The loss to Oakland drops the Steelers to 7-5-1.
Read more on the game from Teresa Varley:
The Steelers fought until the end, but this one slipped away from them, losing to the Raiders, 24-21.
It’s the team’s third straight loss, but they still hold on to first place in the AFC North, with the Ravens losing earlier in the day to the Chiefs.
Ben Roethlisberger missed much of the second half with a rib injury, but with the offense not moving the ball with Joshua Dobbs in there, he came back with 5:20 to play in the game. Roethlisberger drove the offense to a go-ahead touchdown and 21-17 lead, but the lead would be short lived as the Raiders came right back, regaining the lead, 24-21.
With 15 seconds to play Roethlisberger took over again, and a short completion to James Washington and lateral to JuJu Smith-Schuster, who took it 43 more yards to the Raiders 22-yard line, gave them a chance to tie it. Chris Boswell would have sent it into overtime, but he slipped on his 40-yard field goal attempt and the kick was no good, Boswell’s second miss of the day.
“Tough outcome,” said Coach Mike Tomlin. “It’s nothing mystical. It’s not something that happened to us. It’s something we created. We take responsibility for that. We didn’t make enough plays to win the game. We need to make plays. Not only at the end of the game, just throughout the game. Not making enough significant plays. Not taking enough advantage of opportunities. We have to look at all aspects of what we are doing in an effort to rectify that. Not only what we’re doing, what we’re asking those guys to do, the quality in which we are doing it. All of the above. It’s as simple as that. We have to catch balls we have an opportunity to catch. We have to sustain blocks longer. We have to tackle better. We have to make kicks. Just good fundamental things. We’re not doing it. We’re going to continue to work. We are going to absorb the negativity that comes with our current position. We understand that. We created it. It’s our job to fix it.”
