It’s safe to say the Pittsburgh Steelers secured a massive win on Sunday night in Las Vegas.
In a game riddled with penalties and poor offensive play, Pittsburgh was able to put the game away after Steelers’ cornerback Levi Wallace intercepted a pass from Jimmy Garappolo with just seconds left in the game.
Wallace was a problem for the Raiders all night long. He continuously jumped routes and prevented completions. Levi’s game-ending pick was his second of the night which capped off a very impressive performance.
Despite Wallace’s successful night, Pittsburgh’s secondary was shaky early on. Raiders receiver Davante Adams had a monstrous night as he secured 13 catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns. Neither zone nor man coverage was any match for the veteran.
All week long, local Pittsburgh media called for Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada to be fired. This is by no means a new demand as Canada has seemingly been on the hot seat since the beginning of the 2022 season. Canada made a statement tonight. It wasn’t a powerful statement though it was a statement, nonetheless.
No specific offensive player dominated for the Steelers. Quarterback Kenny Pickett had a very solid night which included a pair of touchdown passes. This was the first game in Pickett’s career in which he threw multiple touchdown passes.
The running game was much improved from the previous weeks with the offensive line consistently setting up good runs. The entire unit saw progress as Pittsburgh ran for over 100 yards for the first time this year.
Canada was the key tonight. Pickett was important. The offensive line was certainly influential. But at the end of the day, for better or worse, there’s one guy calling the plays and that guy was Matt Canada. Multiple play action passes were perfectly timed. Screen plays were called at appropriate times. The offense as a whole just looked smooth.
I’m not saying Matt Canada’s job is safe because I really hope it isn’t. As much as I’d like to overreact and say our offense is fixed, it’s not. 340 total yards is a respectable number but it’s still not impressive. Hopefully Canada can use this game as a step in the right direction for the Steelers offensive unit.
With the win, Pittsburgh improves to 2-1 on the young season. This ties Cleveland and Baltimore for the lead atop of the American Football Conference North division. Next up for the Steelers is a home game against the Houston Texans. Though Houston was picked to be one of the worst teams in the league, they showed signs of life in their last game with their 37-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Let’s hope Pittsburgh can discard those signs Sunday.
