Las Vegas Raiders: Studs and Duds from Week 2 vs. Steelers

The Las Vegas Raiders had a complete performance in a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers and here are the studs and duds from the road victory.

The Las Vegas Raiders were big underdogs coming into this road matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers but lead most of the way and were in control for much of the game. They dominated the Steelers’ offense and had a tremendous performance from Derek Carr.

Here are the studs and duds from a massive victory for the Raiders as they moved to 2-0 on the season.

Las Vegas Raiders: Studs and Duds from Week 2 vs. Steelers

Duds: Raiders run game

The Raiders run game has gone from the strength of the team in Jon Gruden‘s first season to its current biggest weakness. A week after gaining just 82 yards against the Baltimore Ravens, the Raiders followed it up with just 50 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game where they really needed to control the pace. What makes the stat even worse is that 20 of those 50 yards came in the final drive from Peyton Barber when the Raiders were trying to wrap up the game.

The Raiders were missing star running back Josh Jacobs and his backups did their best but there was just not much room to run against a fearsome Pittsburgh front. Jacobs has been bottled up in the past even with his great ability and probably would have had a similar lack of success today.

The Steelers did give up over 100 yards to the Buffalo Bills in week one but they gave up 44 yards to Josh Allen alone. Derek Carr is a great athlete but he is not known for his running ability and usually only does so when absolutely necessary. The Raiders will definitely need to work on this aspect of their offense if they want to be taken seriously as contenders.