Raiders lose another lead late, fall in Pittsburgh 13-10
By Brad Weiss
The Las Vegas Raiders desperately needed a win in Pittsburgh on Saturday night, but in the end, they lost another late lead, falling 13-10.
Week 16 brought an AFC rivalry matchup for the Las Vegas Raiders, as they traveled to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers in a Christmas Eve matchup. The Steelers franchise came into the game with heavy hearts, as legendary running back Franco Harris shockingly passed away earlier in the week.
The game was supposed to honor Harris, who was celebrating the 50th anniversary of his Immaculate Reception. Pittsburgh was scheduled to have him in attendance to retire his No. 32 jersey, a ceremony that still went on, but included his widow and son.
On the field, Las Vegas got out to a strong start against Pittsburgh, scoring on their first drive thanks to an impressive pitch-and-catch by Derek Carr to Hunter Renfrow. That gave the Silver and Black an early lead, but as has been the case all season, they could not find a way to win late.
Raiders all but dead in the AFC Playoff race
The touchdown throw to Renfrow would be the Raiders’ only touchdown of the first half, as the two teams matched field goals the rest of the way. Chris Boswell missed an early field goal but would connect later in the first half to cut the score to 7-3, though a late drive led to a Daniel Carlson field goal right before the half.
Entering the third quarter, the Raiders had the momentum and even got an early interception from Denzel Perryman, but on the very next play, Carr would have his first of two third quarter interceptions. Las Vegas could not take advantage of the Pickett INT, or another missed field goal by Boswell, and the teams went into the fourth quarter with the score at 10-6 in favor of the Raiders.
In another terrible turn of events, the Raiders allowed Pickett to drive the Steelers down the field and hit a wide-open George Pickens for a touchdown, and Pittsburgh’s first lead of the game. However, the Raiders had all three timeouts left and had an opportunity to at least kick a field goal and send the game into overtime.
That would not be in the cards, as Derek Carr threw a terrible interception on a pass to a wide open Renfrow that would have put the team in field goal range. In the end, Carr failed to deliver with the game, and the team’s playoff hopes in his hands, and it could be the final act for him as a Raider.