or fashion."
But for all the rest: The line allowed 57 yards rushing and a 3.0 average after a couple early leaks, and, as Benton put it, "I definitely feel like we're improving, week by week." Queen was terrific with 13 tackles -- "Finally," he'd huff in a playful tone -- and the other two inside linebackers, Roberts and Payton Wilson, were right there with him. And the secondary's been maybe the surprise of the season as a collective, with Elliott meeting that same criteria as an individual. This after a week in which clear communication problems among this group contributed to the loss to the Cowboys, but this time, per Jackson, "Longer meetings, more talking, more everything, so everything would get cleaned up."
I won't take this too far. Improvement's a must toward any serious contention, almost all of it related to a passing game that seemed to take a sizable step back in this one. Maybe that'll come through internal change -- even at quarterback? -- or through an external acquisition. It's very much needed, and understand, please, I'm not coming close to diminishing that.
But Najee Harris bulldozing for 106 yards and Fields scrambling for an additional 59 for a total of 183 on the ground ... it's OK to lay a foundation on that, provided it can become consistent.
Zero offensive turnovers, to keep their season total at four, third-fewest in the NFL, for a plus-7 differential that's third-best ... that's OK, too.
And a defense that's founded on a rabid aggressiveness, with the pedigree, poise and personnel to match, plus the pending return of key pieces in Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig ... that's precisely this OK:
NFL
Those are the AFC standings, the ones that matter most come playoff time, and this was an AFC game. So that's 4-2 overall 3-1 inside the conference, and tied atop the North with the entire divisional schedule still ahead and a whole lot of Ohio awaiting.
Pining for some Patrick Mahomes-like existence, where everything's perfect, where the Chiefs pulverize almost everyone by halftime, where Taylor Swift's applauding up in the suite ... that sure isn't the Steelers.
This is.
• Chris Halicke's Chalk Talk breaks down Harris' heaviest runs.
• Chris' Spotlight shines on Jeremiah Moon's big punt block.
• Much more from both of us in our Steelers Feed.
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