OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers rivalry goes
back several decades, and it was reignited Sunday, Oct. 27 when the Silver and
Black hosted the Black and Yellow to a matinee kickoff at the O.Co Coliseum.
Right from the get go the game was exciting as on the first
play of scrimmage, Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor busted off a 93-yards
quarterback option run for a touchdown. Giving the Raiders an early 7-0 lead
after Sebastian Janikowski added on the extra point.
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| TOD FIERNER / Courtesy - Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor broke NFL history on Sunday, Oct. 27 rushing for a 93-yard touchdown on the first play of the game. Pryor's play broke the NFL record for longest rush by a quarterback. |
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"I was very surprised, because it's never open like
that," Pryor said. "Very surprised. But with the game plan, the way
they put things together, it doesn't surprise me that sometimes it may happen
like that."
"You have to understand the beast that's playing
quarterback," Steelers
safety Ryan Clark
said. "You have to understand what he brings to the game and that that's a
part of their game and that they can do that. Once a guy like that gets in
front of the whole defense, he's a legit 4.4. It's real. It just looks slow
because he's 6-6, but he was moving."
The run by Pryor was the longest in Raiders franchise
history and longest quarterback run in NFL history.
The Raiders offense would continue to pour it on against the
Steelers as Darren McFadden tacked on a touchdown to give the Raiders a 14-0
lead in the first quarter.
The Steelers would put their first points of the game on the
board with a Shaun Suisham field goal to start the second quarter. But the
Raiders would answer that with their third touchdown of the game, a direct snap
to McFadden in which he opted to run for the touchdown although he was looking
for Pryor in the end zone.
The Raiders 21-3 lead would hold into the half as Suisham missed the first of two errant field goals on the day.
The second half saw the Raiders defense step up and get to
Ben Rothelisberger several times, as they hit Big Ben five times separate times
for sacks.
"We are becoming a football team," said Charles
Woodson. "I think we have some good players that have been
assembled on this team, and we're learning how to play together. We're learning
each other and what each other's strengths and weaknesses are. We're just
making some plays out there."
The Steelers would miss out another field goal attempt in
the third quarter as Suisham missed another kick wide right with 5:49 to play
in the third quarter. But the Steelers would make a game of it over the final
20 minutes.
The fourth quarter saw the Steelers punch in two touchdowns,
the first on a short pass from Rothelisberger to Emmanuel Sanders, and the
second on a Le’Veon Bell touchdown run with 1:27 left to play. Down 21-16 the
Steelers would opt to go for the two-point conversion to pull within three
points, and they were successful as Sanders rushed it in for the conversion,
putting the score at 21-18.
The Steelers luck would run out though as they were not able
to convert on the onside kick attempt as the Raiders ran down the majority of
the clock, giving just 18 seconds to the Steelers to make a hail mary pass from
their own three-yard line.
Rothelisberger would hit his favorite target on the day in
Sanders, but he was well short of the end zone being tackled for a 33-yard
gain.
The final score was 21-16 in favor of the Raiders, making it
their first win after a bye week in ten seasons. The win also improves their record to 3-4 on the season.
The Raiders next game on the schedule comes at home as they
face their second opponent from Pennsylvania in as many weeks when they host
the Philadelphia Eagles (3-5) on Nov. 3. Kick off is scheduled for 1:25 p.m.
